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Articles

Vol. 6 No. 2 (2020): Journal of Leadership, Equity, and Research

From Ally to Activist: Embracing Activism as an essential component of Social Justice Educational Leadership to Combat Injustice in American Schools

Submitted
August 16, 2020
Published
2020-08-17

Abstract

Educational leaders must embrace activism as central to their efforts to combat racism and other unjust policies in schools. Social justice activism is an intentional action with the goal of bringing about positive social change. It requires leaders to accept their responsibility to actively resist exclusion, prejudice and injustice in our educational system, despite internal or external pressure from others who may thwart their efforts to promote social justice. The aim of this article is to bring to the forefront how social justice education leadership and social activism must be coupled as essential tools within the blueprint to end injustice. This article begins with defining the terms: ally (alliance), advocate (advocacy) or activist (activism) as they relate to social justice leadership in education and places them upon a newly constructed continuum (Social Justice Action Continuum) to battle overt racism and the “New Racism”. The continuum recognizes that educational leaders need an objective measure of their level of commitment to lead social change to fully understand the benefits and consequences.  The article proposes a paradigm shift in educational leader preparation, which focuses on social justice activism.