Toward a Village Consciousness: Organizing in the African American Cultural Tradition

School-to-prison pipeline research and scholarship point to a need for parent and community involvement in addressing school discipline policies and culturally sensitive approaches to reducing disparities in school discipline. The Parent Empowerment Program (PEP) was formed to raise awareness about these disparities and to educate community members about alternatives to suspension and expulsion. This study examined how the cultural heritage of PEP's members informed the organization's work, particularly its expression of a village consciousness, and how it influenced the interventions for which the group advocated. Through this study, I showed that the African American cultural heritage informed the foundation of the organization and the core ideology of the organization's members. The group also identified interventions to prevent suspension and expulsion that resonated with their cultural position, particularly ways to support positive behavior in the home.