Book Review: Learning In Public

 

Learning in Public

Lessons for a Racially Divided America from My Daughter's School

by Courtney E. Martin

Pub Date 03 Aug 2021 |

 Little, Brown and Company 

 Biographies & Memoirs  |  Nonfiction (Adult)  |  Parenting & Families 

I am reviewing a copy of Learning In Public through Little Brown Company and NetGalley:

From the time the author Courtney, E Martin strapped her daughter, Maya, to her chest for long walks, she was curious about Emerson Elementary, a public school down the street from her Oakland home.   Courtney learned  that white families in their gentrifying neighborhood largely avoided Emerson Elementary a a public school down the street from her Oakland home where the majority of the school was Black and the the school was poorly related.  When Courtney asked why a journey of a thousand moral miles began.

Learning in Public is the story, not just Courtney’s journey, but a whole country’s.   Many of us have been newly awakened by the social injustices in society but unsure of how to go beyond hashtags and yard signs to be a part of transforming the country.    Courtney discovers that her public school, the foundation of our fragile democracy, is a powerful place to dig deeper. 

In this book Courtney examines her own fears, assumptions, and conversations with other moms and dads as they navigate school choice. A vivid portrait of integration’s virtues and complexities, and yes, the palpable joy of trying to live differently in a country re-making itself.

I give Learning in Public four out of five stars!

Happy Reading!