Teaching Central America Goes to North Georgia
On October 17, Jonathan Peraza Campos, program specialist for Teaching Central America traveled to Gainesville, Georgia, to facilitate a workshop for Dr. Yacine Kout’s undergraduate class, “Sociocultural Diversity in Education,” at the University of North Georgia (UNG). Kout is dedicated to developing critical teachers of culturally and linguistically responsive teachers in the U.S. South.
Peraza Campos met teachers-in-training who plan to become the future of education in rural Southern spaces like North Georgia, which diverse populations — including many Latinx and Central American students — call home. Peraza Campos talked about his trajectory developing his praxis as a Latinx and Central American studies teacher and organizer. They also learned about the free resources and lessons available for them to use in their future classrooms at TeachingCentralAmerica.org.
Using Teaching Central America’s Introduction to Central America lesson, the students learned about the complex and marginalized history of Central Americans. The lesson landed personally with a Nicaraguan student who expressed her family’s reasons for fleeing Contra violence fueled by the presidency of Ronald Reagan, whose role she represented in the activity. Another student connected with the story of Nicaraguan musician Carlos Mejía Godoy, who used his music to build community and advocate for his people, which this student hopes to do as an art teacher.
Overall, the students became exposed to the long-term impact of U.S. imperialism and foreign policy in the region, which spurred the migration of Central Americans to the United States. Peraza Campos emphasized that Southern states like Georgia have a deeply interconnected but forgotten history with Central America, considering that U.S.-backed paramilitaries and dictators were trained at the School of the Americas in Fort Benning, Georgia during the Cold War era.
Peraza Campos expressed his excitement to have new colleagues from UNG join him in the profession as “truth-tellers and story keepers” who will help students connect to their identities, history, beauty, and power.
Peraza Campos noted:
On the way out, Dr. Kout’s colleague praised him for his “quiet courage” in pushing for equity and justice at UNG. This “quiet” but bold and principled courage is exactly what teacher educators like Dr. Kout are building in our pre-service teachers, especially in Southern and rural communities where these conversations are crucial and oftentimes taboo. It was a great experience to support Dr. Kout and his students who are growing as courageous teachers who teach the truth about Central America and more.
