In this bonus episode, we talk to Brian Jones about how public schools have historically been a place where ruling-class goals of instilling conformity have clashed with working-class goals of securing a better future, and how those conflicts are playing out today.
Brian Jones, an educator and activist in New York City and a scholar in residence at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, describes the ongoing struggle in our schools, from the walkouts against gun violence to the protests to stop school closures and opt out of high-stakes standardized tests. Brian contributed to Education and Capitalism: Struggles for Learning and Liberation and is the narrator of The Inconvenient Truth Behind Waiting for Superman, a documentary about the creeping privatization of public schools in New York City.
If you want to explore any of the themes in this episode further, you can check out some of the following links:
• Danny’s article in Socialist Worker about the Black Lives Matter at School week of action. (https://socialistworker.org/2018/02/09/a-lesson-in-how-to-fight-for-bla…)
• The article Brian cited by Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor about the relationship between the Parkland student protests and the Movement for Black Lives. (https://socialistworker.org/2018/02/26/anti-racism-and-the-uprising-aga…)
• Danny’s article about the UPS worker walkout over inhumane conditions, including harassing a driver who had just come back from a severe workplace injury. (http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/23271-a-walkout-at-ups-and-labors-ol…)
