Educating for Critical Race and Anti-Colonial Intersections

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George Dei discusses the dominant ways of pursuing of “global education” pointing to the possibilities of such education through an Indigenist anti-colonial lens

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Institution: University of Toronto

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George Dei discusses the dominant ways of pursuing of “global education” pointing to the possibilities of such education through an Indigenist anti-colonial lens

Image courtesy of interviewee. June 11, 2024

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This video discusses the significance of race and its intersection with identities, alongside the importance of critical race theory and anti-racism in understanding societal dynamics. It asserts that race is a fundamental aspect of identity, much like class, gender, and sexuality, influencing perceptions, power dynamics, and the distribution of resources.

The speaker emphasizes the relevance of acknowledging historical contexts to better understand contemporary racial issues, challenging the notion that race is a non-issue or should be ignored. They argue that racism and its institutional nature require active engagement and honest discourse within various societal arenas, including education.

Key points include:
- Race is a real and consequential construct that heavily impacts people's experiences and societal interactions.
- Conversations surrounding race must include discussions on whiteness and privilege, as these concepts help highlight systemic inequalities.
- True inclusion and anti-racist efforts require recognizing and valuing diverse experiences and histories, creating a sense of community, and fostering collective responsibility.
- Success should be defined collectively, highlighting interconnectedness among individuals’ achievements and failures.
- The speaker calls for action beyond mere discussion, stressing that change is achieved through active engagement and critical consciousness, which should lead to efforts aimed at social justice and liberation for all.

Overall, the text advocates for proactive involvement in understanding and addressing racial issues, acknowledging that they are not merely "special interests" but fundamental to creating a just and equitable society.

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When we say something is about a study of critical race,

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what we are trying to get at is a recognition that

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Race is An equally important

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aspect of our identities.

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Just as we talk about class, gender, sexuality,

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ability, disability,

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and that we need to bring some consciousness to the question

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of the racial identity.

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No matter how it is contested, it is relevant,

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it is relevant in terms of how people

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Are perceived.

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It's relevant in terms of How the material, goods

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And services of society are distributed.

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It is relevant in terms of the question of

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Power and privilege,

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And it's relevant when we talk about

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social justice and oppression. Oppression.

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So bringing that consciousness to the study

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also requires looking at history

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and how history implicates

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The way we understand, The

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Way we come to know ourselves

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And the way we come to value, acknowledge,

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validate our different experiences, histories, knowledges,

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And our points of resistance and contestations.

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And there's no way we can Talk about education today

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That puts race in the

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closet, that it is

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Irrelevant It as currency

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material, and political currency.

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I always argue that if

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Scientifically, If intellectually we want

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to debate race,

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There comes a point where we say,

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If science is not able To account for

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Race, the problem is not race. The problem is

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Science, Because race is real.

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It's consequential

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and it's racism that makes race real.

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I, I always avoid using the word travel

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because, travel speaks of it.

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It has some ation to it about, I think to me,

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how do we move towards a critical race theory? I,

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I will preach through

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A critical, anti-racist lens, right?

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Uh, it doesn't mean that critical race theory is not

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relevant, I think sometimes are funny to be

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so US centered, right?

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Uh, and, and

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through the legal scholarship, it's relevant.

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I think the, the recognition that, society is,

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Racism is very endemic to our society, right?

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Uh, and that we need

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to address it, I think is very, very important.

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Also, the, the fact that it is very,

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very institutionalized, right?

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Is very important. And those also aspects of,

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critical theory that we need to be aware of.

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Also, the question about, the extent to which we

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acknowledge the knowledge, the values, the experiences

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of those who are, who have experienced

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racism, right?

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And also the question of white and whiteness, right?

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Sometimes when we talk about race, right?

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People think race is about black, race is about indigenous,

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or race is about the other.

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Race is also about whiteness, right?

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Uh, and to be able to engage all of

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that in conversations, right?

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In that, and I think to me, we come

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to know about these issues when we center our conversations

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around the acknowledgement of

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how race has material effects.

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That when students go to school, right?

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They go to school with their bodies

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and bodies is about identities.

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And these identities are structured along race, class,

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gender, sexual lines,

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that sometimes there's a discomfort in speaking about race

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because of the history of racism.

