Member Reviews

BEING BLACK IN AMERICA'S SCHOOLS by Brian Rashad Fuller is the work of an education leader, writer, and strategist. I am SO genuinely sorry that I missed the archive date and I apologize for missing that restriction, but I was not able to explore the text before losing access. I am glad that others here had favorable comments about this book.

I think this text would have been fascinating to read, based in part on the author's note:

"My sole focus in this book is the advancement and protection of our children. .... When I describe organizations, teachers, supervisors, or classmates in this book, my only purpose is to use my past interactions in education to show how we can improve our efforts to develop all students. I believe in education because I believe in the capacity for each person, including myself, to grow. I pray this book begins to shed some light on exactly how we can do that so all of our children will have a more hopeful future."

Fuller obviously cares about students and their experiences. I will look for a print copy. For now, I am giving the text a neutral rating of 3 stars.

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Thank you for letting my be an early reader for this amazing book. My fight is in disability but there is a lot of overlap, and in the current political climate I feel like I need to be better prepared to fight for our children. They are ending all the programs educators put in place to help disadvantaged students achieve their goals.
I love that this book doesn't only focus on schools, but also society at large.
I also love the personal side of the book. This is important.

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Thank you, Netgalley and Kensington Publishing for this advanced reader's copy. The author, Brian Fuller is an educator and equity strategist, and he draws on research and his own experience, both as a Black student in the classroom and a Black teacher in the classroom. Brian discusses how he was treated in the classroom as one of only a few Black students in his classes growing up, where he strived to quiet, and liked, and one of the best in his classes. When he saw obvious racist acts, he helped speak out, such as when there was a policy put in place that no boys in school could have their shirts untucked as they could be hiding weapons, but it was only enforced with the Black boys. Brian also saw numerous racist acts while in college and as a teacher himself, which just reinforced why the educational system needs to change to improve the educational experience for all students. This book is a must read for anyone with children and anyone in the educational system.

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