Dear Division A Colleagues,
Today, we continue our journey together to (re)center equity and social justice in Division A. As the new chair and co-chair of the Equity, Inclusion, and Action (EIA) Committee, we are committed to this collective work that was started by our predecessors, who sought broader and more intentional approaches to fostering equity and inclusion within the Division. By way of introduction, we are the children (Daniel) and grandchildren (Katherine) of low-income immigrants, the first in our families to attend college, multilingual faculty of color, and possessors of deep personal investment in public schools. We also operate on Indigenous lands in the pursuit of equity and social justice via building coalitions in solidarity with colleagues and community partners. With a great sense of humility and gratitude, we look forward to serving you during this time of extraordinary challenges and possibilities in our society and the world.
We want to extend our gratitude to last year’s EIA committee chair, Dr. Lolita Tabron, for her leadership in working toward the Division’s equity agenda. More specifically, we thank Dr. Tabron for her extraordinary vision in pinpointing key areas of need and her tireless work in increasing the committee’s capacity to respond to those needs. Additionally, through her efforts, we now have a doctoral candidate on the committee. This is a first of many steps in strengthening the committee’s relationship with graduate students and emerging scholars.
The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed and exacerbated preexisting social injustices including unrelenting whiteness and white supremacy; a widening economic gap; human rights abuses; governmental suppression of free speech and free press; the totality of anti-Blackness; and anti-immigrant, xenophobic, and neoliberal social structures that prioritize the economy over human dignity and welfare, all of which stand in staunch opposition to equity and social justice efforts everywhere.
Educational leaders have opportunities to actively challenge such threats to the human condition. We consider leadership complacency in a time of global crisis a form of complicity in existing hierarchies, inequities, and injustices within our schools and broader communities. We have been inspired by the leadership of rising activists in the United States and around the world calling for Black Lives Matter, such as 8-year-old Nolan Davis, who organized and led Black Lives Matter protests for hundreds of young people in Kirkland, Missouri.
We have also seen labor organizing in unprecedented ways during the COVID-19 pandemic. As an example, Blanca Olivares and other Latinx and working-class employees organized a series of strikes calling attention to inadequate health protections and compensation for workers at seven fruit-packing facilities in Yakima Valley, Washington.
In Dallas, Georgia, Hannah Watters, a White high school student, posted a photograph on social media depicting a crowded school hallway in which no one was wearing masks or social distancing, both key CDC guidelines to avoid contracting COVID-19. Watters was initially suspended by the superintendent for conduct, but in her interview, she expressed no regret as her concerns were for the safety of her community. In explaining her actions, Watters quoted the late Representative John Lewis in stating, “This is some good and necessary trouble.”
In New York City, Asian American actor William Lex Ham and rapper China Mac organized hundreds of protesters to march on the streets of Brooklyn to show their support for an 89-year-old Asian American woman who was assaulted and set on fire by two unknown men (the victim did not sustain serious injuries because she was able to put out the flames). The protesters suspected this incident was a hate crime related to anti-Asian racism and sentiments associated with COVID-19 and were angered by the police force’s decision not to classify the case as a hate crime. As of now, that investigation is still ongoing.
In Portland, Oregon, countless mothers of all races coordinated support for the Black Lives Matter movement by standing on the frontlines of protests as they were tear gassed by federal agents. These women subsequently created a national movement called Moms United for Black Lives, now led by local Black activists.
Across North America, not only have health care workers risked their lives on a daily basis during the pandemic, but thousands have participated in peaceful demonstrations against police brutality and racism in medicine and have promoted the health, well-being, and self-determination of Black and Indigenous people and other People of Color under the organization White Coats for Black Lives.
These are just a few examples of the dynamic leadership spreading around North America in response to the injustices magnified by the pandemic. Respectfully, we invite you to join us and other leaders who are actively challenging the coloniality of power in their local contexts. These acts of resistance can help us to reimagine the role of educational leadership in a time of global crisis.