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So we want to avoid it,

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but if we want to address it, if we want to respond to it,

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we must have honest conversations around it,

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within our homes, within our families, within the churches,

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on the streets, and of course in the classrooms,

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we cannot wish it away.

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I think we can talk about contestations

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that race is not fixed.

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It's a social construct.

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Nonetheless, it is meaningful

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because we live in race coded world.

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There is, there is a scholar that that, that caused me,

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and we, who talks about our society is so racialized that

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to be without a racial identity is to be in danger

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of having no identity at all.

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In, in the attempt to deny this is inte,

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intellectually dishonest.

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Grace is not a problem, as many others have said,

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it is the interpretation that we put on

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that identity that becomes a problem.

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So if, if I walk into a room

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and I talk about, I don't see any color, right?

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That's an insult. The problem is not the color.

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And many scholar talk about this is the interpretation

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that we put on that color that is a problem.

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So to say that black means inferior, black is equal

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to criminal, white means fear,

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white is intelligent, that is a problem.

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So we must have honest conversations

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around the interpretations

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that we have brought to these terms.

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And the response is not say we do away with it,

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but have honest conversations around that.

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That black, for example, is about also resistance.

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That we many ways we in target

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and question the association of criminality,

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devi, deviancy to black

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and blackness, that we are also able

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to talk about what it means to talk about whiteness.

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And as, let's talk about it, to see whiteness as a system,

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a structure and ideology of privilege

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that bodies can tap into it.

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One of my student, Joe has seen talks about it

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as a pary passport of privilege.

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It open doors, it opens doors

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for bodies that are able to tap into it.

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And this is why it's also very important in having these

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conversations to make the distinction between whiteness

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and white identity.

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And it is relevant to make that distinction so

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that white bodies see their responsibility,

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their implication,

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and complicities in maintaining whiteness

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as a system of dominance.

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That they can also start from their identity

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and engage in work that addresses questions

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of oppression.

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That they have a role to play,

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starting from where they are at.

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And talking about whiteness

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and white privilege, that's not deny that we have somebody

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who they hardships around class,

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gender, sexuality, ability, and disability.

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And some of those can be white bodies.

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But the point about white privilege is that

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the sort of abuses, the oppressions,

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the aggressions, the violence that a black body

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goes through by virtue of their

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black racial identity

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is not extended to the white body in the same way

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because of their white racial identity.

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In other words, that whiteness

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and that white racial identity can be a mitigating factor

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to the hardships, which is not extended to the black body.

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Their blackness does not become mitigating factor.

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So we need to understand these issues

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and these, things, right?

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We, because currently, right?

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One of the things we see is

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that there's this whole thing about the,

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the conservative assault on public education

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that when we teach about these issues is indoctrination.

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I don't know how these issues become indoctrination.

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It is talking about our histories.

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It's talking about oppressions,

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it's talking about our complicities.

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It's talking about our responsibilities

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and our roles in creating a socially just society.

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So to be working, to be a awake

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to these histories to be, are working

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to the contemporary challenges to be, are working to how

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goods and services of society are distributed in order

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to create fairness and justice.

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It's not indoctrination.

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We teach history, not just simply for

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what we want to know.

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We teach history also for what we should know.

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And we cannot put history in the closet is about a bad,

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and the good is about the lessons

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and how we learn from those lessons

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and bring it to the present

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and be able to project onto the future.

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His is also about creating an awareness

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of our roles, the hiss of our ancestors,

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the struggles, the challenges that paved the way for us

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to be where we are today.

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And the importance of continuing the struggle to open doors

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to make a more just and fair society

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and critical race, anti-racism.

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It's also talking about communities,

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how we build communities.

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We don't plug communities from the sky.

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We build them one brick at a time.

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We create them one brick at a time.

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We make communities just as we make features.

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You know, as somebody who has an African ancestry,

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I always talk about people, you see

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how people talk about it takes a village to raise a child.

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I'm sure you've heard that scene.

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It takes a village to raise a child.

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Of course it takes a village to raise a child,

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but I don't think people really understand it.

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You must create the village in the first place

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to be able to raise a child.

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So we must create communities.

