Sing a Rhythm, Dance a Blues: Education for the Liberation of Black and Brown Girls

Wise Black women have known for centuries that the blues have been a platform for truth-telling, an underground musical railroad to survival, and an essential form of resistance, healing, and learning. In her highly anticipated follow-up to the widely acclaimed Pushout, now a core text for teachers and principals on the criminalization of Black girls in schools, leading advocate Monique W. Morris invokes the spirit of the blues to articulate a radically healing and empowering pedagogy for Black and Brown girls.

A clarion call for educators, parents, and anyone who has a stake in a better tomorrow to transform schools into places where learning and collective healing can flourish, these pages journey from Oakland to Ohio and from New York to Iowa City and beyond. Morris describes with candor and love what it looks like to meet the complex needs of girls on the margins. In doing so she offers a collection of gems from educators who are attuned to the patterns of pain and struggle, and who show how adults working in schools can harness their wisdom to partner with students and help the girls they teach find value and joy in learning.

Sing a Rhythm, Dance a Blues reimagines what education might look like if schools placed the thriving of Black and Brown girls at their center. Morris brings together research and real life in this chorus of interviews, case studies, and the testimonies of remarkable people who work successfully with girls of color. The result is this radiant manifesto--a guide to moving away from punishment, trauma, and discrimination toward safety, justice, and genuine community in our schools.

In the tradition of For White Folks Who Teach in the Hood and Other People's Children, Morris's new book is a clarion call--for educators, parents, students, and anyone who has a stake in a better tomorrow--to transform schools into places where learning and collective healing can flourish.

About Dr. Monique Morris:  Co-founder of the National Black Women's Justice Institute, is the author of several books, including Pushout, and Black Stats. Her work has been featured by NPR, the New York Times, MSNBC, Essence, The Atlantic, the Washington Post, Education Week, and others. She lives in the Bay Area with her husband and two daughters.