“Black Minds Matter,” an eight-week public course designed to increase the national consciousness on issues facing African-American boys and men in education, will be held by Cal State San Bernardino’s Black Faculty, Staff and Student Association.

The public course, which will start Monday, Oct. 23, from 4:20 to 6:30 p.m., in the Santos Manuel Student Union Theater, draws parallels between issues faced by black males in society and ways that black minds are engaged in the classroom.

“Through this lens, we will engage research on black students in education (from preschool to doctoral education), emphasizing strategies and practices that can support their success,” said Kathryn Ervin, a CSUSB professor of theater arts. “Similar to the Black Lives movement, the course provides an affirmative statement that Black minds do matter.”

Ervin added the “Black Minds Matter” course encourages educators to see their classrooms, offices, schoolyards and campuses as sites for civil resistance.

The course will employ the three tenets of the Black Lives movement: loving engagement, collective value and restorative justice, all of which are the framework for enhancing outcomes for black boys and men in education.

Visit the Black Minds Matter website to learn more.

For more information on Cal State San Bernardino, contact the university’s Office of Strategic Communication at (909) 537-5007 and visit news.csusb.edu