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We don't create communities when we are in inheritance about

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who is smart, who is dumb, who has power, who doesn't.

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We create committees. When we value, when we acknowledge,

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when we respect, when we deal with power, when we deal

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with inequity issues, when we deal with oppression,

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when we deal with violence.

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That's how we create communities so

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that everybody feels a sense of belonging, a sense

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that they matter, a sense that they have something to offer

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our world and our communities.

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And these things are very important

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because this is how we create ethical

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learning subjects.

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So these are very important.

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These, these questions are very important

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in the way we talk about the issues, right?

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You know, not, we hear about this

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and being, to me, to be anti woke as others.

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I've also said it's also to be anti-black,

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because being woke is to be aware

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of these histories, the histories of injustices,

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and to learn from that so

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that we create a more fair injustice society.

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I think when we talk about being a woke is to be a woke to

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what is happening to the environment,

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the environmental crisis, the climate crisis, to be aok

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to injustices in the law, criminal justice system to be aok

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to the me injustices in media.

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How we have conversations that are not contextualized

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and not rooted so people don't have a full understanding

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of the challenges we are dealing with

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because we want to go with soundbites.

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So history and context becomes very important in these

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conversations, but also it's very

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important to talk about it in terms of

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how we talk about successes.

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That there

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are successes that we can speak about in multiple ways,

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and that if you wanna talk about community, let's look at

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success and how we create them in collective ways.

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I, I don't think success is just simply true

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individual work.

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It's also about the conditions in which we operate.

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It's also about the community that is around us, all those

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who helped us in achieving that success.

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That means we bring a very broad definition to success,

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that it is collectively produced.

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That my success is our success.

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And by the same way, my failure is our failure.

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And if you have that mindset, it helps to create a fair

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and just society.

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Not say, this is their problems.

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They have to deal with it. It is our problem.

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Let's all deal with it. Let's see how we are implicated.

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Let's see how we become complicated.

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Let's see how we acknowledge where we are,

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the land on which we are, the issues that bring us that land

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and the teachings of that land.

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And some of the teachings of the land are about

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building relationships, reciprocity, sharing

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mutual interdependence,

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and acknowledging the worth of

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each and every one of us.

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First of all, I mean, I, I, I talk about, we have to define

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what we mean by inclusion, right?

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Inclusion is not just simply adding to what already exists.

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Because if you do that, you're only reproducing it.

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And then also you can be included

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while you still exist on the margins, right?

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And so to me, inclusion is about centering.

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Centering each learner, each person

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so that they can read the world from their eyes,

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from their history, and be able to make connections.

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Because our history are connected, they're intertwined,

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but increasing is also

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about acknowledging the multiple knowledges

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that we each bring, right?

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There are people who talk about, see the most dangerous

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of all delusions, right?

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Is to think that your experience, your reality,

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your knowledge is the only one worth discussing.

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We have to talk about the multiple centers,

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how we bring multiple experiences,

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multiple histories, multiple knowledges

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to the classroom, to the space.

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And we engage learning through that process.

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And part of that is also acknowledging the history

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of colonialism, because this work,

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critical race work, anti-racist work has

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to acknowledge questions of colonization

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and by extension, decolonization.

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And by that, what I mean is that we have to recognize that

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for some, for for, for example, from where I sit,

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the black experience did not begin

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with 1492.

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There was Europe is not The advent of human history

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as adults have talked about.

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And recognizing as others have also talked about

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is not our only story.

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We have to look at our indigenous communities, the bodies

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of knowledge, the resistances, the fact

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that there was a world before Europeans came to the actual.

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And to recognize that.

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And that is also very,

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very important in our discussions, right?

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So inclusion to me is creating a new space

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where everyone feels a sense of belonging, a sense

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that they have a stick, a sense that they have rights,

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a sense that they have responsibilities

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because you can't have rights without responsibilities.

19:06.355 --> 19:08.475
A sense that they are part of a community.

19:09.175 --> 19:13.545
The whole idea of committee of learners to create committees

19:13.545 --> 19:15.185
of learners, that's about inclusion,

19:16.285 --> 19:19.425
that's about seeing schooling as a community

19:19.955 --> 19:24.145
increasing is dealing with power in,

19:24.605 --> 19:25.585
you can't talk about increasing

19:25.585 --> 19:26.825
without dealing with the question of power.

