Below is a synthesis of two peer-reviewed journal article related to teachers of color participating in activism to achieve educational equity, racial justice, and social justice.

In Fighting to Educate Our Own: Teachers of Color, Relational Accountability, and the Struggle for Racial Justice, Kohli and Pizarro analyze qualitative data from a survey and interviews with teachers of color who self-identified as being committed to racial justice to understand how they fight for racial justice. The authors emphasize the importance of teachers of color and that communities of color have relational ontologies, epistemologies, and axiologies as opposed to individualistic creating a strong feeling of responsibility to challenge inequity in communities of color. The author’s study found that racial justice orientated teachers of color have a community-orientation, that school when school culture (deficit-thinking and indoctrination pedagogy ) including  is in conflict with community-oriented teachers of color, and that cultural hierarchies of schools impede racial justice. The study concludes by reaffirming the importance of community-oriented teachers of color and that their voices are amplified, especially as advocates for students of color in urban schools and their communities, and that their voices be amplified Finally, the study suggests community-oriented teachers of color prevent isolation by creating networks including activist group, discussion circles, or just meeting on another (Kohli and Pizarro, 2016)

In Tending to the Heart of Communities of Color: Toward Critical Race Activism, Matias and Liou discuss how to utilize Critical Race Theory (CRT) and Critical Whiteness Studies (CWS) in curriculum and pedagogy to engage in critical race activism that counteracts colorblind ideology often found in classrooms. The authors discuss the tendency of many white teachers in urban schools of color to enter their work with a savior viewpoint while simultaneously utilizing a colorblind framework and not acknowledging the role of race, racism, and whiteness in the classroom and their student’s live. After emphasizing the importance of a community of color epistemology, “that honors the struggles, pride, and experiences of communities of color fighting racism.” They present a counterstory from a teacher of color, one of the authors, about how she engaged in critical race activism in the classroom. They conclude by explaining emotional components of a community of color epistemology and the importance of all teachers engaging in and supporting critical race activism (Matias and Liou, 2015)

While Tending to the Heart of Communities of Color: Toward Critical Race Activism advocates for activism around racial justice through curriculum and pedagogy, Fighting to Educate Our Own: Teachers of Color, Relational Accountability, and the Struggle for Racial Justice extends this idea to teachers of color, whose relationally makes them especially suited for this work, engaging in this fight at broader levels such as in their school or wider community. Both of the articles emphasize the importance of pursuing racial justice for student of color in urban areas, particularly by teachers of color. Teachers of color provide critical perspectives that allow their engagement in activism for their students and their communities to be more impactful and able to stop norms of racism and whiteness in the classroom. Additionally, through these articles you can see the ways deficit-thinking about urban schools can undermine activism for racial and social justice. These articles emphasize that teachers of color increased ability to enter activism for urban schools of color by seeing value in students and their communities. This activism for racial justice can be more effective significant when teachers of color can collectively fight with support from their school community. Whether at the classroom, school, or community level activism for racial and social justice is key to providing students of color in urban schools with the best education possible. This activism can become more meaningful through teachers of color ability to empathize with their students of color and communities of color.