EDTalks: What High School Debate Can Teach Us about the Power of Abolitionist Education

This EDTalk features Sandy Bolton Barrientos is community coach for the South High School debate team and member of the Minnesota Urban Debate League (MNUDL) community, where they focus on curriculum design. An abolitionist organizer in South Minneapolis, they are a studio trainer for REP MN, where they teach workshops that build networks of community crisis support, and co-founder of Futures Beyond Criminalization, which hosts events on public safety, harm reduction and policing alternatives. Sandy is an alum of Minneapolis Public Schools and a student in the University of Minnesota’s DirecTrack to Teaching program with a concentration in second languages and cultures. Sandy believes debate offers a unique space where students can freedom-dream institutions that affirm their livelihoods, visualize a future of joy and liberation for all people, and ultimately begin to formulate imaginative and realistic solutions for the big problems facing their communities. Sandy presents testimonials from current and former students on the impact of debate on their lives and argue strongly for additional resources and support for debate in Minneapolis Public Schools. EDTalks is co-presented by Achieve Twin Cities and Graves Ventures, a project of the Graves Foundation. For more information on EDTalks or to watch EDTalks videos or listen to audio podcasts, visit achievetwincities.org.