19:28.115 --> 19:29.485
Because the curriculum,

19:30.465 --> 19:33.005
the school curriculum itself is power saturated.

19:33.665 --> 19:36.465
We have to ask questions about who constructs it.

19:36.605 --> 19:37.705
How is this constructed?

19:37.835 --> 19:42.745
Whose knowledges count and increasing?

19:43.345 --> 19:45.065
I don't see how you can talk about increasing

19:45.845 --> 19:47.065
and claim to be for liberty.

19:47.455 --> 19:52.315
When you are banning books, you cannot ban books

19:52.495 --> 19:53.715
and say you are for liberty.

19:57.655 --> 20:02.275
Increasing is to be made aware of the different knowledges,

20:02.295 --> 20:04.955
the different histories, the different experiences

20:05.885 --> 20:07.495
that we have, and to deal

20:07.495 --> 20:09.935
with the power implications of that.

20:10.315 --> 20:14.415
We are talking about, questions of race, racism

20:14.755 --> 20:16.495
and the, the place in our society

20:16.515 --> 20:17.695
and how we deal with it, right?

20:18.315 --> 20:20.405
Um, I think it's very important

20:20.405 --> 20:22.845
that we don't see these issues as special interests.

20:24.745 --> 20:26.035
They're not special interests.

20:27.515 --> 20:30.975
There are issues for everyone, right?

20:31.185 --> 20:32.295
There are issues for everyone

20:32.725 --> 20:35.255
because we want a better world for everyone.

20:36.105 --> 20:40.495
It's also very important that we acknowledge our

20:41.105 --> 20:43.375
individual and collective responsibilities

20:45.745 --> 20:47.085
as we talk about these issues.

20:48.565 --> 20:53.495
It's also very important that we recognize

20:53.565 --> 20:57.275
that if you want change,

20:59.785 --> 21:00.965
you have to fight for it.

21:03.145 --> 21:06.165
In that words, we cannot just

21:06.165 --> 21:09.435
simply talk about it.

21:10.605 --> 21:13.465
And this is why anti-racist work, kids got racist work.

21:13.575 --> 21:16.355
It's about action, what we do,

21:19.775 --> 21:23.625
because speaking about these issues, that's not mean.

21:23.625 --> 21:25.635
You are doing the work. It's about

21:25.635 --> 21:26.875
what we do in our communities,

21:27.055 --> 21:29.115
how we build committees in our own spaces.

21:30.515 --> 21:34.125
It's about how we engage in action. To bring about change.

21:36.195 --> 21:37.725
Part of it is about consciousness,

21:39.635 --> 21:41.375
having a critical consciousness.

21:41.915 --> 21:43.455
But as Fanon talked about,

21:44.115 --> 21:46.855
having a critical consciousness is not enough.

21:47.515 --> 21:49.215
It must be backed by action.

21:51.425 --> 21:52.765
And this is why for me,

21:52.845 --> 21:54.765
I talk about this question of identity, right?

21:54.895 --> 21:56.325
There are others who speak about identity

21:56.325 --> 21:58.295
as political, right?

21:58.355 --> 22:02.585
And there's an African addict that says it is not so much

22:02.885 --> 22:03.945
how one is called.

22:05.955 --> 22:07.045
That is important.

22:07.305 --> 22:09.165
Of course, it is important how one is called

22:09.165 --> 22:10.605
because there's a power in naming.

22:11.835 --> 22:13.975
But it is what you respond

22:14.155 --> 22:17.265
to that's most important.

22:17.805 --> 22:20.545
So when you are called, what do you respond to when

22:21.905 --> 22:24.025
you are called, you respond to the child

22:24.245 --> 22:25.345
to fight for justice.

22:25.965 --> 22:27.825
Social justice is about liberation.

22:31.785 --> 22:33.395
It's about freeing the mind.

22:35.435 --> 22:38.955
It's about acknowledging the power of the mind

22:40.135 --> 22:41.555
to work and bring about change.

22:44.755 --> 22:47.125
It's so important for us to deal with this,

22:49.795 --> 22:52.605
that sometimes what happens is that we have learners

22:54.615 --> 22:58.555
in our classrooms who may be very good on the test course.

