Wednesday, June 16, 2021
1:00 p.m. ET
Join NCTE, NCTE’s Black Caucus, and Penguin Random House for our inaugural commemoration of Juneteenth in the event “Literacies as Freedom Tickets: Black Caucus Scholars Reflect on the Texts That Set Them Free.”
This event is open to members and nonmembers. Student participation is encouraged.
About the Panelists
Ayanna F. Brown earned her BS in Secondary Education Language Arts from Tuskegee University and her MEd in Curriculum and Instructional Leadership and PhD in Interdisciplinary Studies: Language, Literacy and Sociology from Vanderbilt University. Her educational career includes teaching middle school language arts, working as a Scholarships Coordinator for Project GRAD, and family and community academic development and teacher professional development with Imagine College. Presently she is an associate professor of education and coordinator for the middle level English language arts major at Elmhurst University. Her research examines discussions of race in secondary school settings and how the discursive aspects of dialogue contribute to racial literacies, in situ. Currently, Ayanna is developing a tool to assess teachers’ racial literacies examining issues related to comfort and competency. She has authored several peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters and is the coeditor of Critical Consciousness in Curricular Research: Evidence from the Field. She is also the American Education Research Association Division G secretary, president of Elmhurst University’s chapter of Phi Kappa Phi, and the co-principal investigator for a National Science Foundation grant, RESULT, which works to increase the number of STEM majors to become teachers using literacy and culturally responsive education as a catalyst for thinking about teaching in everyday life.
Jamal Cooks is the dean of the language arts division at Chabot College in Hayward, California, where during his tenure he has successfully implemented an AB 705 procedure, increased the number of faculty of color to better reflect the student population, and cofounded the Chabot Association of Teacher Education (CATE) as a pathway to careers in education working with colleges. Prior to community college administration, he served as a full professor at San Francisco State University, where he also served as the associate director for the Educational Leadership doctoral program. He has published articles on increasing expository writing, building reading skills, and exploring linguistic diversity, and participates in a number of organizations. He is an active participant in the Association of California Community College Administration (ACCCA); a graduate of the Great Deans and the Mentor programs; and the President of the Black Education Association (BEA) for Northern California. He has served for over 20 years as an NCTE member and leader, including roles with the Assembly on Research (as chair), the Middle Level Steering Committee, and the Committee on English Education. Jamal has a doctorate in Language, Literacy, and Culture and a masters in Curriculum Development from the University of Michigan, as well as a bachelors degree in Political Economy of Industrial Societies from the University of California at Berkeley. He lives in Oakland with his family.
Kim N. Parker is an educator, literacy consultant, and writer based in Boston, and holds a steadfast belief in the power of literacy to normalize the high achievement of all students, especially Black, Latinx, and other children of color. She is currently the director of the Crimson Summer Academy at Harvard University and is completing a book with the Association for Curriculum and Supervision Development (ASCD) based on her classroom and professional development experiences to document her successful literacy work. (Anticipated publication date for her book is spring 2022). Kim is the 2020 recipient of the National Council of Teachers of English Outstanding Elementary Educator Award; a cofounder of #DisruptTexts and #31DaysIBPOC; and the current president of the Black Educators’ Alliance of MA (BEAM). Follow her on Twitter at @TchKimpossible.
Tonya B. Perry is a professor of Secondary English Language Arts where she also serves as the Executive Director and Principal Investigator of GEAR UP Alabama and Red Mountain Writing Project at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. A tireless advocate for students and educators who are often denied a voice, she works with and for educators and communities to develop programs and initiatives that uplift historically marginalized peoples. For this work, she has been awarded a multi-million-dollar grant to serve the community. In addition, she has advocated for others on numerous committees, including the NCTE Executive Board, NCTE Research Trustee Board, NCTE Diversity Taskforce, and NCTE Editorial Board. She currently is the Director for NCTE’s Cultivating New Voices Scholars of Color program. Dr. Perry has also served the nation as a 2000 National Teacher of the Year Finalist.
Registrants will receive email confirmations with Zoom access information 24 hours before the event and one hour before the event.