In addition to the Black Lives Matter at School Week of Action, educators, students, parents, and antiracist organizers, and education advocates, are encouraged to participate in the "Year of Purpose": ongoing activations and reflection throughout the school year to uplift Black students and undo institutional racism.

The centerpiece of the Year of Purpose is asking educators to reflect on their own work in relationship to antiracist pedagogy and abolitionist practice, persistently challenging themselves to center Black lives in their classrooms.

Black Lives Matter at School all year long in the Year of Purpose.

October 14th: Abolition Day (Expansion of Justice for George Day)

• Principle: Restorative Justice

• October 14th is George Floyd’s Birthday.  Justice for George is a day to remember him and call for the defunding of the police and the redirecting of those funds towards social programs and education.

• Decolonize the Curriculum

November 20: Transgender Day of Remembrance

• Principle: Trans Affirming  

• Friday, November 20, Transgender Day of Remembrance

• Remember William Dorsey Swann.

December 3: International People’s with Disabilities Day

• Principle: Globalism and Collective Value

• December 3 is International People’s with Disabilities Day. Harriet Tubman, Fannie Lou Hamer are two disabled freedom fighters we revere, even as the disabilities they carried with them into struggle aren’t consistently lifted up as assets in their fight. To fight against societal ableism, we must celebrate our differences and understand how the lessons from Black disabled organizers teach us how to build inclusive, accessible movements.

January: Queer Organizing Behind the Scenes

• Principle: Queer Affirming 

• January-  During January, we find it critical to lift up Bayard Rustin, one of the principal organizers behind the March on Washington which is crowned as one of MLK’s lasting achievements. To be queer-affirming means lifting up our queer ancestors who were at the foundation of our movements throughout time. This deepens the purpose of MLK day to understand that no one person makes a movement, highlighting how MLK’s legacy encompasses the contributions of many. 

February 18: Unapologetically Black Day

• Principle: Unapologetically Black

• Audre Lorde/Toni Morrison Birthday February 18th 

March 6: Student Activist Day

• Principles: Loving engagement and Empathy 

• March 6: Barbara Johns Black student activist day--Day to celebrate Black student activists. 

April: Revolutionary Black Arts 

• Principle: Intergenerational 

• April- During National Library Week, we seek to center the classic contributions of Black Writers and artists across the generations: Zora Neale Huston, Faith Ringgold, Alma Thomas, Augusta Savage, Jasmine Mans. How are the themes and radical vision that they brought to their art reflected in your classrooms and communities? How can young people extend on these legacies?

May 3: Black Radical Educator Day

• Principle: Black Villages

• May 3rd: On Septima Clark’s birthday we celebrate Black Radical educator day. 

June 5: #SayHerName Day 

• Principle: Black Women

• June 5, Breonna Taylor's Birthday--Day to call for justice for Breonna and uplift the #SayHerName movement 

June 19: Education for Liberation Day

• Principles: Black Families and Diversity

• Juneteenth: Education for Liberation day--A day to celebrate the struggle that brought down slavery and reflects on what must be done to win Black liberation