School for Liberating Education

I established the School for Liberating Education (SLE) in 2021. After teaching at major universities for nearly two decades on topics like race and anti-racism, empire and anti-imperialism, neoliberal globalization and transnational activism among others, I could already see how the kinds of knowledge I was sharing was being systematically undermined. Either university administrators and other funders were actively divesting from the kinds of research I did and which informed the courses l taught or right-wing students and communities groups engaged in intimidation campaigns to prevent the kind of knowledge I and others like e were sharing in and out of the classroom. I decided to retire early from my university job to start SLE so that the communities I care about can get the transformative education we deserve.

I knew there was an active campaign against critical race theory (CRT) and Ethnic Studies by the right-wing that started with #45 and continued even after his failed re-election attempt in 2020. 

I'm not surprised by the January 2025 executive order to end "radical indoctrination"  - which ultimately bans education that invites students to be critical of  structures of power and domination like white supremacy, racial capitalism, heteropatriarchy and the like. 

These are scary times. But we do not need to be afraid. There are many of us who can and will preserve the histories that the current administration will try to erase. 

Even before the concerted attacks on CRT and ethnic studies, I have always thought it was unfortunate that Ethnic Studies courses, including courses in Asian American Studies, are mainly taught at a handful of colleges and universities around the country. Ethnic Studies courses provide vital information and analysis and can be both personally and collectively liberating for those who have the privilege of taking them. I have worked for many years to fight for the expansion of Ethnic Studies at the college and university levels as well as in K-12 education but there are formidable forces that make that prospect challenging. I established the School for Liberating Education  to liberate the liberating education that Ethnic Studies offers from the confines of the “ivory tower” for anyone interested in learning about the histories and experiences of communities of color in the United States. Though I started with courses in Asian Americans (because my most recent teaching job was in an Asian American Studies department) more courses reflecting the histories and experiences of other BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) are being developed and I'm recruiting instructors from a diversity of backgrounds to help me teach.