Brave Community : Teaching for a Post-Racist Imagination

At the core of the intractability of racism is the persistent cultivation of our collective ignorance of it. This book argues that this cultivated ignorance compels us to support a status quo that we abhor. We are stuck because we cannot imagine a world beyond racism. We are also stuck because engaging with issues of racism with others usually produces immense acrimony and little result. The author responds directly to this challenge by introducing Brave Community―a research-based and learner-tested method that leverages learning as a vehicle to increase the bravery and empathy that we need to both imagine and pursue a world beyond racism. It is an approach that can be used by educators, administrators, cultural workers, human resources professionals, community leaders, and others. The text includes effective practices embedded in vivid portraits of learning across higher education, K–12, and cultural institutions. Now as ever, we need effective tools for creating a shared understanding of the relationship between racial justice and democracy. Designed to be immediately applicable, Brave Community teaches in clear and practical ways how anyone who wants to tackle racism can do so, and help others to do the same.

Book Features:

• A how-to book for confronting racism in real time.
• A reliable learning process to achieve an authentic and diverse community.
• An approach to teaching about racism that edifies and empowers all learners.
• A method that has been tested across diverse settings, from elementary schools to graduate schools, from workshops to museums, and from boardrooms to living rooms.
• A simple and adaptive approach that was created to address issues of racism but can be used to address any difficult topic.

Janine de Novais is a writer, sociologist, and teacher interested in how human liberation is a cultural project―a matter of (un)learning. She has experience researching and teaching in undergraduate, graduate, and professional programs, as well as cultural institutions.