As a committee, we have already hit the ground running this summer by developing group norms and brainstorming an equity agenda for this academic year. We are committed to sustaining an open and continuous conversation about equity and social justice. To begin with, we would like to hear your concerns and ideas for ways to center the humanity of the politically marginalized in this year’s Division A activities. In addition, we intend to update our communication with members of the division through the newsletter.
Despite these global leadership challenges, we remain hopeful that education can serve to transform the present human condition. Through our work, we continue to find fulfillment and gratitude in seeing the power of leaders like you and other social justice educators who are working for change in incremental and profound ways. We see these aforementioned examples of social justice leadership guiding our collective work at a time of urgent challenges to social transformation.
It is our distinct pleasure to introduce our 2020-2021 EIA committee members, whose profiles can be found below. We look forward to working closely with all of you throughout this academic year.
In health, justice, and solidarity,
Daniel D. Liou & Katherine C. Rodela
Chair and Co-Chair, Division A Equity, Inclusion, and Action Committee
Today, we continue our journey together to (re)center equity and social justice in Division A. As the new chair and co-chair of the Equity, Inclusion, and Action (EIA) Committee, we are committed to this collective work that was started by our predecessors, who sought broader and more intentional approaches to fostering equity and inclusion within the Division. By way of introduction, we are the children (Daniel) and grandchildren (Katherine) of low-income immigrants, the first in our families to attend college, multilingual faculty of color, and possessors of deep personal investment in public schools. We also operate on Indigenous lands in the pursuit of equity and social justice via building coalitions in solidarity with colleagues and community partners. With a great sense of humility and gratitude, we look forward to serving you during this time of extraordinary challenges and possibilities in our society and the world.
We want to extend our gratitude to last year’s EIA committee chair, Dr. Lolita Tabron, for her leadership in working toward the Division’s equity agenda. More specifically, we thank Dr. Tabron for her extraordinary vision in pinpointing key areas of need and her tireless work in increasing the committee’s capacity to respond to those needs. Additionally, through her efforts, we now have a doctoral candidate on the committee. This is a first of many steps in strengthening the committee’s relationship with graduate students and emerging scholars.
The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed and exacerbated preexisting social injustices including unrelenting whiteness and white supremacy; a widening economic gap; human rights abuses; governmental suppression of free speech and free press; the totality of anti-Blackness; and anti-immigrant, xenophobic, and neoliberal social structures that prioritize the economy over human dignity and welfare, all of which stand in staunch opposition to equity and social justice efforts everywhere.
Educational leaders have opportunities to actively challenge such threats to the human condition. We consider leadership complacency in a time of global crisis a form of complicity in existing hierarchies, inequities, and injustices within our schools and broader communities. We have been inspired by the leadership of rising activists in the United States and around the world calling for Black Lives Matter, such as 8-year-old Nolan Davis, who organized and led Black Lives Matter protests for hundreds of young people in Kirkland, Missouri.
We have also seen labor organizing in unprecedented ways during the COVID-19 pandemic. As an example, Blanca Olivares and other Latinx and working-class employees organized a series of strikes calling attention to inadequate health protections and compensation for workers at seven fruit-packing facilities in Yakima Valley, Washington.
In Dallas, Georgia, Hannah Watters, a White high school student, posted a photograph on social media depicting a crowded school hallway in which no one was wearing masks or social distancing, both key CDC guidelines to avoid contracting COVID-19. Watters was initially suspended by the superintendent for conduct, but in her interview, she expressed no regret as her concerns were for the safety of her community. In explaining her actions, Watters quoted the late Representative John Lewis in stating, “This is some good and necessary trouble.”
In New York City, Asian American actor William Lex Ham and rapper China Mac organized hundreds of protesters to march on the streets of Brooklyn to show their support for an 89-year-old Asian American woman who was assaulted and set on fire by two unknown men (the victim did not sustain serious injuries because she was able to put out the flames). The protesters suspected this incident was a hate crime related to anti-Asian racism and sentiments associated with COVID-19 and were angered by the police force’s decision not to classify the case as a hate crime. As of now, that investigation is still ongoing.
