Author, scholar and educator Bettina L. Love delivers summit keynote
The University of Colorado community welcomed noted author, scholar and educator Bettina L. Love as the keynote speaker of the 2023 systemwide CU Social Justice Summit. Love, the William F. Russell professor at Columbia University鈥檚 Teachers College, gave a talk titled, 鈥淲e Gon鈥 Be Alright, But That Ain鈥檛 Alright: Abolitionist Teaching and the Pursuit of Educational Freedom.鈥
A recognized dynamic, engaging speaker, Love鈥檚 presentations center on abolitionist teaching, education reform, anti-racism, hip hop education and feminism, Black girlhood, queer youth, art-based education to foster youth civic engagement, and issues of diversity and inclusion.
During its 50th anniversary celebration last year, the Kennedy Center named her one of its making the world a more inspired, inclusive and compassionate place.
Love is the author of 鈥淲e Want to Do More Than Survive: Abolitionist Teaching and the Pursuit of Educational Freedom鈥 and 鈥淗ip Hop鈥檚 Li鈥檒 Sistas Speak: Negotiating Hip Hop Identities and Politics in the New South.鈥 Her talk for CU鈥檚 four campuses and the system administration will center on the struggles 鈥 and the possibilities 鈥 of committing to an abolitionist goal of educational freedom.
鈥淎bolitionist teaching is built on the creativity, imagination, boldness, ingenuity, and rebellious spirit and methods of abolitionists to demand and fight for an educational system where all students are thriving, not simply surviving,鈥 Love says.
Love co-founded the to support teachers and parents confronting injustice in their schools and communities, created the, and is a founding member of the Atlanta City Council鈥檚.
In 2014, she was invited to the first, and in a separate that year, she gave what organizers called 鈥渁n impassioned talk鈥 on 鈥淗ip Hop, Grit and Academic Success.鈥 Love became the Nasir Jones Hiphop Fellow at the Hutchins Center for African and African American Research at Harvard University in 2016.
In 2017, Love participated in a lecture on liberatory education alongside the late celebrated writer, social activist and scholar bell hooks, and in 2018, Georgia鈥檚 House of Representatives presented her with a resolution for her impact on the field of education.
Born in Rochester, New York, Love earned a bachelor鈥檚 degree in liberal studies and a master鈥檚 degree in elementary education at the University of Pittsburgh and a doctorate in educational policy studies at Georgia State University.