In an era in which national politics have descended to the level of tabloid journalism and national education policy is in disarray, remarkably successful and inspiring efforts to pursue educational reform and justice through grassroots politics mainly go unnoted by the national media. Mark Warren, a sociologist concerned with the revitalization of American democratic and community life, collects reports on these efforts in his recently published Lift Us Up, Don’t Push Us Out! Warren will discuss the need for a grassroots movement to transform public education, led by people most affected—parents and students from low-income communities of color—along with educators and allies from other social justice movements. He will provide examples from the book of organizing and alliance building efforts and discuss the challenges to building a broader and more intersectional social justice movement with racial and educational justice at its center.
Mark R. Warren, Professor, Department of Public Policy and Public Affairs, University of Massachusetts, Boston, studies efforts to strengthen institutions that anchor low-income communities and to build broad-based alliances among these institutions and across race and social class. He is interested in the development of educational and community leadership through involvement in multiracial political action as well as the outcomes of such efforts in fostering community development, social justice, and school transformation. He has been a professor in Harvard’s School of Education, a College Board Fellow at Harvard’s W.E.B. Du Bois Research Institute, and the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship.