May 3 is the Freedom To Learn National Day of Action, a day of advocacy for inclusive education and young people’s freedom to read, learn and build a just future. Our collective responsibility is to counter disinformation, uplift honest history and engage our communities to serve all children.
As you discuss Thanksgiving with students, we hope you’ll reflect and use these resources to guide them to a more comprehensive understanding. It’s critical to address the truth and violence surrounding the day while also ensuring your students feel safe and prepared. It’s also critical to uplift the voices of Indigenous people, many of whom mourn the day and the pain that accompanies it.
It’s essential that educators, students and the entire school community work to reduce stigma associated with mental health issues, especially during Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) Mental Health Month. Help interrupt school practices that disregard mental health—particularly for Black youth, who are less likely to receive adequate mental health care. Use these webinars to understand and practice self-care and address challenges students face.
Schools should be safe and welcoming for all children—on this point responsible adults agree. But currently, discriminatory laws and censorship policies threaten the well-being of children. LGBTQ+ young people and families are being targeted, along with Black, Indigenous and other people of color and members of historically marginalized groups, whose histories and experiences are being misrepresented and erased.
