Black Lives Matter at School Started in Seattle, Took Root Nationally, Continues With a Week of Action

by Nimra Ahmad

Black Lives Matter (BLM) at School begins its Week of Action today, Feb. 5 — a week for Seattle Public Schools to focus on empowering Black youth. The movement, now national, started in 2016 at John Muir Elementary School when, upon getting a bomb threat, administrators had to cancel an assembly designed to support its Black students.

Still, that week, educators came to school wearing BLM T-shirts — not only at John Muir but also at other schools throughout Seattle. The event gained national attention, and now, BLM at School and its Week of Action occur throughout the country.

The Seattle-based Week of Action is a collaborative effort between the NAACP Youth Council, the Seattle Caucus of Rank-and-file Educators (SCORE), and Washington Ethnic Studies Now. The week is made up of a series of events, including a talent show for Black youth and a rally at a school board meeting to call attention to four BLM at School demands. The demands are:

• End zero tolerance and implement restorative justice.
• Mandate Black history and ethnic studies.
• Hire and retain Black educators.
• Fund counselors, not cops.

At a Jan. 29 press conference kicking off the Week of Action, the organizers also raised the question of whether Seattle Public Schools' (SPS) support of the movement is waning. In previous years, SPS has voiced its support, but this year, organizers said, SPS has not issued a statement of support.

In an email to the Emerald, an SPS spokesperson said the district "is participating in Black History Month for the month of February and Black Lives Matter at Schools Week of Action Feb. 5-9, 2024." However, after the Emerald asked for a published statement of support, SPS responded with an announcement titled "Celebrating the Joy of Black Excellence," but the statement does not mention BLM at School or the Week of Action.

During the press conference, educator and BLM at School organizer Jesse Hagopian spoke on the significance of the Week of Action.

"I just want us to imagine for a minute a school system where we are fully funded," Hagopian said. "[Where] every school has all the resources they need to educate our youth and a school district that partners with us from the very beginning to see that Black Lives Matter at School Week and Black Lives Matter Year of Purpose are central to the curriculum. I think that those are possible to win if parents, students, and educators unite in the struggle, and that's really what this Week of Action is all about."

End Zero Tolerance and Implement Restorative Justice

Zero tolerance and restorative justice are two different approaches to student discipline. The former is the traditional approach, typically involving policies that mandate a student's suspension or expulsion for certain offenses, while restorative justice focuses less on punishment and more on counseling and correcting behavior.

SPS data from the 2021—2022 school year shows that Black students and students of color were disciplined four times as much as the overall student population. Restorative justice practices have been found to reduce suspension rates and improve academic achievement.

Senior at Ballard High School and NAACP Youth Council President Anya Souza-Ponce shared a story at the press conference about her older brother. He was expelled from a class after complaining about a teacher who made comparisons between Frankenstein's monster and People of Color. Souza-Ponce said this was a situation where restorative justice could easily have taken place — instead of expelling her brother from the class, an administrator could have spoken with the teacher and explained why the rhetoric was harmful.

Mandate Black History and Ethnic Studies

Bruce Jackson, a former educator and director on the executive team of Washington Ethnic Studies Now, was one of the original organizers of BLM at School. He worked with other educators to bring ethnic studies to schools and found that students were excited to see themselves reflected in the curriculum.

"When we approached students with the lesson plans — I taught at Aki Kurose [Middle School], which at the time was 90% students of color. Anything taught about themselves was something that they were in great demand for," Jackson said. "Everybody was very, very happy with it."

For Semai Hagos, the second vice president of NAACP Youth Council and a senior at Ballard High School, it's important Black history is taught in ways that go beyond slavery and trauma.

"That's one thing our [Black Student Union] has been trying to address," Hagos said. "That when you're teaching about Black history, not just sticking to redlining or slavery, [which] implants the mentality that Black people — outside of slavery and outside of chains — we don't have any other history."

Hire and Retain Black Educators

SPS students say the number of teachers of color are low at their schools. Souza-Ponce has attended Seattle Public Schools since the first grade, and only now, as a senior, has her first teacher of color.

In data gathered between 2020 and 2021, the National Center for Education Statistics found that only about 6% of public school teachers were Black — and that's harmful to Black students. Research found that Black students who have Black teachers are more likely to graduate high school and enroll in college.

BLM at School is also focused on retaining the few Black educators who are working in public schools. After teaching at Aki Kurose Middle School for 17 years, Jackson was fired for allegedly being aggressive with a student. After the firing, Washington Ethnic Studies Now circulated a petition arguing that the firing was unjust and ignored witness statements that contradicted the allegation.

Fund Counselors Over Cops

Miles Hagopian, a freshman at Franklin High School, says funding counselors over cops is the most important demand to him.

"In the South End, our communities are really overpoliced," Miles Hagopian said. "I see, daily, folks getting harassed by the police. At the same time the City's giving all this money to police, [our schools] desperately need more resources, like counselors."

Souza-Ponce says meeting these demands are integral to ensuring Black students and students of color feel supported at school.

"Right now, a lot of the efforts that we're seeing in support of BLM are really on a more individual level at Ballard [High School] rather than systemic," Souza-Ponce said. "If Black Lives Matter demands get fully implemented within the Seattle Public School District, then there will be much more systemic support for it, and much more resources for teachers to be able to share."

Black Lives Matter at School Week of Action events:

Monday, Feb. 5: Family History Project, Zoom, 6 p.m.

Tuesday, Feb. 6: State of Ethnic Studies in WA, Zoom, 7 p.m.

Wednesday, Feb. 7: School Board Mobilization to Defend BLM Demands, John Stanford Center, 4 p.m.

Thursday, Feb. 8: Young, Gifted, and Black Student Talent Showcase, Black and Tan Hall, 6 p.m.

Friday, Feb. 9: Black Student Social Hour, Franklin High School, 5:30 p.m.

📸 Featured Image: The Garfield High School Black Student Union leads a moment of silence for Trayvon Martin and his family on Dec. 17, 2019, in Seattle, Washington. (Photo: Chloe Collyer)