Dr. Bertrand and Dr. Porcher have the privilege of co-hosting with Dr. Farima Pour-Khorshid and Yaribel Mercedes to discuss the multifaceted-ness of grief, and how to begin and/or continue on our journey of healing. We share our transparent experiences of grief personally and professionally, and how we are on our own healing journeys. We hope that you will explore how grief is present and manifesting in your life, accept it and allow it to guide your healing process.
Dr. Farima Pour-Khorshid is a Bay Area educator, organizer, and scholar. She taught at the elementary grade levels in her community for over a decade and spent the latter half of her teaching career also supporting educators locally, nationally, and internationally through her roles as a university professor, teacher supervisor, educational consultant, and community organizer. She is now an assistant professor and teacher supervisor at the University of San Francisco in California. Much of her work is rooted in her grassroots education organizing within the Teachers 4 Social Justice organization, the Abolitionist Teaching Network, and the Education for Liberation Network which organizes the Free Minds Free People conference. She is committed to centering abolitionist teaching and healing-centered engagement within and outside of the field of education. As such, she is one of the editors, authors, and organizers of, "Lessons in Liberation: An Abolitionist Toolkit for K-12 Educators", a toolkit in collaboration with the Education for Liberation, Critical Resistance, and several other grassroots abolitionist and justice-centered collectives. Follow her @dr.farima_ on Instagram.
Yaribel Mercedes is a doctoral student at Teachers College, Columbia University. She is also an educator who leads through a social, racial and moral justice leadership disposition to advance racial equity, inclusion, access, and opportunity in education. As a Black woman, she understands the impact of race in education, and her passion and purpose are grounded in her commitment to disrupt racist and oppressive systems, structures, and policies that marginalize and minoritize Black, Indigenous, racialized students of color. Additionally, she is a public scholar who uses social media to center the brilliance and beauty of Black scholars. Follow her @yari.mercedes on Instagram.