Black Joy & Accountability: As a future teacher, fighting for injustice may appear like a tall and overwhelming order. However, I am humbled and inspired to take part in the effort to create a better world. And I agree that there is joy to be gleaned from this effort. Analogously, teachers may be underpaid and undervalued and overworked, so I think one must find joy in the vocation until the educational survival complex is dismantled. So in the meantime, we must hold ourselves to a "level of accountability that focuses on justice, love, healing, and restoring humanity" (122).

Solidarity & Coconspirators: The author tries to make a difference between an ally and co-conspirators. I personally take caution on matters of nomenclature and semantics because even the word coconspirator can take on a negative connotation. One notable quote from this section was "until you can recognize that you are living a racialized life, and you are having racialized experiences everyday, you can't actually engage people of other races around the idea of justice. (119)"

The Work: This longest subsection of the chapter gave us future teachers countless examples of change/grassroot efforts at the local and individual level. Sometimes I feel that I am just a little teacher in a big world. But this section reminds us that we need to DO the change that we want to see in the world. Little acts of change are significant because no one person can solve this great problem. However, I vehemently disagree with the authors argument on pg 114 where they state "This radical democratic tradition cannot be traced to the founding fathers or the Declaration of Independence." This country was founded upon democratic ideals, it is is through the Constitution that people have legally gained rights to vote and have been granted the right to protest. If we we not in America, where we strive to make a "more perfect union," we wouldn't be allowed fight for change and challenge our leaders.

Watch Out For Takers: I would argue that love of wealth over people is at the core of inequity & inequality. If money is power, then it is in the dominant group's interest to keep "dark bodies" economically oppressed. That infamous Pepsi commercial yet one more "gimmick" that fail to address the root problem of racism.

Freedom Dreaming: Social change and revolutions start with ideas. And yes, indeed imagination is the greatest tool we have to build a better world. I was inspired by the quote on page 102 which said "Freedom dreaming gives teachers a collective space to methodically tear down the educational survival complex and collectively build a school system that truly loves all children and sees school as children's homeplace, where students are encouraged to give the world hell."Reading this also quote reminded me of John Lewis and how he advocated getting into "good trouble!"

Congo Square: I have actually been to Congo Square! As a musician/artist myself, I agreed with the author's argument about the role of art in society. I believe that you can judge a lot about a society by how that society treats its children and its artists. I agree with the author when "they say that "art helps people remember their dreams hopes and desires for a new world" However, I would add that art also can serve as a tool for self-reflection. Children and art are the legacy a society leaves behind-or rather for the future.

Beacon Hill: I enjoyed reading about Beacon Hill because it reminds us of the importance of community spaces as central for change. Community is so integral because there is power in numbers. At Beacon Hill, black and white people collaborated and joined forces to bring about change. Reading about Beacon Hill reminded me that we all can contribute to the cause of building a better world.

In this first introductory section of this chapter, we are introduced to the concept of "abolitionist teaching." Abolitionist teaching is a way of life and a way of seeing the world. As future teachers, perhaps the most relevant point the author makes is the fact that the "educational survival complex" has to be dismantled-not just reimagined.