The Social Justice and Community Outreach Committee shall develop and strengthen ties with other unions, community groups, and the PPS student union, and shall provide members opportunities to support and organize around social justice issues related to public education.
Chairpersons: Julie Whitaker - Bridlemile ES
Ron Morgan- Marysville ES
Board Liaison: Langston Hamilton- Substitute
Meeting Dates: March 5th, April 16th, and May 21st
SJCO meetings are hybrid this year! You can join over zoom or in person at the PAT Office. RSVP here!
Social Justice and Community Outreach Committee (SJCO):
February: Black History Month
When History Months are under attack, what do we do? Organize, fight back! Materials for Black History Month are readily available on the internet, your local library, and from resources provided by PAT and NEA. As always, SJCO encourages all educators to take steps to integrate ethnic and cultural studies into their year-long scope and sequence throughout the year. Here are a few resources to get you started:
https://www.pdxteachers.org/blmwoa
https://www.learningforjustice.org/magazine/dos-and-donts-of-teaching-black-history
https://www.blacklivesmatteratschool.com/curriculum.html
NEW from SJCO: Check out the February Playlist on Spotify here
This SJCO playlist for February examines Beatlemania, birthdays, assassination, Lunar New Year, the Super Bowl, and celebration of Black History Month.
As a teacher, Black History Month, Beatlemania, the birthdays of Bob Marley and Huey P. Newton, the assassination of Malcolm X, Dilla Day (the birthday and passing date of J Dilla), and the Lunar New Year are posted on our classroom community calendar to explore in our 3rd Grade learning.
As a DJ, Beatlemania, the birthdays of Marley, Nina Simone, Johnny Cash, Kurt Cobain, and Dilla Day play apart of the selections cued up throughout the month’s bookings. (Of course so is Black History, which is at the forefront of music in general.)
These selections are all intentional for these reasons, and February’s selection playlist starts off with jazz covers of the Beatles. The Beatles are a fascinating musical story influenced by Black American musicians that rarely received credit they were due. The Beatles often spoke of this and refused to play venues in the south that practiced segregation. Seven Beatle covers here are included to show the artistry paid forward they in turn influenced highlighting multicultural musicians across genres.
The selections continue with a hip hop track featuring an artist from Hong Kong over a beat produced from Chinese records, Kendrick Lamar (who had a historical musical year and is set to play at the Super Bowl), a song highlighting the significance of both Huey P. Newton and Malcolm X, a musical score capturing the energetic complexity of the last year of Malcolm X’s life (not included on the Spotify playlist),J Dilla produced songs, selections celebrating birthdays, and closing again with a variation of jazz Beatle covers.
-Ron Morgan
February 20, 5:00-6:30: BARWE Zoom (Building Anti-Racist White Educators)
SJCO and CAT are co-hosting this white educator Anti-Racist education and accountability group.
We are zooming once a month, generally the 3rd or 4th Thursday of the month. This cohort is still open to PAT members, PFSP members, and student candidates to join (you did not have to attend the January session). However, to foster trust and consistency, this cohort will likely close to new participants after the February 20 session.
Here is more information regarding BARWE (https://www.barwe215.org/about-us.html) and please register here (https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdmfWFVdFFLwcc5nER5THRtw5SIbiSk7ElBWYyFifeJNvk3mg/viewform?usp=sf_link)
April 14: Black History Series with Zinn (4-5:15 p.m.) and PAT Educator Aftersesion Zoom (5:15-6:00)
From the Zinn Education Project: “On Monday, April 14, 2025 [4:00-5:15 over zoom], historian Mary Phillips, in conversation with Rethinking Schools editor Jesse Hagopian and Rethinking Schools executive director Cierra Kaler-Jones, will discuss her book, Black Panther Woman: The Political and Spiritual Life of Ericka Huggins. This is the first biography of Ericka Huggins, a queer Black woman who brought spiritual self-care practices to the Black Panther Party.”
You can get PD hours for this event! Register here:
https://www.zinnedproject.org/news/black-panther-woman-ericka-huggins/
Join PAT member attendees for an after-session zoom (5:15-6:00). SJCO will gift the featured book to up to ten members! Register here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSerQY8XBQ9dT0giI4GKf5T5BQj35PZe5NRKf2wuK7WuftReMg/viewform?usp=header
Immigrant Rights
SJCO, Racial Equity Committee, PAT leadership, and PAT members are collaborating on action plans to respond to harm and threat of harm toward students, family, or staff based on perceived immigrant and refugee status. Continue to read information from PAT, OEA, and NEA to stay informed and be prepared with the ongoing concerns and threats towards the immigrant community. Many schools are self-organizing action teams in connection with immigrant rights organizations. Please check the February RA slides for a list of helpful organizations.
Want to do more? Contact [email protected] to form a subcommittee to create a PAT member driven resolution on supporting and upholding immigrant rights in our schools and communities.
Trans Rights
As Trump's executive orders attempt to invisibilize and harm our trans siblings and community, SJCO and PAT leadership remain committed to keeping each other safe and staying actively informed. We are working to hold PPS accountable to their statements of sanctuary and support of trans and gender expansive youth in our schools. We strive to be "responsive not reactive" in the words of Basic Rights Oregon, Oregon's longest running LGBT rights organization. Check out their helpful updated resources here
Here are some resources that may be helpful for your own knowledge building or to help you with talking to students.
Resource from McDaniel Educators
Resource from Cleveland Educators
Reporting Form for Harm or Threat of Harm to Students, Families, or Staff Based on Perceived Gender, Sexuality, or Perceived Immigration Status
The Social Justice/Community Outreach committee and PAT Governance and staff have collaboratively developed an internal reporting form for any PAT member to report instances of abuse or harm, or threat of harm towards staff, student, or community members due to perceived identity markers such as immigrant status, gender or sexual identity. This can both directly support tracking violations of Article 24 of our contract as well as help follow up with your site's administrators & PPS central office staff to ensure the incident is responded to appropriately. Please share and use this form so that we are all able to stay connected, informed, and organized across our large membership.
If you witness and/or support a member with a harmful or threatening incident against a student, staff or community member in your school, please respond to this internal reporting form so that we are able to follow up with impacted members and provide additional support as needed. If you or another member fills it out on behalf of someone else experiencing the incident, please first confirm with them that they are willing to receive direct follow up from PAT staff or elected PAT leadership.
We take care of each other. Always.