Allies, Accomplices, or Troublemakers: Black Families and Scholar Activists Working for Social Justice in a Race-Conscious Parent Engagement Program

Using the complementary theoretical lenses of critical liberatory (Freirean) pedagogy, critical race theory and blackcrit theory in education, this paper critically examines the experiences of researchers and Black parent activists engaged in grassroots activism directed at challenging the adultification of Black children and their subjugation to disproportionate and punitive disciplining. We look at the barriers Black parents and a multiracial team of researchers have faced when encountering an ideology of anti-blackness as they tried to push the school district away from the zero tolerance disciplinary practices which primarily targeted Black students in Rivertown.