Do Black and Brown Lives Matter? Reframing Public Media Racial Narratives for Urban Schooling

Posted by University of Pennsylvania on March 16, 2015

Dr. James Peterson: Do Black and Brown Lives Matter? Reframing Public Media Racial Narratives for Urban Schooling

Thursday, April 2, 2015 – 4:30pm – 6:45pm
Lecture: 4:30PM-5:45PM, Reception: 5:45PM-6:45PM

James Peterson, Ph.D., Lehigh University, Connie Clayton Lecture

Houston Hall, Hall of Flags

With the senseless murders of Black and Brown youth across America over the last year and past decades, educators, politicians, parents, and youth are stunned and torn with what to say and what to do. When the media coverage of these events fail to portray the life experiences of Black and Brown people as human or worthy of compassion, our collective societal trauma is multiplied.

Urban education is arguably the best public stage upon which the debate on resolving youth trauma should take place. Can children learn without engaging this trauma directly? While the incidents in Ferguson, Mo have rallied many of us to hold our hands up and declare the obvious importance of human life, the question of “Do Black and Brown Lives Matter?” remains.

Recasting the narratives of media portrayals of the lives of Black and Brown people involves telling whole stories of youth trauma, protest, and genius. The burden of not debating these deficit narratives has implications for how well educational leaders teach all children, engage their parents, prepare their teachers, and develop future leaders committed to urban school reform.

We are delighted to invite you to hear Dr. James Braxton Peterson to give the Connie Clayton Lecture on April 2, 2015, to discuss this question of “Do Black and Brown Lives Matter?”

http://www.gse.upenn.edu/event/do-black-and-brown-lives-matter-reframing-public-media-racial-narratives-urban-schooling