In 2022, Center for Racial Justice in Education marked its 20th year of working to dismantle patterns of racism and injustice in our schools and communities.

Center for Racial Justice was founded in 2001 by Sachi Feris, and was originally named Border Crossers. From 2001 through 2010, Border Crossers worked directly with students, teaching them to “cross borders” with one another, to develop understandings that would help dismantle racism.

In 2010, the mission and direction of Border Crossers shifted to training educators. We continue to believe in the power and potential of youth to advance racial justice, but we know that they cannot—nor should they—do it alone. Since 2010, we have trained thousands of educators—from parents to teachers to coaches, and many others—to disrupt and dismantle racism wherever children learn, whether in a classroom, at the dinner table, or on a theater stage.

In 2019, we changed our name to Center for Racial Justice in Education to more accurately reflect our mission, vision, programs, and reach. The work of Border Crossers lives on through Center for Racial Justice in Education, as we have remained steadfast in the belief that racism has deep roots in our institutions, in our families, and in our communities. There is no place of learning—no child, no educator—that is immune to its effects. We will continue to support educators in confronting the impact of race and racism in their own lives and the lives of the children in their care.  We are constructing a new reality:  a world of racial justice where all children, their families, and their communities thrive.

In partnership with communities across New York City and the nation, we remain focused on fostering transformation toward educational justice and liberation.