Love as the Practice of Freedom
"The moment we choose to love we begin to move against domination, against oppression. The moment we choose to love we begin to move towards freedom, to act in ways that liberate ourselves and others. That action is the testimony of love as the practice of freedom."
-bell hooks, Outlaw Culture (2006)
Love as the Practice of Freedom
"The moment we choose to love we begin to move against domination, against oppression. The moment we choose to love we begin to move towards freedom, to act in ways that liberate ourselves and others. That action is the testimony of love as the practice of freedom."
-bell hooks, Outlaw Culture (2006)
"The land is our greatest teacher. In the soil, we find not just food but the stories, healing, and liberation of our people."
- Leah Penniman, Soul Fire Farms
- Leah Penniman, Soul Fire Farms
Born into a Legacy of Love & Justice
I was born in 1975 on the southeast side of Gainesville, Florida—on the other side of the Civil Rights Movement, yet still well within its shadows.
My grandparents, Lonnie Mae and Richard Harrison, served as First Lady and Pastor of Faith Missionary Baptist Church. They showed up for our people during births, weddings, illness, and loss—despite coming of age in the darkness of American Apartheid. That deep, embodied commitment to love and justice runs through my family line.
My mother, Shirley Ann, was a nurse, an entrepreneur, and a community activist with the National Action Network. My father, who left school in middle school, confronted segregation head-on. For sitting at a whites-only lunch counter, he was brutally beaten—his ribs broken, his hair set on fire, and his body thrown beside a dumpster.
Still, I grew up in a home pulsing with joyful anthems—Aretha, James Cleveland, Shirley Caesar. Marvin Gaye. Nina Simone. Luther and Al. Curtis and Stevie. Teddy and Bill. The Isley Brothers. The Commodores. Earth, Wind & Fire. And, a whole other canon of blues and jazz. I was born with these soundtracks of soul and survival, and I grew up with big questions. Deep ones.
The works of Fanon, Freire, Du Bois, hooks, Baldwin, and King helped me understand how schooling—especially in a culture of white supremacy—often reproduces the inequities found in the broader society. I have come to understand that the deepest forms of learning puts you at odds with these forces--externally and internally.
While much of where I’m from remains unchanged, during my sophomore year of college, I made a choice rooted in self-determination—kujichagulia. I named myself for myself: from Robert Lee Minter, Jr. to Kaleb Rashad, breaking free from the manacles of inherited scripts. This name--Kaleb Rashad—is my freedman’s name: a declaration of agency and authorship, a reclamation of identity, and a step in the right direction.
I am still learning.
Still growing.
Still unlearning.
Still listening.
Still loving.
Still fighting for a world where learning is liberatory, where justice is joyful, and where love is not just a value--but a daily practice of human dignity and decency.
I was not born into power or privilege, but into a certain kind of presence--a way of being bound by an ethos of creative non-compliance and joyful resistance. We are threads in a story not shaped by scarcity, but rather by a spirit of abundance, courage, and possibility. A spirit of uncompromising, rebellious commitment to live free and love hard.
I carry ancestral lessons in these bones, their prayers in my breath. When Kendrick wrote, "I got loyalty, got royalty inside my DNA," I feel all of that. Not a crown of conquest, but a more sacred inheritance of jubilant imagination, passed down through generations, to critically and creatively participate in the transformation of this world together (ubuntu).
This is where I'm from, from.
And, this is what I'm made for.
I was born in 1975 on the southeast side of Gainesville, Florida—on the other side of the Civil Rights Movement, yet still well within its shadows.
My grandparents, Lonnie Mae and Richard Harrison, served as First Lady and Pastor of Faith Missionary Baptist Church. They showed up for our people during births, weddings, illness, and loss—despite coming of age in the darkness of American Apartheid. That deep, embodied commitment to love and justice runs through my family line.
My mother, Shirley Ann, was a nurse, an entrepreneur, and a community activist with the National Action Network. My father, who left school in middle school, confronted segregation head-on. For sitting at a whites-only lunch counter, he was brutally beaten—his ribs broken, his hair set on fire, and his body thrown beside a dumpster.
Still, I grew up in a home pulsing with joyful anthems—Aretha, James Cleveland, Shirley Caesar. Marvin Gaye. Nina Simone. Luther and Al. Curtis and Stevie. Teddy and Bill. The Isley Brothers. The Commodores. Earth, Wind & Fire. And, a whole other canon of blues and jazz. I was born with these soundtracks of soul and survival, and I grew up with big questions. Deep ones.
The works of Fanon, Freire, Du Bois, hooks, Baldwin, and King helped me understand how schooling—especially in a culture of white supremacy—often reproduces the inequities found in the broader society. I have come to understand that the deepest forms of learning puts you at odds with these forces--externally and internally.
While much of where I’m from remains unchanged, during my sophomore year of college, I made a choice rooted in self-determination—kujichagulia. I named myself for myself: from Robert Lee Minter, Jr. to Kaleb Rashad, breaking free from the manacles of inherited scripts. This name--Kaleb Rashad—is my freedman’s name: a declaration of agency and authorship, a reclamation of identity, and a step in the right direction.
I am still learning.
Still growing.
Still unlearning.
Still listening.
Still loving.
Still fighting for a world where learning is liberatory, where justice is joyful, and where love is not just a value--but a daily practice of human dignity and decency.
I was not born into power or privilege, but into a certain kind of presence--a way of being bound by an ethos of creative non-compliance and joyful resistance. We are threads in a story not shaped by scarcity, but rather by a spirit of abundance, courage, and possibility. A spirit of uncompromising, rebellious commitment to live free and love hard.
