Community organizer Jacqueline Bridgeforth-Williams, is all too familiar with the unjust burden racism imposes on children of color, particularly once they enter public institutions. “When you place children of color in schools with teachers who don’t look like them, to learn a curriculum that excludes them, taught by educators who often lack the cultural competence to understand or value them—it results in lower test scores, higher truancy, and dropout rates,” she told ESSENCE.