23:00.475 --> 23:02.005
They may get a's and a plus,

23:04.105 --> 23:06.445
but they're very lousy when it comes

23:06.445 --> 23:09.725
to interpersonal relations, right?

23:10.385 --> 23:12.725
If you are good academically,

23:13.635 --> 23:15.495
how do you put your success

23:18.175 --> 23:21.115
at a service and are the betterment of those

23:21.295 --> 23:24.655
who have challenges, right?

23:25.155 --> 23:27.865
That's so important in this regard.

23:30.075 --> 23:33.285
Otherwise, we create a society of hierarchies

23:34.375 --> 23:36.555
and we need to break the colonial hierarchies.

23:37.175 --> 23:38.915
We need to think in circles

23:40.715 --> 23:44.695
rather than think in hierarchies. We need to

23:44.735 --> 23:48.265
Acknowledge that

23:52.095 --> 23:56.865
success, while it demands

23:57.015 --> 24:01.075
hard work, also demands creating the conditions

24:03.255 --> 24:06.885
for people to achieve it.

"Unpacking Critical Race Theory: Understanding Identity, Power, and Social Justice"

00:00:00 - When we say something is about a study of critical race, what we are trying to get at is a recognition that Race is An equally important aspect of our identities. Just as we talk about class, gender, sexuality, ability, disability, and that we need to bring some consciousness to the question of the racial identity. No matter how it is contested, it is relevant, it is relevant in terms of how people
00:00:43 - It's relevant in terms of How the material, goods And services of society are distributed. It is relevant in terms of the question of Power and privilege, And it's relevant when we talk about social justice and oppression. Oppression. So bringing that consciousness to the study also requires looking at history and how history implicates The way we understand, The Way we come to know ourselves
00:01:29 - validate our different experiences, histories, knowledges, And our points of resistance and contestations. And there's no way we can Talk about education today That puts race in the closet, that it is Irrelevant It as currency material, and political currency. I always argue that if Scientifically, If intellectually we want
00:02:07 - There comes a point where we say, If science is not able To account for Race, the problem is not race. The problem is Science, Because race is real. It's consequential and it's racism that makes race real. I, I always avoid using the word travel because, travel speaks of it. It has some ation to it about, I think to me, how do we move towards a critical race theory? I, I will preach through A critical, anti-racist lens, right? it doesn't mean that critical race theory is not
00:02:49 - so US centered, right? and, and through the legal scholarship, it's relevant. I think the, the recognition that, society is, Racism is very endemic to our society, right? and that we need to address it, I think is very, very important. Also, the, the fact that it is very, very institutionalized, right? Is very important. And those also aspects of, critical theory that we need to be aware of. Also, the question about, the extent to which we acknowledge the knowledge, the values, the experiences of those who are, who have experienced
00:03:29 - And also the question of white and whiteness, right? Sometimes when we talk about race, right? People think race is about black, race is about indigenous, or race is about the other. Race is also about whiteness, right? and to be able to engage all of that in conversations, right? In that, and I think to me, we come to know about these issues when we center our conversations around the acknowledgement of how race has material effects. That when students go to school, right? They go to school with their bodies

"Confronting Race: The Importance of Honest Conversations in a Racialized Society"