In Portland, Oregon, countless mothers of all races coordinated support for the Black Lives Matter movement by standing on the frontlines of protests as they were tear gassed by federal agents. These women subsequently created a national movement called Moms United for Black Lives, now led by local Black activists.
Across North America, not only have health care workers risked their lives on a daily basis during the pandemic, but thousands have participated in peaceful demonstrations against police brutality and racism in medicine and have promoted the health, well-being, and self-determination of Black and Indigenous people and other People of Color under the organization White Coats for Black Lives.
These are just a few examples of the dynamic leadership spreading around North America in response to the injustices magnified by the pandemic. Respectfully, we invite you to join us and other leaders who are actively challenging the coloniality of power in their local contexts. These acts of resistance can help us to reimagine the role of educational leadership in a time of global crisis.
As a committee, we have already hit the ground running this summer by developing group norms and brainstorming an equity agenda for this academic year. We are committed to sustaining an open and continuous conversation about equity and social justice. To begin with, we would like to hear your concerns and ideas for ways to center the humanity of the politically marginalized in this year’s Division A activities. In addition, we intend to update our communication with members of the division through the newsletter.
Despite these global leadership challenges, we remain hopeful that education can serve to transform the present human condition. Through our work, we continue to find fulfillment and gratitude in seeing the power of leaders like you and other social justice educators who are working for change in incremental and profound ways. We see these aforementioned examples of social justice leadership guiding our collective work at a time of urgent challenges to social transformation.
It is our distinct pleasure to introduce our 2020-2021 EIA committee members, whose profiles can be found below. We look forward to working closely with all of you throughout this academic year.
In health, justice, and solidarity,
Daniel D. Liou & Katherine C. Rodela
Chair and Co-Chair, Division A Equity, Inclusion, and Action Committee
Meet the Committee Members!
| Joshua Bornstein Joshua Bornstein is presently Assistant Professor and Director of the Educational Leadership program at Fairleigh Dickinson University. Dr. Bornstein has served as teacher, union leader, principal, staff developer, and school board member. He has worked in urban, rural, and suburban communities in Maryland, New Jersey, and New York. His research focuses on inclusive educational leadership that eliminates race, class, gender, disability, and first language as predictors of student success. |  Dr. Joshua Bornstein Assistant Professor of Educational Leadership Fairleigh Dickinson University Teaneck, NJ, USA [email protected] |
 Dr. Floyd Cobb Executive Director, Teaching and Learning Unit Colorado Department of Education Denver, CO, USA [email protected] | Floyd Cobb Floyd Cobb is the Executive Director of the Teaching and Learning unit at the Colorado Department of Education. Additionally, he’s an adjunct faculty member at the Morgridge College of Education at the University of Denver, where he teaches courses on social inequality through the lenses of race, class, and gender. In 2017, Dr. Cobb was awarded the Ruth Murray Underhill Teaching Award for excellence in teaching, which is given to one adjunct faculty member at the university. He has published numerous articles and book chapters and is the lead author of the book Belonging Through a Culture of Dignity, which focuses on dignity as a key component of equity implementation. He is also the author of Leading While Black (2017), an autoethnography detailing his reflections on the Black experience in educational leadership. |
| Ramon Goings Ramon Goings is an Assistant Professor in the Language, Literacy, and Culture interdisciplinary doctoral program at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. Dr. Goings’ research interests are centered on exploring the academic and social experiences of gifted/high-achieving Black males PK-PhD, diversifying the educator workforce in K-12 and higher education, and investigating the contributions of historically Black colleges and universities to education and society. Dr. Goings is the author of over 50 scholarly publications, including four books. His scholarship has been featured in leading academic and popular press outlets, including Teachers College Record, Journal of Teacher Education, Journal of School Leadership, Adult Education Quarterly, Gifted Child Quarterly, Inside Higher Ed, Education Week, and Diverse: Issues in Higher Education. Dr. Goings earned his Doctor of Education degree in urban educational leadership from Morgan State University, Master of Science in human services from Post University, and Bachelor of Arts in music education from Lynchburg College (now University of Lynchburg). |  Dr. Ramon Goings Assistant Professor of Language, Literacy, and Culture University of Maryland, Baltimore Baltimore, MD, USA [email protected] |
