The Teach Out was launched in early June of 2020; our first unit was a close and meaningful reading of Michelle Alexander's bestseller The New Jim Crow. We hosted Zoom sessions during the darkest days early in the COVID-19 pandemic and immediately after the murder of Mr. George Floyd in Minneapolis, some with over 70 participants, to talk about the impacts of the carceral state, the current criminal justice system, and policing across the US, on all of our communities.
Two years later we will now launch our sixth unit, as The Teach Out has grown to serve curious, active, committed individuals across more than 14 states and three countries. We come together as a community working to advocate for more just spaces, to unlearn critical architectures around power & justice and work for new ones, and to gather with one another to build relationships of knowledge, action, & kinship.
Unit six will include a collection of works by writers, scholars, & advocates offering new pathways forward, powerful perspectives on this moment in our socio-political processes, and stories that call us to critically engage with a new path forward.
We will read, discuss, and engage with the following works in this unit:
1. Thick: And Other Essays by Tressie McMillan Cottom
2. How the Word is Passed by Clint Smith
3. The Sum of Us by Heather McGhee
4. The Undocumented Americans by Karla Cornejo Villavicencio
5. Red Nation Rising: From Bordertown Violence to Native Liberation by Nick Estes, Melanie Yazzie, Jennifer Nez Denetdale, & David Correia
Come one! Come all!
The unit will launch on Sunday, July 3, and it will begin with Clint Smith's How the Word is Passed. A syllabus will be posted here, as well as the first week's reading - no later than Sunday, June 12.
We will celebrate US independence, thinking about how to critically understand the US's current relationship to justice.
✨ What else can you look forward to in unit six?? ✨
1) Outstanding texts , rich with important and meaningful points for discussion!
2) Special guests, including authors, featured along the way!
3) Introducing The Teach Out on Location! ✈️ Heather will travel to various Teach Out cities, from Seattle to LA to Austin, hosting Teach Out gatherings in person, always with accessible Zoom options for all those to join from other locations!
4) New, innovative content, prepared by a cutting edge, award winning founder, brought to you each week...that you won't find anywhere else. All geared around gathering in community where all are welcome, working toward building more just infrastructures of everyday life, for all.
Knowledge is not a commodity. Join us! People power is the power that can transform our communities, for all.