Brave Community
Teaching for a Post-Racist Imagination

Janine de Novais (Author)

9780807767825

Paperback / softback, published 28 April 2023

128 pages
21.8 x 16 x 1.2 cm, 0.272 kg

At the core of the intractability of racism is the persistent cultivation of our collective ignorance of it. 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. This book 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.

• Contents
• Foreword 
  Robin D. G. Kelley  
  ix
• Acknowledgments  
  xv
• Introduction  
  1
• 1.  
  Grounding for Learning  
  11
• 2.  
  Bravery  
  27
• 3.  
  Resilient Empathy  
  37
• 4.  
  Practice  
  49
• 5.  
  The Post-Racist Imagination  
  65
• 6.  
  Fumbling Toward Post-Racist Soulcraft  
  77
• 7.  
  Conclusion  
  85
• Notes  
  91
• References  
  93
• Index  
  99
• About the Author  
  107