16th Annual Northwest Teaching for Social Justice Conference
“Rethinking Our Classrooms, Organizing for Better Schools”
Saturday, October 21, 2023
9am – 3:30pm
Parkrose High School
Portland, Oregon
Keynote Speakers
Charles E. Cobb Jr. is a former field secretary of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), a journalist, and the author of a number of books including Radical Equations: Civil Rights from Mississippi to the Algebra Project (with Robert Moses) and This Nonviolent Stuff’ll Get you Killed: How Guns Made the Civil Rights Movement Possible (Basic Books, 2014).
Renée Watson is an author of both picture books and young adult novels. Her novel, Piecing Me Together, received a Coretta Scott King Award and Newbery Honor. With Nikole Hannah-Jones, Watson wrote The 1619 Project: Born on the Water. Many of her books are inspired by her experiences growing up as a Black girl in the Pacific Northwest. Her poetry and fiction center around the experiences of Black girls and explore themes of home, identity, body image, and the intersections of race, class, and gender.
We seek out and strive to offer workshops that:
· Express a social justice perspective
· Are hands on and practical
· Give participants a chance to talk to one another
This year’s conference schedule:
9:00am Opening keynote: Charles E. “Charlie” Cobb Jr.
10:30am Workshop session 1
12:00pm Lunch
1:00pm Workshop session 2
2:45pm Closing keynote: Renée Watson
3:30pm Affinity group debrief
CLICK HERE for past conference programs and keynote videos.


