CJ Greer, Mitchem Fellow in the College of Education, will deliver the Mitchem Lecture on Monday, April 7, at 4 p.m. in Sensenbrenner Hall 304. Greer will speak on “Youth Activism & Possibilities in the Heartland: Lessons From A Milwaukee Community-Based Education Space.”
The lecture is free and open to all; no RSVP is required.
While research highlights the significance of Community-Based Education Spaces for youth and their activism, there is limited focus on Milwaukee’s rich history of youth-led social justice education activism. Much of the scholarship on Midwestern CBES centers on cities like Chicago and Detroit, despite Milwaukee’s longstanding efforts, such as its Freedom Schools in the 1960s, to combat racial discrimination in education. Examining
Milwaukee provides crucial insights into how CBES can support youth activism, particularly in response to anti-social justice legislation and policy shifts, like the reinstatement of police in Milwaukee Public Schools. Hence, this study examines and illustrates the social practices, cultural space, youth development and knowledge found within a Milwaukee Black-led CBES.
Greer is a graduate student at UW–Madison pursuing a Ph.D. in the Department of Educational Policy and Leadership, with a doctoral minor in qualitative research methodology in education.
The Mitchem Fellowship is named in honor of Dr. Arnold L. Mitchem, who earned his doctorate from Marquette in 1981 and is an internationally recognized champion of educational opportunity. Mitchem founded Marquette’s Educational Opportunity
Program and served as its director from 1969–86.
