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Afrika Afeni Mills is an Education Consultant and the author of Open Windows, Open Minds: Developing Antiracist, Pro-Human Students with Corwin Press. She works with colleagues, teachers, coaches, and administrators to transform instructional practices. Afrika has been featured on podcasts, blogs, delivered keynote addresses, and facilitated sessions at conferences both virtually and across the United States.
Afrika believes that all educators can be motivated, engaged, dynamic practitioners and leaders when provided with the support needed to create student-centered, culturally responsive learning environments that inspire wonder and creativity and nurture diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging from an antibias, antiracist, pro-human mindset.
Blog Posts and Articles
- Liberation Bound: Our Journey Toward Solidarity | Brownicity
- How Educational Equity Benefits All Students | Great Schools Partnership (cited)
- Black History Month Reimagined | BetterLesson
- Evolving Our Narratives About Race in Schools | Teaching While White
- Why Families of Color May Feel Uncomfortable Communicating with Teachers | Understood
- Highlights from Social Justice 101 | BetterLesson
- A Letter to White Teachers of My Black Children | Teaching While White
- A Letter to White Teachers of My Black Children | Philly's 7th Ward
- Here's What I Wish White Teachers Knew When Teaching My Black Children | ed post
- Inside Coaching: Culturally Responsive Learning | BetterLesson
- Required Reading Reconsidered (co-authored with Monica Washington) | BetterLesson
- How to Create a Culturally Responsive Learning Environment | BetterLesson
- Classroom Management Reconsidered | BetterLesson
- If School Rules Aren't Building a Sense of Community, Let's Be Brave Enough to Rewrite Them | ed post
- What Do You Mean When You Say "Those Kids Don't Want to Learn"? | BetterLesson
- Every Student Wants to Learn, We Just Need to Teach Them | ed post
- Facilitating Effective Family-Teacher Conferences | BetterLesson
- Every Parent-Teacher Conference Should Look Like This | ed post
Podcast Appearances
- Discussing Privilege, Religion, and Continuing to Learn | Third Space
- The Importance of Racial Identity Development | Leading Equity
- Beyond Performative Partnerships | Time for Teachership
- Telling the Fuller Story | The Science of Reading | Amplify Education
- Going Deeper With Equity | Better Leaders, Better Schools
- White Fragility, Part 2 | Teaching While White
- School-to-Prison Pipeline | Truth for Teachers
Better Leaders, Better Schools School Leadership Series:
- Inclusive Classroom Practices Overview
- Inclusive Classroom Practices: Do You See Me?
- Inclusive Classroom Practices: Do You Hear Me?
- Inclusive Classroom Practices: Will You Treat Me Fairly?
- Inclusive Classroom Practices: Will You Protect Me?
- The Divergent Leader | Part 1
- The Divergent Leader | Part 2
- The Divergent Leader | Part 3
- The Divergent Leader | Part 4
- The Divergent Leader | Part 5
- Onward: Cultivating Emotional Resilience in Educators | Part 1
- Onward: Cultivating Emotional Resilience in Educators | Part 2
- Onward: Cultivating Emotional Resilience in Educators | Part 3
- Onward: Cultivating Emotional Resilience in Educators | Part 4
- Onward: Cultivating Emotional Resilience in Educators | Part 5
- We Want to Do More Than Survive | Part 1
- We Want to Do More Than Survive | Part 2
- We Want to Do More Than Survive | Part 3
- We Want to Do More Than Survive | Part 4
- Equitable Social-Emotional Learning
Conference Keynotes, Presentations, and Workshops
- Recognizing and Overcoming Internalized Oppression, Teaching in Color Summit, March 2022 (virtual)
- More Windows and Better Mirrors, White Privilege Conference, March 2022, Charlotte, NC
- Evolving Our Narratives About Race, White Privilege Conference, March 2022, Charlotte, NC
- Seeking Justice in Unjust Times: Strategies for Advancing Equity, Kauffman Foundation's Amplify Conference for Educators of Color, November 2021
- Liberation Bound: Our Journey Toward Solidarity, Multicultural Teaching Institute, June 2021
- More Windows and More Mirrors, California Association of African-American Superintendents and Administrators' Achieving and Equity-Driven Education Summit, May 2021 (Virtual)
- From Allyship to Authentic Action, Go Sustainable Energy, May 2021 (Virtual)
