Johnson, Lamar L. “Where Do We Go from Here? Toward a Critical Race English Education.” Research in the Teaching of English, Vol. 53, No. 2, Nov. 2018, pp. 102-124.

In the article “Where Do We Go from Here? Toward a Critical Race English Education,” Lamar L. Johnson proposes “Critical Race English Education (CREE) as a theoretical and pedagogical construct that tackles white supremacy and anti-black racism within English education and ELA classrooms” (102). Johnson supports his proposal through anecdotal evidence and utilizing autoethnography and counterstorytelling. His purpose is to show how CREE can be used as a pedagogical practice in order to cultivate a classroom that is conscious of racial justice issues of the past and present (police brutality, mass incarceration of Black people, and grassroots activism). He directs his article to English teachers who want to create environments that celebrate Blackness and teaches Black children that their language, literacies, and humanity matter. As a student and possible future teacher, I found Johnson’s exploration of CREE and his own experiences as a Black male educator especially important in today’s climate. Recently I read an article about how COVID-19 is disproportionately affecting Black and Brown communities, even though most people are reporting that it has been an “equal opportunity virus” or “non-discriminatory”. I found it interesting that he notes that many teachers want a step-by-step instruction on how to “do” CREE in the classroom, and that he doesn’t provide this. I was initially surprised by this; however, his response that our state of being, heart, and mind has to change was, I feel, in line with his approach and CREE.