High School Book Club Explores the Complexities, Joys of Black Life
In a unique book club with Keith LaMar, a man on death row in an Ohio prison, high school students in a teacher-preparation program explored the complexities and joys of Black life, including love, identity, death, and the penal system. Rachel McMillian, an assistant professor in Curriculum & Instruction who co-led the club with LaMar, said such initiatives better prepare pre-service teachers to understand students who are affected by incarceration.
These are people who have been oppressed in some of the most brutal ways, yet have found ways to live, love, build families, and survive in the midst of that. So, it’s extremely important to bring those voices into the classroom, and we shouldn’t hide from those stories or steer children away from them.”