Born Out of Struggle: Critical Race Theory, School Creation, and the Politics of Interruption

SUNY Series: Praxis: Theory in Action

by David Stovall

Rooted in the initial struggle of community members who staged a successful hunger strike to secure a high school in their Chicago neighborhood, David Omotoso Stovall's Born Out of Struggle focuses on his first-hand participation in the process to help design the school. Offering important lessons about how to remain accountable to communities while designing a curriculum with a social justice agenda, Stovall explores the use of critical race theory to encourage its practitioners to spend less time with abstract theories and engage more with communities that make a concerted effort to change their conditions. Stovall provides concrete examples of how to navigate the constraints of working with centralized bureaucracies in education and apply them to real-world situations.

Genres: Education, Race, Nonfiction, Sociology, Teaching

208 pages, Hardcover

Published April 1, 2016

Reviews

[S.R. Toliver · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stovall is a brilliant educator and researcher, and I appreciate how he uses storying and research so well. I also learned about the intricacies of starting schools, especially those that are supposed to honor activists or the community. I wouldn’t say I was jaded and didn’t know these things existed, but I do think it opened my eyes to specifics. Reading this book alongside Ewing’s ghosts in the school yard added depth that I didn’t have when I read them separately.

[Jamie · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars, but that's because even with a vested interest in all of these topics, I suspect I'm not the target audience for this book. It's something Stovall struggles with as he works alongside SOJO activists: there are no boundaries, for sure, but this is a strongly academic read. And as a tired teacher librarian with a huge pile of books to get to so that I can build solidarity with my young readers, I didn't have the mental energy to work through in-text citations, so much research, tiny print, and convoluted arguments. I closely read the introduction and epilogue. I might chalk up my skimming to some intellectual laziness or my preference for the smooth narrative nonfiction being published today. Regardless, Stovall's voice is one I will always heed and champion because he disrupts complacency, puts counternarrative first and foremost, and so expertly frames systemic oppression in public education--we have no choice but to pay attention and resist.