As a part of our second year campaign to promote culturally relevant curriculum and culturally responsive schools, Racial Justice NOW! and the West Dayton Youth Task Force will host veteran education/ administrator Chris Chatmon from the Oakland unified Schools District. Baba Chris serves as Deputy Chief of Equity for the Oakland Unified School District (OUSD) and was named as a “Leader to Learn From” by Education Week magazine. Chatmon was selected as a Campaign for Black Male Achievement “Social Innovation Accelerator” because he is committed to improving life outcomes for all youth and especially African American males. Chatmon is passionate about uplifting the African American community and has dedicated his career and life work to creating pathways of success within Oakland and beyond. His inspirational leadership motivates educators and community members to engage, encourage, and empower young people regardless of gender or non-gender identity, race, class, or nationality.

Chatmon is Founding Executive Director of OUSD’s Office of African American Male Achievement, was principal of an alternative high school in San Francisco, and served as Executive Director of Urban Services at the YMCA in Oakland for over 10 years. Chatmon started his career in education teaching history and physical education in the San Francisco school district. In his spare time he is working with the Brotherhood of Elders Network, Concerned Black Men, and is an active member of the Bay Area Chapter of 100 Black Men, Inc. Chatmon earned an M.A. in Education and a secondary teaching credential in Social Science from Brown University. He also holds a B.S. in Psychology with a minor in Physical Education from San Francisco State University. Chatmon is a dedicated husband and father of three sons.

The Office of African American Male Achievement was launched in 2010 and creates the systems, structures, and spaces that guarantee success for all African American male students in OUSD. African American Male Achievement is an ambitious project designed to dramatically improve academic and ultimately life outcomes for African American male students in Oakland. AAMA is leading the school district by analyzing the patterns and processes that are producing systemic inequities. OUSD’s theory of action, Targeted Universalism, asserts that by transforming the system to support successful outcomes for OUSD’s lowest performing subgroup, OUSD will create a district that improves academic and social-emotional outcomes for all of its students.

As a veteran/ Elder educator and administrator, Baba Chris will cover topics, such as:

• • Cultural identity

• • rites of passage

• • his transformational trip to Santa Fe, New Mexico

• • the significance of the history of the Black Panthers and the Brown Berets on curriculum

• • strategies and tactics from overcome institutional barriers

• • the necessity of healing work

• • classroom rituals and routines outside of the European construct

• • serving all communities while being intentional to the needs of Black children

• • the concept of mastery (personal/academic)

• • the concept of transformation

Click HERE to view the RJN!/ WDYTF Culturally Relevant Curriculum Toolkit