Season 1 Episode 5: Queering Ethnic Studies

In this last episode of our first season, we’re talking queering Ethnic Studies. As Black queer author and activist Audre Lorde reminds us, "There is no such thing as a single issue because we don’t live single-issue lives." Our racial identity cannot be separated from our class, gender identities, sexual orientation, skin color, disabilities, body size, age or all the beautiful parts of us that make us human. Intersectional and liberatory curriculum and pedagogy on queerness in Ethnic Studies is still an area of growth within the larger Ethnic Studies movement-let alone the larger school system- especially in K-12 classrooms.
Though we’ve seen some progress in representation and institutional change in some places throughout the United States for the LGBTQIA2SMahu+ community, we still have so much more work to do, especially in our schools. From book bans, protecting our queer and trans youth from bullying, "Don’t Say Gay" bills, disproportionate mental health challenges due to discrimination and lack of support, and increased rates of suicide and depression, in order for our classrooms to truly be liberatory, we must ensure our LGBTQIA2SMahu+ students are not just seen and heard, but also central to how we work toward our freedom.
In this episode we’re lucky to listen in on a beautiful dialogue between CLES co-founder and core member Jody Sokolower and Ethnic Studies educator and leader Brian Batugo.
Jody is a long-time political activist, educator, writer, and editor. She is the author of "Determined to Stay: Palestinian Youth Fight for Their Village" and is also a cofounder of our Coalition for Liberated Ethnic Studies. As managing editor of "Rethinking Schools" magazine, she also coedited the award-winning "Rethinking Sexism, Gender, and Sexuality" in 2016 and edited "Teaching the Wars in the Middle East" in 2013. Jody has taught middle and high school students, adult English language learners, and teachers.
Brian is a queer Filipinx-American educator with over a decade of experience in K-12 education and community leadership. Brian majored in Ethnic Studies, Theater and Dance at UC Berkeley. He became a classroom teacher upon graduation, first working with K-3 students and then with High School youth. Specializing in Asian American and Filipino American studies, Brian has been instrumental in supporting in-school and after school ethnic studies-rooted youth experiences since 2012, in Stockton and now in San Diego. Currently, Brian works as an Ethnic Studies Resource Teacher in the San Diego Unified School District. He also formerly co-chaired the Big City Social Studies Professional Learning Community (BCSS PLC), a collective of critical history social science teacher educators and central office leaders across the nation focused on learning how to implement critical social studies practices. Brian sustains himself artistically by singing, dancing and performing in Drag with the San Diego Gay Men’s Chorus.
We encourage new listeners to our podcast to start with Season 1 Episode 0 to help orient you and provide context to our liberated Ethnic Studies movement.
For resources from this episode head to our website: ethnicstudies-coalition.org/podcast (ethnicstudies-...)