Monday, January 31st Marks the beginning of the 5th annual national Black Lives Matter at School Week of Action (several cities had a day of action the year before the first national Week of Action).

This year’s Week of Action comes at a crucial time in the struggle for racial justice in education. Gag orders have been written into state laws that seek to prevent educators from teaching the truth about structural racism that effect over 17.7 million public school students enrolled in almost 900 districts across the country. This is a critical time to defend critical race theory, ethnic studies, antiracist pedagogy, and the BLM at School movement.

This movement includes students, parents, educators, and communities all around the country that believe in dismantling anti-Blackness in education. You can join this movement by asking a school you are associated with to observe the week of action by implementing the curriculum, advocating around the four demands, accepting the Creative Challenge, donating to support the organizing, or participating in one of the events.

Below are a list of some of the events happening around the country:

Here is the announcement for the annual BLM at School Creative Challenge. This activity invites youth to answer the prompt by any creative means necessary–drawing, painting, rapping, dancing or anything else.