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

A Groundbreaking and Visionary Call to Action on Educating and Supporting Girls of Color

Monique Morris, the highly acclaimed author of Pushout, has issued a powerful call to action that invokes the spirit of the blues to articulate a radically healing and empowering pedagogy for Black and Brown girls. In this "powerful call to action" (Rethinking Schools), Morris brings together research and real life in a chorus of interviews, case studies, and the testimonies of remarkable people who work successfully with girls of color.

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. Morris taps into this rich tradition to describe with candor and love what it looks like to meet the complex needs of girls on the margins. Sing a Rhythm, Dance a Blues is a "vital, generous, and sensitively reasoned argument for how we might transform American schools to better educate Black and Brown girls" (San Francisco Chronicle).

The result is a radiant guide to moving away from punishment, trauma, and discrimination toward safety, justice, and genuine community in our schools. Morris's work has been praised by respected experts in the field, including Ayanna Pressley, U.S. congresswoman and the first woman of color elected to Boston's city council, who describes her as a "personal shero" and a respected expert in this space.

Sing a Rhythm, Dance a Blues is a call to action that challenges us to rethink the way we approach the education and support of girls of color. Morris's vision is one of transformative change, where schools become places of healing, empowerment, and genuine community. Through her use of the blues as a metaphor and a guiding principle, she offers a powerful and inspiring blueprint for creating a more equitable and just educational system.

At the heart of Morris's work is a deep understanding of the unique challenges and experiences of Black and Brown girls. She recognizes the systemic barriers and forms of discrimination that they face, and she advocates for a radically different approach that prioritizes their needs and amplifies their voices. By centering the testimonies and experiences of remarkable individuals who have found success in working with these girls, Morris provides a powerful counternarrative to the dominant deficit-based perspectives that often define discussions of educational equity.

Sing a Rhythm, Dance a Blues is a must-read for anyone committed to educational justice and the empowerment of marginalized communities. It offers a vision of what is possible when we listen to the wisdom of those who have been on the frontlines of the struggle for equity and justice. Morris's work is a testament to the power of storytelling, community building, and a relentless commitment to creating a more just and inclusive world.

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