We Want to Do More Than Survive: Abolitionist Teaching and the Pursuit of Educational Freedom

We Want to Do More Than Survive: Abolitionist Teaching and the Pursuit of Educational Freedom is a 2019 nonfiction book by Bettina L. Love, an American activist and Professor of Education at the University of Georgia. Drawing on data, historical events, and personal experiences, Love advocates dismantling the educational system and replacing it with an abolitionist pedagogy. Grounded in the lived experiences of students, this pedagogy is designed to drive civic engagement and promote social change. The book received the 2020 Society of Professors of Education Outstanding Book Award. This guide refers to the 2019 edition published by Beacon Press.

Note: Because this text uses the terminology “dark folx,” “dark people,” and “dark children” to describe non-white Americans, this study guide also adopts that terminology when quoting Love.

Summary

We Want to Do More Than Survive comprises seven chapters. Chapter 1, “We Who Are Dark,” introduces readers to several key issues. These include intersectionality, a framework for understanding how different social markers, such as race, gender, sexuality, religion, and class overlap to create different modes of disadvantage and discrimination; abolitionist pedagogy, which promotes social justice, freedom, thriving, resisting, healing, love, and joy;

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