Living in the along: a portrait of educational possibilities in the dual pandemic

While there has been much educational scholarship on the schooling experiences of Black children and their so-called “learning loss”, the struggles of Black families to support the schooling experiences of their children, and the mass exodus of Black teachers during the COVID-19 pandemic; such scholarship has perpetuated deficit-based research on Black children, families, educators, and communities. Fortunately, Black educational historians have illuminated far more complex narratives of Black people as architects of Black education. Therefore, this article further advances these narratives by illuminating the fascinating possibilities of Black education even during crises. Through the conceptual frameworks of Black lifemaking and Black placemaking, this article highlights the narrative of a Black educator, parent, grandparent, and an activist for educational justice in Chicago, IL, who engaged in liberatory educational practices during the dual pandemic—the convergence of the COVID-19 Pandemic and anti-Black racism.