UNF Center for Urban Education and Policy - CUEP

56th Annual Freedom Fund Awards Ceremony Join us as we celebrate the 56th annual Freedom Fund Awards ceremony where we will pay tribute to those who have dedicated their time and energy in pursuing ...

We mourn the death of Dr. James Loewen just as we will continue to honor his life and work. We were working on hosting an event with him knowing it might be his last. Sadly, it was not to be.

James W. Loewen, Who Challenged How History Is Taught, Dies at 79 In a dozen books, most famously “Lies My Teacher Told Me,” he attacked historical misconceptions, particularly concerning the Black struggle in the South.

It was an absolute joy to see the powerful connections formed today between youth organizers and activists in Jacksonville and Atlanta and the stories of deep cultural and movement work in the RGV (Rio Grande Valley) led by our brother Misael Ramirez and his extraordinary team of artists, educators, activists, organizers, and therapists with Craft Cultura. Thank you again, Misael. Our national CLE family is beautiful and bold!

We are in the process of developing a public program with Dr. Jim Loewen of "Liest My Teacher Told Me" fame.

This NPR interview with Dr. Loewen is almost 3 years old, but perhaps more relevant now than even then. In it he talks about how American history can be a weapon used against vulnerable students. Right now extremist national and state politicians are again firing this weapon by engaging in some very un-American behavior by actually banning ideas and theories, including Pulitzer prize-winning scholarship. We need to fight lies with truth. We need to fight autocratic governmental action with public learning. Stay tuned.

'Lies My Teacher Told Me,' And How American History Can Be Used As A Weapon James Loewen's 1995 book explained how history textbooks got the story of America wrong. Now, in a new edition, Loewen champions critical thinking in the age of fake news.

We were honored to learn our Hope and History Mural was voted “Jacksonville's best public art” in the “JAXBEST” list. This is a great story to us, and those who know us know we love stories and narratives. But to us, the story of this Hope and History Mural Project is also the answer to a question: So what happens when a diverse group of people come together to create and work and learn with each other in a Gracious Space in which we honor each other's gifts and call upon each other to grow and learn in the spirit of love and hope and possibility? Positive, beautiful change happens. It happens with people. It happens in and with community. And it begins to happen within the organizations nested in our communities.

The Hope and History Mural Project was one of the first large-ish scale youth leadership development program we developed in the UNF Center for Urban Education and Policy - CUEP. Like everything we've done since, it was constructed from our insistence that community change efforts be multigenerational, that they maintain close proximity to the people closest to the issues, that story and narrative are the main drivers of understanding and transformation, that crossing boundaries is necessary for growth, that hope and possibilities should should always be present, and that relationships are alwasy the foundation. For this Project we ALL did it the right thing in the right ways.

We had long treasured the story of the Jax 1960 Lunch-Counter Sit-Ins, which to me has always represented the most hopeful dreams of the potential power of public education. Of course, Rutledge Pearson and Rodney Lawrence Hurst Sr, are central to that story so it was an honor that Rodney was also central to the Project. The idea for the mural itself sprung from the imagination of Dr. Rudy F. Jamison Jr. We quickly recognized that this was more than a public art project (which we cherish and has obvious stand-alone value). It was an opportunity to bring people together to learn from one another. So we brought people together: 25 diverse youth from across the community; diverse and principled artists and art educators, including Hope McMath and Mai Keisling; the jaw-dropping genius of lead muralist Nicole Holderbaum and her partner in this project, the gifted Suzanne Pickett; UNF icon Ruth Lopez and her amazing educator husband Edgar Lopez; the leaders and members of the Eastside Brotherhood Inc. and their incomparable community leader Bruce Moye; and the generous spirit and community commitment of many including Wayne Hogan of Terrell Hogan and Florida Blue. There were many more who were a part of this, each of our families for instance. These are family affairs. There are also people I missed so please reach out to gently remind me if I did.

- Dr. Chris Janson

Spots remain open!

Social justice and education summer camp returns to UNF The UNF Bridges Summer Camp has taken place annually since 2019.

A great story on the UNF CUEP Free Summer Camp which will run online from July 5-16. We still have spots available. This is for youth 14-18.

