PRESS RELEASE: The History of Institutional Racism in U.S. Public Schools

GARN PRESS: 11 RIVERSIDE DRIVE 15DW, NEW YORK, NY 10023-1234. WWW.GARNPRESS.COM

THE HISTORY OF INSTITUTIONAL RACISM IN U.S. PUBLIC SCHOOLS

BY SUSAN DUFRESNE “With the turn of each page, readers will not only travel through history but also be taken along on a remarkable journey of art-full resistance.” – Sandy Grande, Professor of Education and Director of the Center for the Critical Study of Race and Ethnicity (CCSRE), Connecticut College Paperback & Hardcover. 7.5x9.25, 170 pages. Paperback ISBN 978-1-942146-72-8. $24.95. Hardcover ISBN 978-1-942146-73-5. $32.95. Available for wholesale and retail. Retail on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, IndieBound, Books-A-Million, Indigo Books, Waterstones. More Information at www.garnpress.com.

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ABOUT THE BOOK In The History of Institutional Racism in U.S. Public Schools Susan DuFresne shakes us to our foundation with the historically accurate images she has created on the three fifteen foot panels, which Garn Press has transformed into a book that is destined to unite hearts and minds in the struggle for equity and justice for all children in America’s public schools.

“I felt the weight of historical injustice on my brush as I depicted the findings of my research,” Susan DuFresne explains. “But I also felt the tugging of my brush to depict the fight for justice, which is also there throughout history. Teachers especially have always been courageous in their resistance to racism and oppression, and I wanted to share this history to inspire others through the images I was painting to take up that truth and join the resistance movement to end institutional racism in public schools.”

Susan DuFresne is a teacher and activist as well as an artist of exceptional talent, and she has produced works of art that ignite strong reactions and inspire action. At Garn Press we anticipate that the book will encourage conversations within civil society about institutional racism and discrimination in U.S. public schools, and we share Susan’s expectation that the book will be studied by teachers and parents who want a re-Visioning of the role of public education in their children’s lives.

This is a book of hope as well as condemnation. The emphasis is on restorative justice and reconciliation. The graphic depictions of the history of racism and discrimination unite the struggles of resistance movements – including Black Lives Matter and the Badass Teachers Association. It is a call for the reImagining of public schools as places of racial justice that welcome every child in a society that recognizes the nation has an ethical responsibility to honor the civil rights of children and ensures that each child has the very finest education U.S. public schools can provide. The author and Garn Press will donate a part of net profits to Black Lives Matter and to the Lakota People’s Law Project.

ABOUT SUSAN DUFRESNE Susan DuFresne is an artist and educator who advocates across all intersectional groups, organizing for social justice. She works alongside colleagues and friends who are leaders in the Black Lives Matter Movement and the Badass Teachers Association. She is a vocal supporter of Indigenous peoples, the Women’s Movement, and LGBTQIA activists, and cares deeply about environmental issues. She visualizes a future where these diverse groups join together to successfully return power to the people. Susan is currently teaching children in an integrated kindergarten classroom as both a general education and special education teacher. She is active on social media and can often be found participating in marches and rallies for social justice locally and at the state and national levels. One of the important battles she fights is for democratically run schools, as well as a child’s right to play. She pushes against the use of high stakes testing, agreeing with many students, parents, and educators who denounce these tests as racially biased, advocating for their right to opt out.

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