PLI Cohort 18 Collective Statement

We are social justice leaders.
We are committed to a Beloved Community built on justice, equity, and unconditional love.
We understand that connection requires recognition of names and faces— that’s when it becomes personal.
We nurture the capacities of individuals and we leverage the assets of communities.

We are social justice leaders.
We recognize that learning is social.
We value student voice and celebrate the whole student
We challenge “deficit ideology” and “labeling” systems put into place by the dominant culture.

We are social justice leaders.
We approach our communities with unconditional love.
We see the assets and “funds of knowledge” in the various cultures and backgrounds of the families we serve.
We position the school as a social center, committed to democratic education and the common good of the community.

We are social justice leaders.
We understand that the fight against racial oppression is enduring and long lasting and that “every step toward the goal of justice requires sacrifice, suffering, and struggle.”
We will provide a space of radical resistance for those from the margins.
We will identify and confront inequities that exist within the school system and community to bring about equitable change.

We are social justice leaders.
We believe in education for liberation.