 Dr. Hilary Lustick Assistant Professor of Qualitative Methods Lowell College of Education, University of Massachusetts Lowell, MA, USA [email protected] | Hilary Lustick Hilary Lustick is an Assistant Professor of Qualitative Methods at the University of Massachusetts Lowell College of Education, where she teaches in the Educational Leadership EdD and Research, Education, and Evaluation PhD programs. Dr. Lustick studies restorative practices, social emotional learning, and other preventative approaches to school discipline and climate. She also studies the role of emotion in critical reflexivity and how we can mentor rising scholars to recognize and privilege emotional ways of understanding data. |
| James Martinez James A. Martinez is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Educational Leadership & Policy Studies at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, where he also serves as the Assistant Director of the Center for Educational Leadership. After working as a mechanical engineer for seven years, Dr. Martinez served as a classroom teacher and school administrator for 18 years. Dr. Martinez’s research is focused on factors that influence support for and by school administrators, including service to underrepresented populations. He has expertise in mixed method and action research (intervention) methodologies. |  Dr. James Martinez Assistant Professor of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies University of Tennessee, Knoxville Knoxville, TN, USA [email protected] |
 Dr. Catherine O’Brien Associate Professor of Government and Public Affairs AERA Research on the Education of Deaf Persons Special Interest Group Chair Gallaudet University Washington, DC, USA [email protected] | Catherine O’Brien Catherine O'Brien is an Associate Professor of Government and Public Affairs at Gallaudet University. She is also the chair of the AERA Research on the Education of Deaf Persons Special Interest Group. |
| Karen Ramlackhan Karen Ramlackhan is an Assistant Professor at the University of South Florida. Her research intersects matters of policy and leadership to understand the systemic and structural mechanisms that create disparate outcomes for marginalized populations. |  Dr. Karen Ramlackhan Assistant Professor of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies University of South Florida Tampa, FL, USA [email protected] |
 Tanishia Williams Doctoral Candidate Public and Urban Policy The New School New York, NY, U.S.A. [email protected] | Tanishia Williams A teacher, leader, researcher, and advocate for children, Tanishia Williams has worked to redesign education for the past 20 years. A true transformative leader, Ms. Williams has reformed schools and districts to promote student achievement through creative practices, innovative approaches, and reimagined solutions. Rich in experiences with marginalized students from various cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds, Ms. Williams has consistently demonstrated skills in creating, facilitating, and managing programs customized to meet the needs of students with disparate achievement outcomes. Ms. Williams has contributed to the field by working tenaciously to break ceilings and build pathways for those whose access to education is devoid of resources. Guided by her belief that equity in education is one of the greatest civil rights issues of our time, Ms. Williams’s research is grounded in building tools for schools to use to measure, address, and eradicate inequity within their academic programming, climate, and culture. |
| Katherine Rodela Katherine C. Rodela is an Associate Professor of Educational Leadership at Washington State University on the Vancouver campus. As a third-generation Mexican American and first-generation college student, Katherine is committed to being a community-engaged scholar whose research focuses on leadership for educational justice and diversity, with particular emphasis on equity-oriented school and district leadership and Latinx parental leadership and community organizing in education. |  Dr. Katherine Rodela EIA Committee Co-Chair Associate Professor of Educational Leadership Washington State University Vancouver, WA, USA [email protected] |
 Dr. Daniel D. Liou EIA Committee Chair Associate Professor of Educational Leadership and Innovation Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College, Arizona State University Glendale, AZ, USA [email protected] | Daniel Liou Daniel D. Liou is an associate professor of educational leadership and innovation at the Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College at Arizona State University. His research examines three interrelated themes regarding how the sociology of expectations fosters conditions of equity and justice in the educational pipeline: (1) curriculum and instruction, (2) school and community leadership and transformation, and (3) higher education. |
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