00:04:12 - And these identities are structured along race, class, gender, sexual lines, that sometimes there's a discomfort in speaking about race because of the history of racism. So we want to avoid it, but if we want to address it, if we want to respond to it, we must have honest conversations around it, within our homes, within our families, within the churches, on the streets, and of course in the classrooms, we cannot wish it away. I think we can talk about contestations
00:04:53 - It's a social construct. Nonetheless, it is meaningful because we live in race coded world. There is, there is a scholar that that, that caused me, and we, who talks about our society is so racialized that to be without a racial identity is to be in danger of having no identity at all. In, in the attempt to deny this is inte, intellectually dishonest. Grace is not a problem, as many others have said,
00:05:36 - that identity that becomes a problem. So if, if I walk into a room and I talk about, I don't see any color, right? That's an insult. The problem is not the color. And many scholar talk about this is the interpretation that we put on that color that is a problem. So to say that black means inferior, black is equal to criminal, white means fear, white is intelligent, that is a problem. So we must have honest conversations around the interpretations
00:06:20 - And the response is not say we do away with it, but have honest conversations around that. That black, for example, is about also resistance. That we many ways we in target and question the association of criminality, devi, deviancy to black and blackness, that we are also able to talk about what it means to talk about whiteness. And as, let's talk about it, to see whiteness as a system,
00:07:04 - that bodies can tap into it. One of my student, Joe has seen talks about it as a pary passport of privilege. It open doors, it opens doors for bodies that are able to tap into it. And this is why it's also very important in having these conversations to make the distinction between whiteness and white identity. And it is relevant to make that distinction so that white bodies see their responsibility,
00:07:42 - and complicities in maintaining whiteness as a system of dominance. That they can also start from their identity and engage in work that addresses questions of oppression. That they have a role to play, starting from where they are at. And talking about whiteness and white privilege, that's not deny that we have somebody who they hardships around class, gender, sexuality, ability, and disability. And some of those can be white bodies.

"Understanding Racial Inequities: The Importance of Education and Community in Addressing Historical Oppressions"

00:08:28 - the sort of abuses, the oppressions, the aggressions, the violence that a black body goes through by virtue of their black racial identity is not extended to the white body in the same way because of their white racial identity. In other words, that whiteness
00:09:13 - to the hardships, which is not extended to the black body. Their blackness does not become mitigating factor. So we need to understand these issues and these, things, right? We, because currently, right? One of the things we see is that there's this whole thing about the, the conservative assault on public education that when we teach about these issues is indoctrination.
00:09:49 - It is talking about our histories. It's talking about oppressions, it's talking about our complicities. It's talking about our responsibilities and our roles in creating a socially just society. So to be working, to be a awake to these histories to be, are working to the contemporary challenges to be, are working to how goods and services of society are distributed in order to create fairness and justice. It's not indoctrination.
00:10:32 - what we want to know. We teach history also for what we should know. And we cannot put history in the closet is about a bad, and the good is about the lessons and how we learn from those lessons and bring it to the present and be able to project onto the future. His is also about creating an awareness of our roles, the hiss of our ancestors,
00:11:13 - to be where we are today. And the importance of continuing the struggle to open doors to make a more just and fair society and critical race, anti-racism. It's also talking about communities, how we build communities. We don't plug communities from the sky. We build them one brick at a time. We create them one brick at a time. We make communities just as we make features.
00:11:56 - I always talk about people, you see how people talk about it takes a village to raise a child. I'm sure you've heard that scene. It takes a village to raise a child. Of course it takes a village to raise a child, but I don't think people really understand it. You must create the village in the first place to be able to raise a child. So we must create communities. We don't create communities when we are in inheritance about who is smart, who is dumb, who has power, who doesn't. We create committees. When we value, when we acknowledge, when we respect, when we deal with power, when we deal with inequity issues, when we deal with oppression,

"Building Inclusive Communities: Centering Belonging and Collective Success"

00:12:35 - That's how we create communities so that everybody feels a sense of belonging, a sense that they matter, a sense that they have something to offer our world and our communities. And these things are very important because this is how we create ethical learning subjects. So these are very important. These, these questions are very important in the way we talk about the issues, right? You know, not, we hear about this and being, to me, to be anti woke as others. I've also said it's also to be anti-black,
00:13:18 - of these histories, the histories of injustices, and to learn from that so that we create a more fair injustice society. I think when we talk about being a woke is to be a woke to what is happening to the environment, the environmental crisis, the climate crisis, to be aok to injustices in the law, criminal justice system to be aok to the me injustices in media.
00:14:04 - and not rooted so people don't have a full understanding of the challenges we are dealing with because we want to go with soundbites. So history and context becomes very important in these conversations, but also it's very important to talk about it in terms of how we talk about successes. That there are successes that we can speak about in multiple ways,
00:14:46 - success and how we create them in collective ways. I, I don't think success is just simply true individual work. It's also about the conditions in which we operate. It's also about the community that is around us, all those who helped us in achieving that success. That means we bring a very broad definition to success, that it is collectively produced. That my success is our success.
00:15:31 - And if you have that mindset, it helps to create a fair and just society. Not say, this is their problems. They have to deal with it. It is our problem. Let's all deal with it. Let's see how we are implicated. Let's see how we become complicated. Let's see how we acknowledge where we are, the land on which we are, the issues that bring us that land and the teachings of that land. And some of the teachings of the land are about building relationships, reciprocity, sharing
00:16:09 - and acknowledging the worth of each and every one of us. First of all, I mean, I, I, I talk about, we have to define what we mean by inclusion, right? Inclusion is not just simply adding to what already exists. Because if you do that, you're only reproducing it. And then also you can be included while you still exist on the margins, right? And so to me, inclusion is about centering. Centering each learner, each person so that they can read the world from their eyes,

