FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 22, 2025
On site contact:
Tafari Melisizwe
Communications Coordinator
Dignity in Schools Campaign
Email: tafari@dignityinschools.org
Other contact:
Florentina Staigers Cruz
Communications Director
Families and Friends of Louisiana’s Incarcerated Children
Email: fcruz@fflic.org
Phone: 504-330-0414 (text preferred)
Southern Organizers, Educators, and Youth Unite in New Orleans to Reclaim Public Education
NEW ORLEANS — From August 27–30, 2025, Families and Friends of Louisiana’s Incarcerated Children (FFLIC) will welcome the Dignity in Schools Campaign (DSC) to New Orleans for its Southern Regional Convening, marking 20 years since Hurricane Katrina with the theme: “Rising from the Storm: Building Justice-Centered Schools and Communities.” This powerful gathering will bring together organizers, educators, parents, and students from across the South to reflect, strategize, and build a movement to reclaim public education from corporate interests and state overreach.
Held at the historic Delgado Community College, the convening will feature a dynamic mix of panels, storytelling circles, healing sessions, and youth-led discussions. Participants will explore the legacy of post-Katrina school privatization, honor cultural resistance, and spotlight bold visions for police-free schools and community-rooted education.
This convening is not just a commemoration—it is a call to action. As southern states face increasing threats to public education, attendees will share organizing strategies, build intergenerational connections, and affirm their commitment to education as a cornerstone of democracy and community empowerment.
“This is a key moment in a movement for youth and families whose voices aren’t being heard. But they know what justice should look like and feel like,” said Cameron, Lead Youth Organizer with FFLIC. “This convening is about truth-telling, healing, and building systems that reflect the brilliance and dignity of our young people and communities.”
“The Dignity in Schools Campaign exists to unite communities in the fight for public education that affirms the dignity, brilliance, and leadership of our youth. Twenty years after Hurricane Katrina, we are convening in New Orleans alongside our member groups who have been doing the work here, and inviting other Southern member organizations to learn from the hard lessons of post-Katrina public school dismantling. This convening is about confronting the policies that deepened inequities and lifting up the grassroots solutions our communities have built to reclaim our public schools, our narratives, and our future,” said Ruth Idakula, Director, Dignity in Schools Campaign.
“This convening continues the trend of sustained southern regional organizing by the Dignity in Schools Campaign,” said Andrew Hairston, Education Justice Project Director of Texas Appleseed and Co-Chair of DSC’s Coordinating Committee. “We gathered in Mississippi in 2023, spent time together in Texas in 2024, and we are so honored to be in Louisiana in 2025. Our demands grow clearer by the day: we want police out of schools, equitably funded and accessible neighborhood public schools, and Black southerners to have a say in the democratic governance of these vital public institutions.”
The Southern Regional Convening offers a space to reflect on the past, respond to the present, and reimagine a future where schools are rooted in justice, care, and community.
*Note: This gathering is closed to print and TV Media. We are not allowing TV outlets on site and sessions will be closed to broadcast crews. The only invited press is print media (by prior confirmation).
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Who: Dignity in Schools Campaign (DSC) – A national coalition working to dismantle the school-to-prison pipeline and build equitable public education systems.
- Southern Region DSC Member Organizations Attending:
- Louisiana – Black Man Rising; Amplify Justice / Liberation Collective; Rethink New Orleans
- Mississippi – Sunflower County Parents and Students, Indianola; Activists with a Purpose Plus, Grenada
- North Carolina – Parents Organized for Public Education (POPE), Guilford County; Parents Across America; Education Justice Alliance
- Texas – S.E.A.T.; Texas Appleseed
What: Southern Regional Convening of Dignity in Schools; Rising from the Storm: Building Justice-Centered Schools and Communities
When: August 27–30, 2025
Where: City Park Campus at the Student Life Center, Delgado Community College
