Event to be held from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
Minneapolis, MN – A coalition of leading education scholars and community leaders will participate in a virtual town hall today, Aug. 31 from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. ET. The event is hosted by Zakiya Sankara-Jabar, director of activism for brightbeam. The purpose of the event is to highlight the education obstacles facing working-class families during the pandemic and discuss corresponding solutions. The virtual session will include two, one-hour panels consisting of leaders in the education justice movement. The audience for the event is students, parents, education leaders, race and ethnicity reporters and education reporters. The event is sponsored by brightbeam and the HBCU Foundation.
The first hour of the town hall will focus on the institutional barriers to a quality education. These barriers include environmental racism, housing insecurity, gentrification, economic insecurity. Panelists include LaTricea Adams of Black Millennials for Flint, Jonathan Hutto of Empower DC’s Racial Equity Initiative, and Jennifer Epps Addison, who co-leads the Center for Popular Democracy. This session will also include a student who will speak to their unique experience preparing for classes to resume.
The second hour of the town hall centers on solutions such as education reparations, universal broadband, learning stipends, additional funding for families of school-age children, and other options to creatively improve education. Panelists include Carol D. Lee, PhD, professor emeritus, School of Education and Social Policy at Northwestern University, Chris Stewart, president of brightbeam, Dr. Chike Akua, professor of Education Leadership at Clark Atlanta University, Dirk Tillotson, founder and executive director of Great Schools Choices, and Sharif El-Mekki, founder and CEO for Center for Black Educator Development.
WHO: LaTricea Adams of Black Millennials for Flint
Jonathan Hutto, Empower DC Racial Equity Initiative
Jennifer Epps-Addison, Center for Popular Democracy
Chris Stewart, brightbeam
Dr. Carol Lee, professor emeritus, School of Education and Social Policy at Northwestern University
Dr. Chike Akua, professor of Education Leadership at Clark Atlanta University
Dirk Tillotson, founder and executive director, Great Schools Choices, and
Sharif El-Mekki, founder and CEO for Center for Black Educator Development
Zakiya Sankara-Jabar, brightbeam
HBCU Foundation
WHAT: Virtual Education Town Hall “Education Liberation Beyond the Pandemic”
WHEN: TODAY: Aug. 31 from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
WHERE: meet.google.com/bop-xqyx-zwe or +1 520-815-1411/PIN 516576651
