This is the story of struggle. Layers of rugged paths overlaid with even more hardship generation after generation. It is a story of power, both great and small. Those who have the greater power fear losing it and will fight by any means necessary to retain it for themselves and their children. And those who would pull themselves up by sheer force of will and determination. Black America has been vilified, shamed, and blamed in our educational system for failures that have come from exclusionary policies. It’s time to let Black America claim the educational and financial power that generations have worked hard to achieve. By making changes that include more black representation among teachers, cultural understanding, and better funding for predominantly black schools, the wrongs of the past can be righted and the future can be brighter for everyone.

If you are not familiar with Bettina L. Love, please stop what you are doing and watch her speak - You Tube is a great resource for this!

Dr. Love is a gift to all us, and I was very excited to preview this book. Via Punished for Dreaming, Dr. Bettina L. Love provides us a well researched thesis that during the Reagan era, black students were punished and made synonymous with the idea of a problem. Similar tot the War on Drugs. Love has qualitative research as well via interviews with families, students and administrators on how policies impacted their lives. Her research and writings provide a strong argument that the policies not only impacted black families for decades but served to keep the wealthy rich and in power. I also love that Love promotes moving even past DEI and utilizing the ideas of " Community and School Reparations Collectives (CSRCs)."

Best of all, not only does Love identify past problems and events and put current issues into context, Love provides solutions for moving forward. If you are in education, or just care about the world we live in, Punished For Dreaming is for you! #Bettinallove #Punishedfordreaming #stmartinspress

Dr. Bettina L. Love gave us a gift with Punished for Dreaming and in doing so she provides us with both a quantitative and qualitative examination of how the education system in the United States harms Black children. Dr. Love provides us with extensive research on the policies and major players in the educational field that have made key decisions on who will have access to what standard of education. She also provides us with qualitative interviews with students and administrators alike in order to drive her points home and shares actual stories of how individuals, families and communities have been impacted by these political decisions meant to keep the wealthy rich.

Dr. Love honestly and eloquently speaks to the blatant "racial contract" in the field of education that functions in such a way to keep schools segregated and to keep schools in underprivileged communities under-resourced and policed by state-sanctioned violence. She ends her offering by making the case for educational reparations and providing possible examples for what this could looks like while drawing on the work of other scholars who have spoken to these types of solutions. Additionally, she speaks to the the need for a complete overhaul of the way our nation approaches DEI work and re-imagines how to move past DEI and embrace Community and School Reparations Collectives (CSRCs). These are collectives that would best advise on philanthropic and corporate efforts to aid schools.

Punished for Dreaming is a book that puts the issues of our past and present educational issues in context while also providing us with clear solutions on how to move forward. This is a book that parents, teachers, philanthropists, and politicians would benefit from reading.

Thank you to the author and publisher for the e-arc copy!