upcoming events
Date & Time
Thursday, March 21 | 6-7:30 pm
RSVP: https://go.prairie.org/sslpage.aspx?pid=458
About
The Public Square and Hull-House Museum present, Fighting for the Soul of Public Education: A Conversation with Barbara Miner
Following a reading from her book, Barbara Miner will be in conversation with David Stovall, Associate Professor of Educational Policy Studies and African-American Studies at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Also, Laura Ramirez (community activist) and Xian Barrett (CPS teacher) will participate as community respondents. Photographs exhibited by Sarah Jane Rhee of loveandstrugglephotos.com
Join us for the launch of Miner's new book which chronicles the last 50 years of public schooling in Milwaukee. Lessons from the Heartland: A Turbulent Half Century explores the pernicious effects of the city's hypersegregation and joblessness on public schooling. With a sweeping portrait of the city's educational "reforms" Miner explores the intricate connections between race, housing, jobs, and education.
Illuminating the local nuances of public schooling, members of the Chicago community will punctuate the conversation with Miner, offering insight into the possibilities and promise of our city's beleaguered public school system. What do these two midwestern cities, fraught will similar challenges of segregation and unemployment suggest for the future of the American public education and democracy? What can the arts community, public health, business and other stakeholders bring to bear on the future of urban public education?
"Lessons from the Heartland is a social history with the pulse and pace of a carefully crafted novel and a Dickensian cast of unforgettable characters. With the eye of an ethnographer, the instincts of a beat reporter, and the heart of a devoted mother and citizen activist, Miner has created a compelling portrait of a city, a time, and a people on the edge. This is essential reading." -Bill Ayers, author of To Teach: The Journey in Comics and Teaching Toward Freedom, co-editor of City Kids, City Schools
"The story of Milwaukee is really the multi-layered tale of how America has long avoided committing to the education of low-income students of color. A must read for anyone seeking the real back story of our educational policy-making." -Lisa Delpit, bestselling author of Multiplication Is for White People and Other People's Children
Lessons from the Heartland has also been awarded the "Studs and Ida Terkel Award," presented annually by New Press to the book which best honors Studs Terkel's legacy.
Book signing and sales after program. Event is free and open to the public.
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* All views expressed are those of the guests and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, the Jane Addams Hull-House Museum, or the University of Illinois at Chicago, College of Architecture and the Arts.