As we reflect today on the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., we offer our Resource List as a source of support, inspiration, and sustenance for everyone working to expand inclusion and belonging in their communities, for all those working for justice for marginalized peoples, for liberation for each of us. May our work honor the memory of Dr. King.

As a group and as individuals, we have been thinking and talking about the national election results for the past few weeks, as we imagine all of you have been doing. As you’d expect, we have questions and hopes and fears, but there’s one thing we feel clear about: our unwavering commitment to each other, to you, and to the work we all do together. In that spirit, we offer our big resource list, updated regularly and shared every other month here on our blog.

We are publishing a three-article series in Lilipoh Magazine on cultural appreciation. The first article of the series, focusing on understanding power, has just been published!

Theater productions are incredible opportunities to introduce students to the beautiful and complex nature of our world. Theater is a portal to other times, places, and cultures. Because theater is so vivid and emotional, there are also many places within it where our own biases can lurk. This document offers ideas for, and examples of, a show brought to the stage with context and consciousness. May all your productions open your students’ eyes and swing open doors of wonder and empathy.

Out of decades of experience leading and supporting Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Justice (DEIJ) Committees (who use many variants of the acronym, including EID, EDI, JEDI, and more), we know that strong leadership and clear structure are essential to a committee’s sustainability and working relationships. How can a DEIJ Committee - often made up of volunteers - synthesize a range of opinions, function transparently and effectively, and impact their community for the good of all? 

In independent schools, tuition can be a site of inclusion or exclusion, depending on a school’s policies and practices. Accessible tuition is an essential way for schools to put their values into practice by acknowledging socio-economic diversity, wealth inequality, and the inherent value of all students, regardless of financial access. By developing Accessible Tuition policies, schools can intentionally and purposefully create communities that enable students from a range of backgrounds to learn together.

We hope that you are all settling into the school year. Here is the latest version of our big resource list, which we add to regularly. We hope it will serve you in your curriculum planning; in your conversations with students, colleagues, and families; and in your personal striving.

We hope that all of you are getting some Summer rest, and that your dreams of recharging, reimagining, and refilling your cup are coming true.

We are delighted to introduce our series on Effective Practices today with Hiring Policies that Support DEIJ, which addresses the importance of conscientious employee recruitment and retention.

Below are some introductory historical examples that teachers can use to educate themselves and/or bring into the classroom around solidarity in recent US history. This list serves to highlight only some examples of solidarity; solidarity among different identity groups is diverse and endless.

We hope that this list can inspire teachers to share important history, and compile and share future research with their students.

New this month: a section featuring some of our favorite picture books! (Starts on page 33 of the document.) Enjoy, and may this list support you in your summer planning!

Our big resource list keeps growing. In the past few weeks, we’ve added a link to our recent blog post written to help educators and other adults talk about the violence in Palestine and Israel with compassion and intentionality, included new books to the list, and further refined how the document is organized.

We are extending our grieving hearts to all who read this. In response to the ongoing violence and the scale of devastation that we’re witnessing each day in Palestine, we have compiled a list of resources that we hope will add to the many resources already circulating. 

Each month, we update our reading and resource list. We hope you find it useful!

The following Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Justice, and Belonging Assessment Guide provides perspective on the inclusion and support of different social identities in your school community in an ongoing way. We offer the questions in this guide to support you in honoring and recognizing the impact of intersectionality on the students, families, colleagues, and leadership at your school.

We’re happy to share this resource on teaching about Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr in your school. Written by Kristin Mathis and published the Research Bulletin, Spring/Summer 2021, the article offers guidance on teaching the story and history of Dr. King to children from Early Childhood through Grades 8. May it inspire your work this month and in years to come.

Sometimes, engaging in appreciation means inviting individuals or groups into your classroom or school to share from lived cultural experiences and knowledge. Willingness to share from a personal perspective and come into a new environment is a generous gift and warrants the acknowledgement of potential vulnerability. If your guests are not professional educators, they may benefit from the care created by your guidance.

We all gained so much from the recent conversation between Alma Partners colleagues Aiyana Masla and Randolph Carter, entitled Healing & Hope Across Differences: Uplifting Connection and Affirming Solidarity.

Each month, we update our reading and resource list. This month, we want to share something special: Educational Bookshop in East Jerusalem ships worldwide and is struggling with business because of the war. Placing group orders through them is a great idea for folks looking to do something in solidarity, whether you are a group of teachers, a study group, or a group of friends.

As we enter a time of going inward in the Northern Hemisphere (especially in the northeastern US where several of us live), Alma Partners has been planning for 2024 and beyond.