Dr. Bettina L. Love holds the prestigious William F. Russell Professorship at Teachers College, Columbia University, and is the acclaimed author of the New York Times bestseller “Punished for Dreaming: How School Reform Harms Black Children and How We Heal.” In 2022, the Kennedy Center recognized Dr. Love as one of the Next 50 Leaders dedicated to making the world more inspired, inclusive, and compassionate.
As a co-founder of the Abolitionist Teaching Network (ATN), Dr. Love actively contributes to its mission of nurturing and empowering teachers and parents who are committed to fighting injustice within their educational institutions and communities. She has played a pivotal role in overseeing the distribution of over $250,000 in grants to abolitionist initiatives across the nation. Notably, Dr. Love is also a founding member of the Task Force that initiated the groundbreaking program “In Her Hands,” one of the largest guaranteed income pilot programs in the United States. This program has successfully disbursed over $15 million to support Black women in Georgia.
Renowned as a highly sought-after public speaker, Dr. Love covers a wide range of compelling topics in her engagements, including abolitionist teaching, anti-racism, Hip Hop education, Black girlhood, queer youth, educational reparations, and the use of art-based education to foster youth civic engagement. Her profound insights and expertise have earned her recognition in various news outlets, including NPR, PBS, The Washington Post, The Daily Beast, Time, Education Week, The Guardian, and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Dr. Love is also the celebrated author of the bestseller “We Want To Do More Than Survive,” solidifying her position as a leading voice in the field of education and social justice.
A dual purpose drives Dr. Love’s scholarship: first, to enhance the understanding and critique of school reform, systemic racism, and structural issues within U.S. public education; second, to advocate for abolitionist educational approaches, seeking innovative solutions to eliminate educational harm.
Dr. Love actively collaborates with activists, communities, youth, families, and school districts to bring her scholarly endeavors to fruition. Together, they work towards establishing communal, civically-engaged schools grounded in the principles of abolitionist strategies that embrace and uplift Black and Brown children.
Recognizing her significant contributions, Dr. Love was invited to the White House Research Conference on Girls in 2014. Her impactful work in Hip Hop education led to her designation as the Nasir Jones HipHop Fellow at the Hutchins Center for African and African American Research at Harvard University in 2016. In April 2017, she engaged in a one-on-one public lecture with the late feminist icon bell hooks, focusing on the liberatory education practices of Black and Brown children.
In 2018, the Georgia House of Representatives acknowledged Dr. Love’s substantial impact on the field of education by presenting her with a resolution. In 2023, Dr. Love was honored with The Atlantic Coast Conference Unite Award by the University of Pittsburgh. The following year, in 2024, she received the Excellence in Education Award from the Better Brothers Los Angeles and The Diva Foundation.
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