UC Irvine

Across the field of education—whether it is in policy making, higher education, or mainstream media—educational equity for Afrikan and Indigenous students is centered around the reformation of compulsory institutions that are rooted in settler-colonialism, genocidal violence, and the removal of colonized children from their communities. As a way of challenging these dominant beliefs, this study utilizes a critical ethnographic approach to investigate the violent history of settler-colonial schools and the historical development of militant education projects as a response to settler-colonial domination within colonized communities—with the focus being on one school in the Oak Park neighborhood of Sacramento, CA. The study combines critical ethnography, Black Studies, Indigenous Research Methodologies, and Pedagogies of Resistance to understand the development of these schools throughout history. Findings show that militant education projects and community-run liberation schools function to provide Afrikan and Indigenous children with a wholesome educational experience that prioritizes their safety, cultural knowledge, and socio-emotional well-being while simultaneously providing them the skills necessary to organize their communities for selfdetermination. Although the focus of this project is on a single school in North America (Turtle Island), this project utilizes historical analysis to place the school within the context of Afrikan and Indigenous liberation movements that have developed their own educational systems throughout modern history.