We Will Not Walk Through Rotten Orchards: Abolition and (Re)nourishing the Soil of Black Communities Through Insulated Praxis in Education

Abstract

During a time of racial unrest and attention to social justice, Black communities are developing a deeper understanding of prevailing systemic flaws in policing, policies, and education. There are movements within the Black community toward rebuilding systems constructed to subjugate. While much of the existing research focuses on ways to reform or refine these systems, my concept of insulated praxis seeks to create institutions within Black communities designed for the betterment and well-being of Black people, with a particular focus on applications in education. Using frameworks based on Black, Indigenous, Women of Color feminist theory as well as resistance theory with the extended application of abolitionist theory, insulated praxis aims to spread toward other subjugated communities with local, national, and global applications. The hypothesis that this concept, embodied in particular by the educational organization Making Us Matter, will enrich Black educational experiences and, by extension, Black lives while (re)invigorating Black communities, is the basis of this work.