As I scanned this manuscript prior to sitting down to read it more thoroughly, I was intrigued by the presence of two words: belonging and dignity. As I proceeded more deliberately through the book, I stopped dead in my tracks when I arrived at the subheading in Chapter 5: “Dignity Is Our Birthright.” To that point, I was impressed with the authors’ use of their experiences as equity educators to rightfully point out where schools are too often mired in the newest “magic bullets” that don’t lead to improved educational outcomes.
Cobb and Krownapple have crafted an extremely useful approach to equity-focused topics that aligns with what we know about schools as learning communities. The content is fresh and relevant in ways that foster individual reflection and provide for faculty and staff dialogue. The authors have woven together vision, inclusiveness, relationships, and organizational culture into a tract that a faculty can use in ways that deepen adult relationships that foster inclusive educational practice in service of students.
Randall B. Lindsey, Cultural Proficiency author and Professor Emeritus, California State University, Los Angeles