/PRNewswire/ Young, Black & Lit is excited to announce their five-year anniversary with the launch of Give Big, Get LIT: Bridging the Gap Through Literacy.
When Kimberly Holmes-Ross attended the Martin Luther King Jr. Laboratory School in the 5th Ward from 1969 to 1974, she said her education was carried out with intention and “magic.” “We danced, we built things that we were proud of, we painted murals, all in the name of learning,” Holmes-Ross said. “We learned we were.
Organizers from the group Talking Whiteness
, which holds conversations about Whiteness and racism
, facilitated the event, which is the first in a two-part series. Another session will take place May 20 and will be moderated by Evanston Township High School students.
Talking Whiteness member Blaire Frett graduated ETHS in 2012 and grew up in Evanston’s 6th Ward. During the 2012 referendum vote to build a school in the 5th Ward, Frett noticed the pattern of northern Evanston’s two predominately White wards voting against its construction. When the group began their work facilitating discussions on anti-racism last year, Frett said questions around the referendum votes guided their efforts.
Community leaders discussed the possibility of opening a STEM school in the 5th Ward during an Evanston Township High School Closet Committee workshop Wednesday afternoon.
Though the committee usually focuses on providing clothing to students in need, Evanston residents shared updates on Wednesday about the longtime movement to open a 5th Ward school.
The Foster School used to serve the area that would be the 5th Ward until the 1970s, when the school closed due to Evanston/Skokie School District 65’s desegregation plan, according to local Black historian Dino Robinson.
In the wake of school integration, Foster School reestablished as a laboratory school, where White students were bussed to the building. The program grew until it was reestablished as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Laboratory School, now known as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Literary & Fine Arts School, or King Arts.