Kimberly N. Parker - Literacy Is Liberation: Working Toward Justice Through Culturally Relevant Teaching

ASCD Member Book

Many ASCD members received this book as a member benefit upon its initial release.
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To Elliott, Chloe, Caleb, and Clinton.

Put your crowns on, my loves.

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I am grateful to have always been held in communities of loving care that have enabled me to write Literacy Is Liberation.

My grandparents, Beulah and Robert, who taught me to read, who told me I could do whatever I set my mind to, who enabled me to love learning and literacy, and who nurtured my interior life were creators of my first community. For my mother, Karen, who loved me the best she could when I was younger, and who loves me in all the ways I'm learning to need now. For my siSTARS: Brooklyn, who never fails to come through with the right advice, insight, or joke and whose wisdom about mothering has been some of the very best. May you receive all the blessings back to you for the immense goodness you put into the world. Ashley, who has carved out her own place in the world and it's one that is good and amazing and all your own. My niece and nephews: Chloe, Caleb, and Clinton. You three provide such great energy, hilarity, and love. I am so proud of you and also so glad that Elliott has you to grow up with and to know that Kentucky is always our home. I hope you will range widely and freely as you grow and move through the world and take up all the space you want. To my aunts and uncles, especially Denice, Shawn, and Joel, steadfast supporters all these years. To Erica: you're my person. I love you. Here's to horizons of endless possibilities and revolutionary futures, always with you. And forever thanks, to my sun, Elliott. All of this is for you. Thank you for picking me to be your mom and for showing me, daily, how to live and build the world you and, we, all need. I love you the most.

To the friends who have become my chosen family: Shaunya and Robert. My Boston day-ones! We have shared so many moments, been there for each other, and come back together, all to a 90s R&B soundtrack. We remain. I love that we have each other as we walk this path (and that Shaun is walking it faster than we are, lol. #allshadealltea). To Tricia Ebarvia, thank you for your generosity that made my teaching stronger and my advocacy clearer. Anna Osborn, you live the research and practice of literacy daily, in such a powerful way that honors and sees children of color. May we all fight for kids and their literacy lives as you have. Tiana Silvas, whether it's talking about writing, sharing the incredible work your students composed, or chatting about seven-year-olds: you are honest, loyal, true. Your thoughtful surprises in the mail have kept me going over these years, and I appreciate them, and you, with all my heart. Aeriale Johnson. My kindred spirit who has become such a wonderful confidante, mirror and window, and true friend. You speak up and say the things that need to be voiced, and you model how to be unapologetically yourself. #squad forever! Julia Torres and Lorena German, my #DisruptTexts cofounders: thank you for modeling fierce solidarity and community. Michelle Li introduced me to so many ideas and practices that have made me a better human being, most important of them the willingness to believe in myself and to always ask questions about my own assumptions. You're the perfect companion to burn it all down with any day, and I thank you for reminding me to be brave enough to start again and again, and again.

Dr. Nicholas and Lisa Lynn have held my center, from when I was growing up in Kentucky to the present. I adore you both. You have always been my home and my family. Thank you. From the moment I talked to you on an actual phone and then met you in the aisle of a Houston Walgreens, there was just something about you, Kate Mehok, that destined us to be friends. You are the person who has known me through all the iterations of who I was becoming. You have always known the importance of just showing up, and that reliability has taken us all over the country, in various cars, in the most delightful and perplexing of situations, and you stayed. I remember every single kind gesture you've made throughout these years and am filled with so much gratitude for you and our friendship. Allan Ferola, you're my financial north star who is also a life coach, and you're so good at it! Thank you for being on my board of advisors and being so honest and so consistent in your belief in me and your insistence that I learn to manage my own life, stepping aside while I've figured that out, and always being willing to coach, cheer, and laugh along with me on the journey.

I am honored to know educators who are the very best at what they do, and who, because they care about young people and our profession, took the time to mentor me as I became the teacher I always dreamed of being. Michele Leong was my colleague for two years and did an admirable job of creating a sense of belonging while I gained confidence in the classroom. I most love that she modeled the importance of intersectional accomplices and continues to be one. Catherine Nicastro kept sending me the perfect poems over the years, knowing that the right words, in the right moment, can be exactly the salve my soul needs. Dr. Joseph R. Rodriguez is a friend of my mind and heart, always encouraging, always generous, always loving our children and teaching them well. Thank you for always nudging me to keep writing, to just sit down and try, and for telling me that the world was waiting for my words.

I've had the extraordinary blessing to have the mentors and teachers that loved me and pushed me to be, and do, my very best. To Drs. Violet J. Harris and Arlette I. Willis: you always were willing to help me think through ideas, to challenge me to dig deeper, to confront myself, and to always keep the needs of real children and teachers at the core of my work. You also mothered me deeply and loved me through my time with you and continue to encourage me from afar. Thank you for your mentorship. Dr. Theresa Perry, from the moment we met all those years ago, you saw something in me that I couldn't even dare to see in myself. Over the years, your unfailing encouragement, wisdom, and faith have pushed me to explore heights I would have never imagined for myself. Thank you for holding such a steady belief in me.

To the ASCD team, Allison Scott and Megan Doyle. Allison, your quiet persistence, ability to sketch out this book in a way that convinced me I could actually do it, and your encouragement along the way helped make this such a positive project! I will also be grateful, always, for the well-placed Pride and Prejudice comments that made me giggle and keep writing. Megan, thank you for picking up the baton after Allison passed it to you and keeping the book moving along. You were the ideal combination of cheerleader and warm demander. I appreciate your patience and confidence in this project.

A final thank you to the biggest community I've ever been fortunate to belong: that of the young people I've worked with and learned from over the years. Thank you for trusting me with your reading lives, with your brilliant selves, and believing that, together, we could change the world. I know you're out there doing just that, and I'm so very proud of you.