Mobilizing Culture, Language, and Educational Practices

Abstract

In commemorating the landmark Brown v. Board of Education (1954) decision, this lecture also honors the Mendez v. Westminster case of 1946, a successful challenge to the segregated schooling of Mexican and Mexican American students in California. The author summarizes the Mendez case, its relation to Brown, and its sociocultural aspects, including educational conditions at the time, the collective and intercultural agency of the participants, and the process by which the Méndez family successfully brought the case to fruition. With this case as backdrop, the author then addresses contemporary educational issues and presents educational innovations that, much like Brown and Mendez, seek to mobilize the social, cultural, and linguistic processes of diverse communities as the most important resources for producing positive educational change.