Join D.C. Area Educators for Social Justice on Saturday, January 25, 2025, for an online curriculum fair featuring a keynote speaker and workshops set to uplift the national demands based in the Black Lives Matter guiding principles that focus on improving the school experience for students of color.

Join us for the annual Social Justice Curriculum Fair on Saturday, August 17, 2024 from 8:45AM–12:15PM in person at Inspired Teaching Demonstration PCS (200 Douglas Street NE).

By Vanessa Williams
DCAESJ and EmpowerEd DC’s third annual Unapologetically Black Educator Story Lounge was just as powerful, moving, and joyous as the previously held events.

DCAESJ partnered with the African American Civil War Museum for a third year to host the #TeachTruth Day of Action rally at the memorial. The D.C. site was one of more than 60 sites across the country – plus more online events – each with a unique approach to uplifting educators in their commitment to teaching the truth.

Gearing up for the Black Lives Matter at School Week of Action is no small feat. While educators in the D.C. area likely have already been uplifting BLM at School work with participation in the Year of Purpose, the Week of Action is often taken as an opportunity to engage in more and perhaps larger scale efforts to uplift the guiding principles and national demands…

Mimi Eisen, co-author of Erasing the Black Freedom Struggle: How State Standards Fail to Teach the Truth About Reconstruction, was in conversation with Michelle Coles, author of Black Was the Ink, to discuss the parallels between the Reconstruction Era and today.

D.C. Area educators for Social Justice co-hosted our second annual story lounge with EmpowerEd DC. Educators shared their stories as teachers and how their experiences as students drove them to education, and DCAESJ program manager Vanessa Williams shared a composite poem with golden lines and messages from storytellers that night.

On Saturday, January 21, 2023 Teaching for Change hosted a virtual curriculum fair featuring workshops, a keynote speaker, and time for educators to learn more about the Black Lives Matter at School Week of Action, taking place February 6-February 10, 2023.

A Week of Action. A Year of Purpose. A Lifetime Commitment. And all of this can start with just a few hours of planning. On Saturday, January 7th, all DCAESJ working groups joined together and invited fellow D.C. area educators to share advice, build on resources, begin planning their BLM at School Week of Action, and continue to participate in the Year of Purpose.

On Saturday, January 21, hundreds of educators gathered virtually to connect, collaborate, and prepare for the 2023 National Black Lives Matter at School Week of Action (February 6–10) and Year of Purpose.

On Saturday, August 20, more than 100 educators from across the D.C. area convened at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library for the inaugural DCAESJ Social Justice Curriculum Fair.

“The Color Line…Teach it! Reconstructing the South…Teach it! Teaching SNCC…Teach it! What we don’t learn about the Prison Industrial Complex…Teach it! The Black Panther Party…Teach it! Who Gets to Vote? Teach it! Those were the chants heard at the African American Civil War Memorial in DC on Saturday, June 11 for the #TeachTruth event hosted nationally by the Zinn Education Project, African American Policy Forum, and Black Lives Matter at School.

Join Salvadoran American journalist Roberto Lovato, author of the new book Unforgetting: A Memoir of Family, Migration, Gangs, and Revolution in the Americas, for a virtual book talk.

On Friday, February 7, at Studio Theatre in Washington, D.C., audience members gathered for a post-play discussion of Dominique Morisseau’s play Pipeline, a drama following a family navigating through systems of racism in public and private school.

Teacher artist Alex Huttinger led the 2nd annual Social Justice Printmaking Workshop, hosted by D.C. Area Educators for Social Jusitce at Halcyon Arts Lab for the Black Lives Matter at School Week of Action.

Thanks to the generosity of several publishers, educators received free books for use in their classrooms at several events leading up to the 2020 Black Lives Matter at School Week of Action, including the Black Lives Matter at School Curriculum Fair.

On January 21, 2020, educators from D.C., Maryland, and Virginia came together for a Black Lives Matter at School Week of Action Curriculum Fair hosted by Teaching for Change and the Howard University School of Education. More than 150 participants crowded the rooms and hallways of Howard University’s historic Miner building.

K-12 teachers are invited to learn about Indigenous knowledge, sustainability practices, and the importance of water. Attend poster or workshop sessions and explore classroom resources from Native Knowledge 360° and the Zinn Education Project’s Teach Climate Justice campaign.

The 5th Annual Food Justice Youth Summit, a collaboration between Capital City Public Charter School and the University of the District of Columbia (UDC) College of Agriculture, Urban Sustainability & Environmental Sciences (CAUSES), was an all-day (April 12), interactive event where DC youth lead workshops focusing on various issues related to food justice. Read more >>

The National Museum of African American History and Culture’s Early Childhood Education Initiative hosted a Family Day on Saturday, April 13th inspired by the the museum’s first children’s book, A is for All the Things You Are: A Joyful ABC Book, written by Anna Forgerson Hindley and illustrated by Keturah A. Bobo. Each child in attendance received their very own copy of the book to take home! Read more >>