Within and Beyond Public Education: Black Communities’ Historical and Contemporary Struggles in Pursuit of Educational Justice

The COVID-19 pandemic, the rise of state-sanctioned violence, and the conservative push to erase and suppress Black history in schools have once more exposed the limits of the U.S. government in caring for Black people. Drawing on Critical Race Praxis and Black motherwork, this conceptual article brings together the history of Black education in the U.S. with a discussion of recent grassroots efforts to highlight multi-century legacies of resistance and self-help that have characterized Black people’s quest for educational justice. Through an examination of the rise in homeschooling and parental organizing for equitable public schooling, we underscore Black people’s historical and contemporary efforts to reimagine schooling and achieve liberation within and beyond public education.