- Creating Diverse, Equitable, and Inclusive Learning Experiences for Students, Cherish the Child Symposium, April 2021 (Virtual)
- More Windows and More Mirrors, Oregon Response to Instruction and Intervention Conference, April 2021 (Virtual)
- Harnessing the Power of Inclusivity, Bentley University's Center for Women and Business, April 2021 (Virtual)
- Inclusion Through Mentorship, Bentley University's Center for Women and Business, April 2021 (Virtual)
- Engaging in Difficult Conversations, Go Sustainable Energy, April 2021 (Virtual)
- Identifying and Addressing Implicit/Unconscious Bias, Go Sustainable Energy, March 2021 (Virtual)
- Developing and Maintaining a Culture of Belonging, South Shore Charter Public School, March 2021 (Virtual)
- Reimagining Learning in a Post-COVID World, Amplify Literacy, March 2021 (Virtual)
- Identifying and Addressing Systemic Injustices, Go Sustainable Energy, February 2021 (Virtual)
- Race as a Social Construct, Go Sustainable Energy, January 2021 (Virtual)
- How to Have Critical Conversations with Students, South Shore Charter Public School, January 2021 (Virtual)
- More Windows and More Mirrors featured session, Amplify Education Literacy Symposium, October 2020 (Virtual)
- Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (JEDI) Training, Cardinal Spellman, September 2020 (Virtual)
- Identity and Belonging in Teaching and Learning, Belmont Hill School, September 2020 (Virtual)
- How Do We Respond? Navigating and Confronting White Privilege, National Anti-Racism Teach-In, August 2020 (Virtual)
- If You See Something, Say Something Keynote and Workshop, Association of Independent Schools of New England Conference, February 2020, Waltham, MA
- Equity in Action, New York State Coalition of School Superintendents Equity Symposium, November 2019, New York City, NY
- If You See Something, Say Something, White Privilege Symposium, Lesley University, October 2019, Cambridge, MA
- Required Reading Reconsidered, Literacy for All Conference, October 2019, Providence, RI
- Required Reading Reconsidered, New England Association of Teachers of English Conference, October 2019, Danvers, MA
- How Do We Respond?: Navigating and Confronting White Privilege, White Responsibility Conference, July 2019, Boston, MA
- Equity in Action - Empowering Educators to Transform School Communities Master Class and Conference Session, National Network of State Teachers of the Year (NNSTOY) National Teacher Leadership Conference, July 2019, Orlando FL
- Social Justice Best Practices Online Professional Development Series: If You See Something, Say Something: How to Respond to Inequities in Schools, National Network of State Teachers of the Year (NNSTOY), June 2019
- Building Cultural Awareness and Equitable Practices, Rhode Island Coalition of Educators of Color Conference, April 2019, Providence RI
- Required Reading Reconsidered, ASCD Conference, March 2019, Chicago, IL
- Equity in Action: Empowering Educators to Transform School Communities, Kauffman Foundation's Amplify Conference for Educators of Color, February 2019, Kansas City, MO
- Equity in Action: Empowering Instructional Leaders to Transform School Communities, Curriculum and Instruction Steering Committee Symposium, February 2019, Anaheim, CA
- How Do We Respond? Navigating and Confronting White Privilege, National Anti-Racism Teach-In: White Responsibility Conference, August 2019, Boston, MA
- Building Cultural Awareness and Equitable Practices, Northern Essex Community College Principals and Superintendents' Annual Breakfast, Haverhill, MA, November 2018
- How Do We Respond?: Navigating and Confronting White Privilege, White Privilege Symposium, North Shore Community College, Lynn, MA, October 2018
- Building Cultural Awareness and Equitable Practices, Teach Plus Rhode Island Teaching Policy Fellows, September 2018, Cumberland, RI
- Required Reading Reconsidered, National Network of State Teachers of the Year (NNSTOY) National Teacher Leadership Conference, July 2018, Las Vegas NV
- Required Reading Reconsidered, The Coalition of Schools Educating Boys of Color (COSEBOC) Annual Gathering, May 2018, Boston, MA
- Interrogating the Curriculum: When Are We Going to Learn About Us?, New York City DOE's The Power of Culturally Relevant Education in the 21st Century, March 2018, Queens, NY
- Required Reading Reconsidered, Kauffman Foundation's Amplify Conference for Educators of Color, March 2018, Kansas City, MO