Black Lives Matter: Reflections on Ferguson and Creating Safe Spaces for Black Students

Abstract

Higher education, and more specifically, teacher education, despite claims of being a liberal progressive space is entrenched in White privilege. This essay recounts my experiences as a Black woman traversing activism in the OccupySLU movement and my pre-dominantly White pre-service teacher education program. I share how the White gaze reinforces power regardless of claims to do otherwise.