S5E7 Editing the Antiracist Mathematics Education Book

In this episode, hosts Teddy Chao, Shari Kaku, and Shakiyya Bland sit down with the editorial team behind Antiracist Mathematics Education: Building a Practice of Equity and Justice, the TODOS publication that anchors this entire season of the podcast. It turns out this is the first time the four editors have been together since the book came out, and that reunion energy carries through the whole conversation. Teddy calls the book a love letter to the TODOS community, and it shows.Linda Fulmore, who led the project and was TODOS president when the work began, traces the book back to the 2020 antiracist mathematics statement, written in the middle of the pandemic and in the wake of George Floyd's murder. Marilyn Strutchens, professor of mathematics education at Auburn University, describes how she pulled the rest of the editorial team together in a single ten minute phone call. Gladys Krause, of William and Mary, led the student section after volunteering with immigrant high schoolers who were not getting math instruction because their schools focused only on English. Dorothy White, University of Georgia, took on the parent section and speaks openly about the risks of doing antiracist work in a state where the word itself has become contested.Along with Jennifer Bay-Williams, the editors walk through how the book is organized, by students, teachers, parents, administrators, and community members, and why they built it so any chapter can stand on its own. Dorothy even jokes that you can read it backwards if you want to, choose your own adventure style. They talk about asking authors to root their writing in the original 2020 statement, about the discussion questions placed at the end of each chapter so readers can use the book in classrooms and book clubs, and about wanting a text that amplified voices rather than smoothing them over.Of course, no TODOS episode skips the food talk. Marilyn has just discovered smash burgers and is trying, unsuccessfully, to stay away from them. Gladys shares the story of her son in Austin smoking a brisket for Mother's Day. Linda is currently devoted to Trader Joe's tofu ice cream, chocolate syrup included, eaten within her intermittent fasting window.The conversation closes on legacy. Linda recalls telling the team that they had simply tried to do their part when it was their turn. Now that work passes to the next generation of TODOS leaders, including everyone listening. If this book has shaped how you show up for your students, your colleagues, or yourself, the editors hope you keep passing it on.Join us at the TODOS Conference, June 25 to 26, 2026 in Garden Grove, California, where this season's Book Club journey comes full circle.