A teacher's document banning slang from their classroom recently went viral on social media. Some people viewed this as language oppression, and in this episode, Julio discusses this topic with two educators - Vany Miramontes Marquez, the Assistant Principal at Charles M. Schenck Community School, and Alma Martinez, a 3rd Grade ELA-S Teacher and Senior Team Lead at Cowell Elementary School. They share their insights on what language oppression means and how educators can embrace linguistic liberation. Listen to their discussion and ask yourself if you are a language oppressor.

Make sure to check out these amazing scholars and resources who helped inform our conversation for this episode:

• Read this post that prompted this conversation for the show.

• Watch the Linguistic Justice: Black Language, Literacy, Identity, and Pedagogy video created by Dr. April Baker-Bell, Assistant Professor of Language, Literacy, and English Education at Michigan State University.

• Learn more from Dr. José Medina on linguistic liberation and follow him on TikTok!

• Read the following article to learn about ways educators can support children with different language variations in Teaching Reading to African American Children: When Home and School Language Differ by Julie A. Washington and Mark S. Seidenberg.

• Read Angela Valenzuela’s book, Subtractive Schooling to understand more about how this concept plays out for marginalized children in the US education system.

Want to connect with Vany and Alma?

• Reach out to Vany via her work email at v_miramontes-marque@dpsk12.net or at her personal email at vany.miramontes@ucdenver.edu or connect with her via LinkedIn at. Learn more about CMS Community School here.
• Reach out to Alma via email at alma_martinez2@dpsk12.net or connect through LinkedIn and Instagram. Learn more about Cowell Elementary School here.

Want to connect with Julio? Follow him on Instagram at Juicy.J.86 or on LinkedIn.

Music Credits:

"Coffee Date" Beat Provided By https://freebeats.io, Produced By White Hot