Making Commitments to Racial Justice Actionable

Rasha Diab The University of Texas at Austin ; Thomas Ferrel University of Missouri–Kansas City ; Beth Godbee Marquette University ; Neil Simpkins University of Wisconsin–Madison

Abstract

In this article, we articulate a framework for making our commitments to racial justice actionable, a framework that moves from narrating confessional accounts to articulating our commitments and then acting on them through both self-work and work-with-others, a dialectic possibility we identify and explore. We model a method for moving beyond originary confessional narratives and engage in dialogue with "the willingness to be disturbed," (Wheatley, 2002) believing that disturbances are productive places from which we can more clearly articulate and act from our commitments. Drawing on our own experiences, we engage the political, systemic, and enduring nature of racism as we together chart an educational frame that counters the macro-logics of oppression enacted daily through micro-inequities. As we advocate for additional and ongoing considerations of the work of anti-racism in educational settings, we invite others to embrace, along with us, both the willingness to be disturbed and the attention to making commitments actionable.

Journal
Across the Disciplines
Published
2013-01-01
DOI
10.37514/atd-j.2013.13.3.10
CompPile
Open Access
OA PDF Gold
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Cited by in this index (3)

  1. Written Communication
  2. Reflections: A Journal of Community-Engaged Writing and Rhetoric
  3. Across the Disciplines

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