In the Warmth of the Sun

Black Educator Solidarity for a Free Palestine

Abstract

In this article we—three Black justice-centered educators fighting for Black and Palestinian freedom and liberation—share our collective experiences: unveiling solidarity between our two communities. Methodologically, we draw from critical race counterstorytelling as a "political strategy in ongoing struggles over the relations of power, knowledge, and difference in the United States and beyond.” While most use critical counterstorytelling to cast light on the unique experiences of People of Color and the ways that they navigate the endemic nature of racism in the U.S., we use the methodology to highlight—and make sense of—our interconnectedness as dispossessed people’s fighting for freedom and liberation. The counterstories we share reveal our experiences in developing a consciousness of our interconnectedness, while also pointing to the work that we are actively doing in and out of classrooms to work towards the freedom and liberation of all oppressed people. In sharing our counterstories, we hope that educators will be moved to both (re)member and build new movements for Black and Palestinian freedom and liberation. We share our stories not to be replicated, but rather, to be wrestled with, contextualized, and reimagined given the movements that will continue to shape our worlds.