EQUITYx Historicizing Ethnic Studies | November 12th at 2:00 pm CST

November 12, 2024
2:00-3:00 p.m. CST
Dr. James Wright

Write your awesome label here.

In recent years and all across the country, the right to teach the histories of minoritized communities in public education has come under attack: from the "Stop WOKE" legislation passed in Florida to Iowa's recent House File 802 to the thousands of books addressing racism and histories of oppression being banned in public schools. Yet the struggle for the right to teach courses on topics such as Black history is a long and enduring one. Furthermore, historicization is a central tenet of Culturally Responsive

School Leadership because it empowers us to visibilize the legacies of oppression we need to disrupt. In this EQUITYx event, you'll have a front row seat to the power of historicization with Dr. James Wright, assistant professor of educational leadership at San Diego State University and author of the forthcoming book, The Birth of Ethnic Studies: Decoloniality, Global Struggles, and Civil Rights. Dr. Wright will discuss the student protests for Black studies in 1968 which led to what became known as ethnic studies today. He will stress how what occurred during Jim Crow segregated schools was essentially culturally responsive education, pedagogy, and leadership; the advent of Brown v. Board, closing Black schools and eliminating Black educators sparked the need for what first showed up as Black studies and later evolved into culturally responsive education, which had been lost in the aftermath of Brown v. Board. This EQUITYx event will give you the historical context to understand the scope and import of the struggle for culturally responsive education and especially, the essential role of ethnic studies and critically-oriented curriculum. As a participant, you will have opportunities to ask questions and discuss issues specific to your context.

In our busy professional landscapes, we can be overwhelmed by information and struggle to distill the latest research and its implications for socially just practice. EQUITYx solves for this problem by bringing you the leading scholars in leadership for educational equity, antiracism and social justice in a distilled and practitioner-focused format. Each hour-long EQUITYx session includes:

EQUITYx Talk

A presentation by our guest scholar on timely, significant research and practice related to CRSL.

Facilitated Interview + Q&A

An interview with the guest scholar facilitated by the CRSL team, and time for YOU to ask questions and interact with our guest scholar.

Digital Downloads and Resources

Relevant resources, links and follow up material to help you implement ideas and practices you learn about at each event.

Assistant Professor of Educational Leadership
San Diego State University

James Wright, PhD

Dr. Wright’s research highlights how educational policy and educational leadership discourses, research, and practices contribute to a repressive school experience for minoritized students and their communities. James has worked with educational leaders internationally and is part of a burgeoning Culturally Responsive School Leadership conversation. Dr. Wright has written extensively on the discourses and practices of coloniality regarding educational leadership and has published critical works on educational policy, leadership preparation and practice, community engagement, qualitative methods, and self-reflection. He has published in the highest-ranked education journals, including Journal of Education Policy, Educational Administration Quarterly, Urban Education, Teachers College Record, Journal of School Leadership, and Journal of Latinos in Education.

Write your awesome label here.

Where we are

1041 Grand Ave Box #276
St. Paul, MN 55105
612.584.9478

info@crsli.org

Featured links

Policy Pages

Connect with us

Thank you!

Darlinda Anderson serves as the senior vice president of Ajusted Equity Solutions/CRSLI. Her role within the organization is to charter leadership, organizational objectives, sustainable strategy, and advantageous expansion. For the last twenty years, she has worked in human resource management, K–12 education, and process-led project management. Overall, Darlinda’s passion for balance and equity in the service of societal disparities—especially those in disadvantaged groups and professions—was the start of her overarching search for finding and supporting an organization that creates long-term sustainable opportunity for disadvantaged minorities.

Because of her passion for systems and organizational development, after graduating from Purdue University, Darlinda went to work for Hewitt Associates, a global leader in human resources outsourcing and programmatic financial services. This was her segue into the fields of project management, education, interactive broadcast media, and marketing. Though she initially started in business within the healthcare sector, it allowed her to realize how deeply she loved working in the service of others and for an equitable cause. This was the beginning of her journey to earning her master's in educational leadership. As her multiple career paths progressed, Darlinda searched for an opportunity to serve with the US government agency Americorps. There, she completed her educational service through Teach for America. Darlinda continued to serve as a K–12 public education teacher after her initial service to Americorps ended for another ten plus years.

As a classroom teacher, Darlinda saw firsthand all the struggles that Title I schools faced. After becoming a department chair, she began studying full-time to earn her master’s of business administration in human resource management. She continued to seek out opportunities beyond the classroom, where she knew she’d be closer to influencing systematic and district-level change. She continued navigating impactful roles that affected internal shifts, which led to working as a district program manager for a few years and later leading as a director of programs over the span of the next few years in educational organizations across the country. Today, her overall goal is to continue to serve, cultivate, and create world-changing avenues that make far-reaching equitable ideals a reality.