Sarah's Thoughts

 Palos, A. McGinnis, E. (Director). (2011). Precious Knowledge [Video file]. Dos Vatos. Retrieved June 20, 2021, from Kanopy.                                                          This documentary followed the Mexican American/Raza Studies Program in the Tuscon Unified School District, from its creation born out of necessity to its downfall due to misinformation, chosen ignorance and white supremacy all the while highlighting the program's core values of creating critical and dynamic thinkers in their students, and empowering them to "read the world" (Paulo Freire). The documentary lists statistics and outcomes of Mexican and Latino(a) students prior to the creation of the Raza studies program as being grim-with a 50% drop out rate, students who are disengaged, suffering corporal punishment at a rate of 4:1 compared to white peers, persecuted for speaking Spanish during social interactions at lunch, and in the words of a student in the Tuscon Schools, being felt as if

          This conversation surrounding abolitionist teaching was facilitated by Brian Jones and included three experts on the topic-Bettina Love, Gholdy Muhammad and Dena Simmons who shared their personal connections to the topic and their professional opinions and ideas. These women were able to share such in depth and constructive ideas, because as they stated and proved, black women, and even more so black queer women, have suffered every oppression and therefore have the laurels and credentials to speak about how to educate without it.                                                   When the speakers moved onto explicitly explain the radical idea of abolishing the school system and to create a new one from the ground up, I have to admit my knee jerk reaction to this was nerves and apprehension, as the idea of getting rid of the system which employs me and is responsible for educating 57 million children each day seems daunting. However as Bettina Love went onto explain, this is

    Peck, R. (Director). (2016).  I am not your negro  [Film]. Velvet Film.      The documentary entitled I am Not Your Negro told the story of Blacks in the United States for the past 400 years, and how their story has evolved through the centuries around the idea that although they have called America their birthplace, American has not created any place for them (Baldwin), through segregation, oppression, dehumanization, stereotyping and the perpetuation of violence and unequal systems. The documentary finishes James Baldwin's work as he took a closer look at the media's role in facilitating this oppression, and by looking at the lives of three of his close friends and allies, Medgar Evers, Malcom X and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.      When Baldwin was discussing these three pivotal figures, he was quoted saying "When any white person picks up a gun and says 'give me liberty or give me death' they become heroes and are applauded, but when a Black man does exactly