November 30, 2021
Athens Anti-Discrimination Movement
1-800-9 AADM 07
(1-800-922-3607)
Local Series Designed to Support Anti-Racist Educators to Host Closing Panel This Thursday
A coalition of local educators, professors, and community members organized by the Athens Anti-Discrimination Movement (AADM) to promote anti-racist education will host a closing panel for its Teach the Truth Thursday (T3 Thursdays) series this Thursday, December 2nd from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. at AADM Justice Center in Georgia Square Mall. This panel is designed to culminate T3 Thursday’s 8 weeks run by reviewing what the group has learned about enacting and supporting anti-racist education in Georgia Schools and what can be done moving forward.
T3 Thursdays was founded in resistance to Governor Brian Kemp’s endorsement of the Georgia Department of Education’s resolution against teaching about topics such as systemic racism, white supremacy, and movements for racial justice. Many educational scholars have pointed out how Georgia’s resolution, and the suite of similar resolutions passed in other conservative states, purposefully misuse the label “Critical Race Theory” to describe instruction on these topics as a way to block truthful teaching of our nation’s history. As such, this resolution has been widely criticized as a brazen attempt by state Republican lawmakers to suppress teachers’ ability to teach the truth about the role of racism, white supremacy, and movements for racial justice throughout American history. T3 Thursday was designed as a community response to politicians who wish to squash teachers’ right to teach our students the truth so that we may move towards a more racially just future.
For 7 weeks, university professors and local educators have hosted weekly sessions at the AADM Justice center designed to build a community of educators dedicated to anti-racist education in the face of these nefarious attempts by the political Right. T3 Thursdays has gained widespread community support for its grassroots organizing of local educational stakeholders around these timely issues, with many local teachers returning for multiple sessions. One recent participant, a teacher at a local Athens high school, highlighted the impact of the T3 community when she shared “this is the best professional development I have ever received.”
This Thursday will conclude T3 Thursday’s 8-week duration, with a panel of past presenters synthesizing the lessons the group has learned so far and facilitated by the nationally recognized anti-racist scholar and educator Dr. Tianna-Dowie Chin. It will include a Q & A session with past presenters as well as provide a place for community members to ask their own questions. Participants can register to join in person at the AADM Justice Center or online, with those joining in person being provided a free dinner by the AADM. All in-person participants are asked to wear a mask and follow social distancing guidelines.
For more information, please contact:
Amelia H. Wheeler
678-787-0803
AmeliaLHaynes82@gmail.com
Athens Anti-Discrimination Movement
Athens Anti-Discrimination Movement (AADM) is a grassroots, 501(c)(3) organization founded in 2016 and based in Athens, Georgia. The group aims to combat discrimination through education and activism. For more information visit www.aadmovement.org, their Facebook @AADMovement, or their Twitter and Instagram @aadmovement706