Community groups in New Orleans that have been part of USGRC include:

The context of USGRC’s work is important. The model of state takeover, which pairs the mass firing of veteran teachers and school closings with the expansion of charter schools largely managed by white profiteers who lack community roots, turned New Orleans into the nation’s first all-charter school district. This approach, and the gross inequities that come with it, are part of a well-funded effort to privatize public schools in cities nationwide. My work with USGRC foregrounds the voices of affected communities, who have firsthand knowledge of top-down school reform and strive to build a bottom-up movement that honors the culture and history of Black schools and communities. 

Based on learnings from USGRC, I write counterstories that reflect the experiences of communities targeted by unjust practices and policies. I also document and participate in efforts to push back. USGRC builds on centuries of accumulated wisdom reflected in Black culture through oral tradition, literature, music, art, education, history, and insurgent scholarship. Street credibility and community  outcomes matter to me. I consciously situate my work in a longer continuum of antiracist activism and movement building within Black communities.