UNF's high school social justice camp returns following year of protests for racial justice The University of North Florida in Jacksonville will host its annual social justice camp for high school students this summer. Registration closes June 4.

UPDATE: Thank you to everyone who shared information about this workshop. We have full participation at this point and have closed the application link. We hope to have other workshops soon.

NE Florida teachers, do you want to get paid $200 (and a book about Ax Handle Saturday) for a 6-hour online workshop with some good folks on teaching local Black and Civil Rights histories? If so, register by this Friday!

Attention Duval social studies teachers, and those who teach social studies content*!!

The UNF Center for Urban Education and Policy will be hosting a
"Beginning of Summer" Online Workshop on June 10th from 9am-3pm titled, "All Civil Rights History is Local: Teaching Jacksonville's Great Civil Rights Legacy" with the incomparable Black historian and Civil Rights Activist Rodney L. Hurst, Sr. and acclaimed University of Georgia social studies education scholar, Dr. Jim Garrett.

During this highly interactive workshop, participants will 1) develop deeper of Jacksonville's tremendous Black and Civil Rights histories, 2) explore the localized nature of Civil Rights history, and 3) the barriers that have prevented it from being more frequently taught and, correspondingly, why it is not better known by more people locally.

Workshop Logistics
Date: June 10, 2021
Time: 9am - 3pm
Place: Online via Zoom
Stipend: $200 and Rodney Hurst's book, "It Was Never About A Hot Dog and A Coke: A Personal Account of the 1960 sit-in Demonstrations in Jacksonville, Florida and Ax Handle Saturday"
Participants: Social studies educators, educators who teach social studies content, social studies education faculty, and social studies education students. Preferences for Duval County Public School educators, particularly those already teaching or planning on teaching African American History
Additional information:
- We have spots for 20 participants.
- We will select participants by May 31.
- You must attend the full workshop in order to receive the stipend for the workshop.
Application link: http://unf.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_4IuQe9BfZEyePbw

* Preferences for Duval County Public School educators, particularly those already teaching or planning on teaching African American History

What does this image evoke for you concerning the dynamics of multiracial coalitions for racial equity and justice?

If you want to explore and discuss with others, please join us at 6:00pm through the link below.

https://zoom.us/.../tJUlcO2gqDksGdJD_kbBhB72sOJbsOlmJk3T

Please join us tomorrow evening (Wednesday) online from 6-8pm for a conversation "image-ining" racial dynamics in our country today using a compelling image as a vehicle for meaning-making.

Although we often have many local Jax folks in these conversations, they are national in scope and we encourage friends from across the U.S. to participate in them. The link below will take you to registration and then a Zoom link will be sent to you.

Civil Rights Learning Exchange Civil Rights Learning Exchange | Strengthening Community Between Law Enforcement and Jacksonville Citizenry

Everything old is new again. Especially rightwing efforts to suppress racial equity and justice efforts.

From the Highlander Center:
"Lesser known is the case and plight of the Highlander Research and Education Center. In 1967, legislators passed a resolution that sought to investigate Highlander and suppress anti-racism discussions and organizing at the nonprofit education center then based in Knoxville.
"They were opposed to Highlander because there was race-mixing there. They were teaching labor unions how to go after better wages, teaching Blacks and others how to protest for civil rights, and there were people who were opposed to that," said Robert Booker, a Knoxville author who served in the Tennessee House at the time.
"Mayor Leonard Rogers and others wanted to get rid of it in the city of Knoxville, so they tried to use the legislature as their whipping boy to do it," he added.

With the help of the ACLU, Highlander filed a lawsuit against the legislature claiming, in part, that the bill violated the school's First Amendment rights, which include freedom of speech.

Finding in favor of Highlander, Judge William Miller said that the resolution brought the "threat of irreparable injury" and was "void on its face for vagueness and overbreadth."

Booker, who during the Highlander debate delivered a speech chiding legislators for their "petty prejudices and political chicanery," said that he sees parallels between the situations in 1967 and today.

"We fought many of these battles in the '60s," he said. "It's deja vu all over again."

Legal scholars question bill restricting teaching of racial injustice This story was originally published by Chalkbeat, a nonprofit news organization covering public education. Sign up for its newsletters here: ckbe.at/newsletters.