#LiberateToEducate: Youth Justice Project Demands DPS End School-To-Prison Pipeline

Durham, NC – Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said that  “injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” A multidisciplinary group, predominantly people of color, in Durham heeded Dr. King’s words and started the Southern Coalition of Social Justice in August of 2007. This group believed that families and communities engaged in social justice struggles need a team of lawyers, social scientists, community organizers, and media specialists to support them in their efforts to dismantle structural racism and oppression. The Southern Coalition for Social Justice now has a program, the Youth Justice Project (YJP), dedicated to addressing injustices to young people of color.

Started in January of 2015, YJP is committed to ensuring fair, supportive, and effective public education and juvenile justice systems in North Carolina. YJP envisions a future where young people of color attend schools that lift them up; live in communities that follow their lead; and are served by governments that invest in their future. 

The Youth Justice Project is demanding that Durham Public Schools (DPS) immediately end the school-to-prison pipeline by removing police, ending exclusionary discipline, liberating the school environment, implementing culturally relevant curriculum, and establishing mental health spaces and safe spaces for LGBTQIA+ youth at every school. Believing the over-policed school atmosphere can initiate, rather than alleviate, misbehavior by increasing anxiety, alienating students, creating a sense of mistrust between peers, and forming adversarial relationships with school officials, the group initiated the #LiberateToEducate movement, in partnership with Durham Beyond Policing. They are calling for a liberated school environment where students from marginalized communities have the freedom to determine their educational experience while feeling safe, loved, and supported.

In this episode of #SpecMagShorts, I talked with YJP student leaders Nicholas Brown, a junior at Jordan High School, and Durham Tech Middle College senior Valerie Zeigler. They detail their #LiberateToEducate movement. During the interview, Brown said, “One of the most visible forms of oppression in DPS we noticed was the SRO’s (Student Resource Officers) are supposed to “protect students from harm and endangerment. However, they are creating fear and uneasiness for Black and Brown students in DPS.” Zeigler added, “It is important to note that school policing represents a belief that people of color need to be controlled and intimated within their school environment.” Also included is a public service announcement created by YJP.

(Watch #SpecMagShorts) Youth Justice Project Demands DPS End School-To-Prison Pipeline

The Youth Justice Project is making an impact in the community by pointing out the issues within DPS and offering solutions. Brown stated, “Throughout our demands, we created a list of recommendations for the district that reflect the wants and the needs of students.” One of the first steps of liberating DPS according to Brown is to, “remove the police officers from schools and then add the other demands to truly liberate the school environment.” Zeigler explained, “One of the best experiences with this project is learning from other students’ experience and perspectives to gain a better understanding to execute these policies and ideas for liberation in DPS.”

School policing and student criminalization are linked to a long history of racial oppression, extending the arms of Jim Crow into modern classrooms. In addition to Ending exclusionary discipline practices that remove students from their learning environment, YJP wants laws and policies eliminated that criminalize students for schoolyard behaviors.  Doing so will drastically decrease the number of Black and brown youth funneled into the school-to-prison pipeline and help create positive school climates for all students.

For more information visit southerncoalition.org/youth-justice-project/