Public Radio for the Piedmont and High Country
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Author and activist Bettina Love speaks in Winston-Salem about injustices in education

Bettina Love is the William F. Russell Professor at Teachers College, Columbia University and the bestselling author of "We Want To Do More Than Survive." Image courtesy of Sylvia Oberle.

Bettina Love is the William F. Russell Professor at Teachers College, Columbia University and the bestselling author of "We Want To Do More Than Survive." Image courtesy of Sylvia Oberle.

Author Bettina Love visited Winston-Salem Tuesday evening to talk about the impacts of decades-long education reforms on Black students. 

Love published her book, “Punished for Dreaming: How School Reform Harms Black Children and How We Heal,” last year. 

At the event on Tuesday, she spoke about changes to education policies over the last 40 years — specifically an increase in punishment and a decrease in funding, which she says all contribute to a narrative of failing schools. 

Love says that’s still happening, and referenced the rise in book bans and legislation limiting teaching on race and sexuality.  

“We're watching a small group of people change the very course of public education for all of our children," Love said. "That's why we have to get involved because we actually have the numbers. We say 'Power to the People' for a reason.”

For Love, the solution is to fight for more equitable systems and structures, but also for reparations. 

The event was organized by Equity Forsyth, a coalition of community partners including local universities, nonprofits and Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools.

Amy Diaz covers education for WFDD in partnership with Report For America. You can follow her on Twitter at @amydiaze.

Amy Diaz began covering education in North Carolina’s Piedmont region and High Country for WFDD in partnership with Report For America in 2022. Before entering the world of public radio, she worked as a local government reporter in Flint, Mich. where she was named the 2021 Rookie Writer of the Year by the Michigan Press Association. Diaz is originally from Florida, where she interned at the Sarasota Herald-Tribune and freelanced for the Tampa Bay Times. She holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of South Florida, but truly got her start in the field in elementary school writing scripts for the morning news. You can follow her on Twitter at @amydiaze.

Support quality journalism, like the story above,
with your gift right now.

Donate