School Leadership in the New Jim Crow: Reclaiming Justice, Resisting Reform

As legacies of injustice and multi-generational histories of trauma endured by communities of color continue to manifest themselves materially in K-12 schools, this special issue explores what it means to lead schools in the New Jim Crow. Grounded in critical theories of anti-racism, justice, and advocacy, the articles featured in this special issue examine the prospects of community-based, justice-oriented approaches to educational leadership from multiple perspectives and across various contexts. Through their new conceptualizations of educational leadership, the contributing authors deepen and extend the leadership for equity, diversity, and social justice literature through much-needed racial realist and critical perspectives on how leaders lead amid community disinvestment, gentrification, and neoliberal school reform.