EdSight

Bettina L. Love is a renowned educator, author, and activist known for her work in promoting equity and justice in education, particularly in K-12 classrooms. She currently holds the position of the William F. Russell Professor at Teachers College, Columbia University. Love's academic journey includes earning a Bachelor of Science in Liberal Studies with a minor in Sociology and a master's degree in Elementary Education from the University of Pittsburgh. She further pursued her education by completing a Ph.D. in Educational Policy Studies at Georgia State University.

Throughout her career, Bettina Love has been a leading voice in advocating for restorative justice, abolitionist teaching, and antiracism education. She has made significant contributions to the field through her research, writings, and activism. Love is the author of several impactful books, including “We Want to Do More Than Survive: Abolitionist Teaching and the Pursuit of Educational Freedom” and “Hip-Hop’s Li’l Sistas Speak: Negotiating Hip-Hop Identities and Politics in the New South.”

In addition to her academic work, Bettina Love is actively involved in various initiatives aimed at fighting racial injustice and promoting educational equity. She co-created the Abolitionist Teaching Network (ATN) in 2020, a nonprofit organization that provides resources to educators and families to address systemic racism in schools and communities. Love also collaborated with the Atlanta City Council to establish the Old 4th Ward Economic Security Task Force, which launched the In Her Hands program to provide financial assistance to Black women in Atlanta.

Bettina Love's advocacy for holistic, art-based education that values the humanity and dignity of all students has had a profound impact on the educational landscape. Her work continues to inspire educators, policymakers, and communities to create more inclusive and equitable learning environments for all students.

Bettina Love's contributions to the field of antiracism education are significant and impactful. She advocates for the implementation of antiracist practices in K-12 classrooms to address systemic racism and promote equity and justice for all students. Love emphasizes the importance of creating inclusive and culturally responsive learning environments that celebrate diversity and challenge oppressive structures within the education system.

Through her work, Love highlights the need for educators to actively engage in antiracist teaching practices, which involve acknowledging and dismantling racist beliefs and behaviors. She encourages teachers to incorporate antiracist curriculum and pedagogy that empower students to critically examine issues of race, privilege, and social justice. Love's approach to antiracism education involves fostering a sense of community, empathy, and understanding among students to create a more inclusive and equitable educational experience.

Bettina Love's contributions on self-work and reflection in education emphasize the importance of educators engaging in introspection, personal growth, and critical self-awareness to address issues of equity, justice, and inclusion in the classroom effectively. Love advocates for teachers to examine their own biases, privileges, and assumptions to understand how these factors impact their interactions with students and shape the learning environment.

Love's work encourages educators to engage in ongoing self-reflection to confront and challenge their prejudices, beliefs, and behaviors that may perpetuate systemic inequalities in education. By promoting self-work, Love empowers teachers to cultivate cultural competence, empathy, and humility, essential qualities for creating inclusive and supportive learning environments for all students. Through self-work and reflection, educators can develop a deeper understanding of their role in perpetuating or dismantling oppressive systems within education.

• Love, B., & Tosolt, B. (2010). Reality or rhetoric? Barack Obama and post-racial America. Race, Gender & Class, 17, 19–37. https://www.jstor.org/stable/41674749
• Love, B. (2012). Hip-hop’s li’l sistas speak: Negotiating hip-hop identities and politics in the New South. Peter Lang.
• Love, B. (2014). Hip-hop, grit, and academic success: Bettina Love at TEDxUGA [Video]. TED. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v1⁄4tkZqPMzgvzg
• Love, B. (2014). “I see Trayvon Martin”: What teachers can learn from the tragic death of a young Black male. The Urban Review, 46(2), 292–306.
• Love, B. (2016). Complex personhood of hip-hop and the sensibilities of the culture that fosters knowledge of self and self-determination. Equity and Excellence in Education, 49(4), 414–427. https://doi.org/10.1080/10665684.2016.1227223
• Love, B. (2017). A ratchet lens: Black queer youth, agency, hip-hop, and the black ratchet imagination. Educational Researcher, 46(9), 539–547. https://doi.org/10.3102/ 0013189×17736520
• Love, B. (2017). “She has a real connection with them”: Reimagining and expanding our definitions of Black masculinity and mentoring in education through female masculinity. Journal of Lesbian Studies, 21(4), 443–452.
• Love, B. (2019). Dear White teachers: You can’t love your Black students if you don’t know them. Education Week, 38, 26.
• Love, B. (2019). We want to do more than survive: Abolitionist teaching and the pursuit of educational freedom. Beacon Press.
• Love, B. L., & Muhammad, G. E. (2020). What do we have to lose: Toward disruption, agitation, and abolition in Black education. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 33(7), 695-697.
• Love, B. L., & Muhammad, G. E. (2020). What do we have to lose: Toward disruption, agitation, and abolition in Black education. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 33(7), 695-697.
• Love, B. L. (2021). The 2020 Charles H. Thompson Lecture-Colloquium Presentation: We Cannot Just Research Racism: Abolitionist Teaching & Educational Justice. Journal of Negro Education, 90(2), 153-157.
• Dunn, D. C., Chisholm, A., Spaulding, E., & Love, B. L. (2021). A radical doctrine: Abolitionist education in hard times. Educational Studies, 57(3), 211-223.
• Love, B., McArthur, S., Womack, E., & Muhammad, G. (2021). Kitchen Table Talks: Creating Spaces for Black Girls’ Literacies. In Black Girls' Literacies (pp. 57-63). Routledge.
• Spaulding, E., Adams, J., Dunn, D. C., & Love, B. L. (2021). Freedom dreaming antiracist pedagogy dreams. Language Arts, 99(1), 8-18.
• Love, B. L., Kaba, M., & Gillen, J. (2021). Lessons in liberation: An abolitionist toolkit for educators. AK Press.