Producers: Aesha Gandhi, Gavriel Cumareng, Kyle Cruz-Anderson

Description: Our podcast  is dedicated to examining the role of the 1969 and 1999 Third World Liberation Front’s (TWLF) demands for self-determination and, more topically, Ethnic Studies as a formal discipline of study in higher education institutions in the late ’60s and ’90s; and its influence on contemporary movements demanding the integration of Ethnic Studies in the curricula of K-12 public schools. Of particular focus in our research is the historical trajectory of the TWLF movements and the 2021 de jure integration of Ethnic Studies in K-12 curricula in the state of California. This project is dedicated to evaluating the impact of TWLF, the salience of Ethnic Studies as a formal study as well as its potential benefits for K-12 students. Likewise, we engage with questions inclusive to: how ethnic studies courses directly improve class engagement and why cannot ethnic studies be combined into existing humanities curriculum? A central question is how did the student strikes during the TWLF strikes impact the current movement for ethnic studies in K-12 programs?