Racial equity
We foster an inclusive environment where each member of our school community can reach their full potential.
OUR COMMITMENT
In pursuit of fostering an inclusive, anti-racist organization that delivers equitable outcomes for all, KIPP Indy amplifies our communities’ strengths, centers the perspectives and cultures of students and families, and sharpens policies and practices through a lens of racial equity.
Amplify our communities’ strengths
Sharpen policies and practices
Center the perspectives and cultures of students and families
Equitable outcomes for all
HOW WE’re
learning
At KIPP Indy, we are deeply committed to anti-racism work, which we’ve identified as absolutely necessary in accomplishing
our collective goals.
Part of this mission includes working to deepen our understanding of the history of racism within our community and our country. We do this by completing racial equity trainings throughout the school year. The KIPP Indy Equity Working Group has played a lead role in shaping our equity work from the 2021-22 school year and beyond.
STAFF SPOTLIGHT
In this Staff Spotlight, kindergarten teachers Bri Aikens and Lorena Stevenson share how they are refining our reading curriculum through a culturally responsive lens and how their project is impacting students’ engagement and results.
RESOURCES FOR LEARNING
BOOKS
I’m Still Here: Black Dignity In A World Made For Whiteness Austin Channing Brown
This book explores a Black woman’s journey to self-worth and the pitfalls that kill our attempts at racial justice that bear witness to the complexity of America’s social fabric.
Caste Isabel Wilkerson
In this brilliant book, Isabel Wilkerson gives us a masterful portrait of an unseen phenomenon in America as she explores, through an immersive, deeply researched narrative and stories about real people, how America today and throughout its history has been shaped by a hidden caste system, a rigid hierarchy of human rankings.
Push Out: The Criminalization of Black Girls in School Monique W. Morris
In a work that chronicles the experiences of Black girls across the country whose intricate lives are misunderstood, highly judged—by teachers, administrators, and the justice system—and degraded by the very institutions charged with helping them, Push out exposes a world of confined potential and supports the rising movement to challenge the policies, practices, and cultural illiteracy that push countless students out of school and into unhealthy, unstable, and often unsafe futures.
Undocumented Americans Karla Cornejo Villavicencio
Looking beyond the common stories from the border or the activism of the DREAMers, Cornejo Villavicencio explores the lives of the undocumented and the mysteries of her own life. The stories she tells show the love, magic, heartbreak, insanity, and vulgarity that infuse the day-to-day lives of her subjects.
Additional Literature
- The Myth Of The Model Minority: Asian Americans Facing Racism by Rosalind S. Chou & Joe R. Feagin (white author)
- Two Faces Of Exclusion: The Untold Story Of Anti-Asian Racism In The United States by Lon Kurashige
- We Too Sing America: South Asian, Arab, Muslim, and Sikh Immigrants Shape Our Multiracial Future by Deepa Iye
- Yellow: Race In America Beyond Black And White by Frank H. Wu
- Asian American Dreams: The Emergence Of An American People by Helen Zia
PODCASTS
ARTICLES
SHARED LANGUAGE
To ensure we are engaging in racial equity conversations grounded in shared definitions of terms, we utilize and follow the KIPP Equity Glossary.
Connect
CELEBRATING LATINX HERITAGE MONTH
In honor of Latinx Heritage Month, we highlighted three KIPP Indy staff members- Martha Cortes, Tyfany Bouie, and Felipe Cuatecontzi. They share how representation affected their education and ways that schools can truly center the experiences of Hispanic or Latinx students.
CENTERING OUR COMMUNITY’S LEADERS
In this Community Partner Highlight, Maryori Duarte-Sheffield shares her professional journey to the human services industry and her calling to be a resource to the community. She also shares her reflections on the creation and evolution of Indianapolis’ Latino RoundTable.
ACT – BLACK LIVES MATTER INDY
Black Lives Matter Indy’s mission is to serve, support, and love Black people. We wish to lift unheard voices of people of color, to build and grow the local community, and educate those ready to learn.
We strive to amplify Black femme voices, create new Black spaces, and help those on the path to liberation. We are here to advocate for other oppressed groups, combat mass incarceration, end police brutality, and eradicate white supremacy. We will execute our mission through organizing, civil disobedience, and disruption, by any means necessary.
For those of you who wish to learn how we can best take care of one another and collectively organize for freedom, please read the Black Lives Matter Healing Action Toolkit.