Black Lives Matter at School Week

Now Organizing 2020 Week of Action for February 3-7, 2020.

What is BLM at School Week?

Black Lives Matter At School is a national coalition organizing for racial justice in education. We encourage all educators, students, parents, unions, and community organizations to join our annual week of action during the first week of February each year.

This year, as in years past, the Chicago Teachers Union passed a resolution to join national Black Lives Matter at School Week activities to kick off Black History Month! We are proud to join in BLM at School national activities, originating in Seattle in 2016, as educator participation has spread throughout the country.

This week of action highlights four basic demands for our schools:

End “Zero Tolerance” discipline and implement restorative justice.
Mandate Black History and Ethnic Studies.
Hire more Black teachers.
Fund counselors, not cops.

In 2019, thousands of educators around the U.S. wore Black Lives Matter shirts to school and taught lessons about structural racism, intersectional black identities, black history, and anti-racist movements for the nationally organized Black Lives Matter at School week of action. Educators in over 20 cities participated in this national uprising to affirm the lives of Black students, teachers, and families including, Seattle, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Chicago, Detroit, Boston, New York City, Baltimore, Washington, D.C., and beyond.

Get Involved

Want to coordinate Black Lives Matter at School events with other educators in the city? Make use of the resources below to organize at your school and citywide:

Wear BLM at School t-shirts available at the CTU office.
Hear BLM at School Week founder Jesse Hagopian on the latest episode of the CTU Speaks podcast.
Have your students complete the Black Lives Matter at School Creative Response prompt.
Access lesson plans and other ideas from the National BLM at Schools Week website.
Access curriculum on the National BLM at Schools Week Google Drive.
Email lesson plans and other resources to Quest Center Director of Professional Development Walter Taylor. We will include them in a Google Drive folder that all CTU members can access.
Email the Communications Department with photos, videos and other artifacts of your school’s BLM at Schools Week participation.