"Embracing Multiplicity: The Vital Role of Diverse Knowledges and Collective Responsibility in Education"

00:16:49 - Because our history are connected, they're intertwined, but increasing is also about acknowledging the multiple knowledges that we each bring, right? There are people who talk about, see the most dangerous of all delusions, right? Is to think that your experience, your reality, your knowledge is the only one worth discussing. We have to talk about the multiple centers,
00:17:33 - multiple histories, multiple knowledges to the classroom, to the space. And we engage learning through that process. And part of that is also acknowledging the history of colonialism, because this work, critical race work, anti-racist work has to acknowledge questions of colonization and by extension, decolonization. And by that, what I mean is that we have to recognize that for some, for for, for example, from where I sit, the black experience did not begin
00:18:17 - There was Europe is not The advent of human history as adults have talked about. And recognizing as others have also talked about is not our only story. We have to look at our indigenous communities, the bodies of knowledge, the resistances, the fact that there was a world before Europeans came to the actual. And to recognize that. And that is also very, very important in our discussions, right? So inclusion to me is creating a new space
00:18:57 - that they have a stick, a sense that they have rights, a sense that they have responsibilities because you can't have rights without responsibilities. A sense that they are part of a community. The whole idea of committee of learners to create committees of learners, that's about inclusion, that's about seeing schooling as a community increasing is dealing with power in, you can't talk about increasing without dealing with the question of power. Because the curriculum, the school curriculum itself is power saturated. We have to ask questions about who constructs it.
00:19:37 - Whose knowledges count and increasing? I don't see how you can talk about increasing and claim to be for liberty. When you are banning books, you cannot ban books and say you are for liberty. Increasing is to be made aware of the different knowledges, the different histories, the different experiences that we have, and to deal with the power implications of that. We are talking about, questions of race, racism and the, the place in our society and how we deal with it, right?
00:20:20 - that we don't see these issues as special interests. They're not special interests. There are issues for everyone, right? There are issues for everyone because we want a better world for everyone. It's also very important that we acknowledge our individual and collective responsibilities as we talk about these issues. It's also very important that we recognize that if you want change,

"The Call for Action: Bridging Critical Consciousness and Social Justice"

00:21:03 - In that words, we cannot just simply talk about it. And this is why anti-racist work, kids got racist work. It's about action, what we do, because speaking about these issues, that's not mean. You are doing the work. It's about what we do in our communities, how we build committees in our own spaces. It's about how we engage in action. To bring about change. Part of it is about consciousness, having a critical consciousness.
00:21:44 - having a critical consciousness is not enough. It must be backed by action. And this is why for me, I talk about this question of identity, right? There are others who speak about identity as political, right? And there's an African addict that says it is not so much how one is called. That is important. Of course, it is important how one is called because there's a power in naming. But it is what you respond to that's most important. So when you are called, what do you respond to when you are called, you respond to the child
00:22:25 - Social justice is about liberation. It's about freeing the mind. It's about acknowledging the power of the mind to work and bring about change. It's so important for us to deal with this, that sometimes what happens is that we have learners in our classrooms who may be very good on the test course. They may get a's and a plus, but they're very lousy when it comes
00:23:10 - If you are good academically, how do you put your success at a service and are the betterment of those who have challenges, right? That's so important in this regard. Otherwise, we create a society of hierarchies and we need to break the colonial hierarchies. We need to think in circles rather than think in hierarchies. We need to Acknowledge that
00:24:03 - hard work, also demands creating the conditions for people to achieve it.

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