I carry ancestral lessons in these bones, their prayers in my breath. When Kendrick wrote, "I got loyalty, got royalty inside my DNA," I feel all of that. Not a crown of conquest, but a more sacred inheritance of jubilant imagination, passed down through generations, to critically and creatively participate in the transformation of this world together (ubuntu).
This is where I'm from, from.
And, this is what I'm made for.
Stoking Joyful Resistance Everywhere
"Find out just what any people will quietly submit to and you have found out the exact measure of injustice and wrong which will be imposed upon them, and these will continue till they are resisted with either words or blows, or with both. The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppress."
— Frederick Douglass, 1857
— Frederick Douglass, 1857
Dr. Kaleb "Kofi" Rashad
Father & Husband | Creative Director, Center for Love & Justice | Former CEO, High Tech High | President, Unlocked Inc. | Doctorate in Educational Leadership (Organizational Change & Relational Trust) | Community-Based Liberatory Designer | Global Son of the Diaspora | Ma’at-Guided Buddhist in the Thích Nhất Hạnh Tradition
Life's Purpose
My purpose in this life is to awaken and accompany others in the courageous work of becoming fully human--by nurturing justice, stoking creativity, and building beloved community across generations and geographies--wherever people are dreaming of a better way.
My purpose in this life is to awaken and accompany others in the courageous work of becoming fully human--by nurturing justice, stoking creativity, and building beloved community across generations and geographies--wherever people are dreaming of a better way.
Short Professional Bio
Dr. Kaleb "Kofi" Rashad is the former CEO of High Tech High and the Founding Creative Director of the Center for Love & Justice, where he’s helped students, educators, families, and organizers design ecosystems of innovation rooted in justice, joy, and collective belonging.
Kaleb began his career as a middle school teacher and school principal. His academic grounding is in Human Development, Educational Leadership, and Organizational Change—with a deep focus on relational trust.
He is also the host of Joyzistance Radio, a podcast that celebrates creativity, resistance, and the everyday pursuit of freedom. Whether he’s co-creating new schools, supporting local movements, or mentoring the next generation of leaders, Kaleb’s work is anchored in a single truth: liberation is love made public.
Dr. Kaleb "Kofi" Rashad is the former CEO of High Tech High and the Founding Creative Director of the Center for Love & Justice, where he’s helped students, educators, families, and organizers design ecosystems of innovation rooted in justice, joy, and collective belonging.
Kaleb began his career as a middle school teacher and school principal. His academic grounding is in Human Development, Educational Leadership, and Organizational Change—with a deep focus on relational trust.
He is also the host of Joyzistance Radio, a podcast that celebrates creativity, resistance, and the everyday pursuit of freedom. Whether he’s co-creating new schools, supporting local movements, or mentoring the next generation of leaders, Kaleb’s work is anchored in a single truth: liberation is love made public.
Design for Creativity, Equity, & Innovation (You can do it!!)
1. Codesigning School |Tools for Creating Equitable Change in Your School
2. Launch DesignCamp in Your Space! | Create. A. Movement.
3. CenterforLoveandJustice.org | Co-Design School for Love, Justice & Collective Liberation
2. Launch DesignCamp in Your Space! | Create. A. Movement.
3. CenterforLoveandJustice.org | Co-Design School for Love, Justice & Collective Liberation
Center for Love & Justice | HTH Graduate School
At the Center for Love & Justice, we are reimagining what education can be—a liberating force for creativity, joy, belonging, and collective freedom. We work alongside K-12 schools to advance educational justice through Liberatory Project-Based Learning (LPBL), an approach that blends the power of critical consciousness development and project-based learning. This approach is rooted in the belief that young people should be creators of knowledge, not just consumers, and that they should have the democratic agency to shape the world around them.
Learning Deeply Through Projects
Students develop key competencies and a strong sense of cultural and racial identity, belonging, and personal agency. They engage in meaningful work that addresses real issues in their communities while learning to name and challenge the forces that shape their lives.
Making Learning Public
This kind of learning cannot be contained. With a public audience and professional-grade quality, students present, exhibit, and reflect on their work, filling the physical and digital spaces of their schools with powerful examples of beautiful work that transforms the space and the creator of the work. Creation is greater than consumption.
Activating Student Voice
Democratization is a practice best exercised with young people. We create opportunities for students to co-design projects, participate in shared decision-making, and exercise their voices in shaping their learning environments and the culture of their schools.
Our Roots and Reach
The Center for Love & Justice is a proud extension of the High Tech High Graduate School of Education (HTH GSE), which emerged from the groundbreaking work of High Tech High—a network of sixteen innovative K-12 equity-focused schools founded in 2000. High Tech High's legacy includes graduating over 96% of students, with 82% continuing to college, and inspiring global audiences about what's possible in education. (See the documentary Most Likely to Succeed.)
HTH GSE, launched in 2007, serves as a hub for global educational transformation, empowering educators to lead change and disrupt inequitable systems. It is a community of educators, leaders, and change-makers dedicated to building more just, humanizing, and learner-centered environments worldwide.
Join Us
In the aftermath of George Floyd, the Center for Love & Justice was born with a mission to push beyond reform and truly transform education into a force for collective liberation. Together, we can create the future our young people deserve. Since our launch, we have worked alongside 78 schools, 799 educators, and 20,730 students across 12 U.S. districts and 5 international communities.
At the Center for Love & Justice, we are reimagining what education can be—a liberating force for creativity, joy, belonging, and collective freedom. We work alongside K-12 schools to advance educational justice through Liberatory Project-Based Learning (LPBL), an approach that blends the power of critical consciousness development and project-based learning. This approach is rooted in the belief that young people should be creators of knowledge, not just consumers, and that they should have the democratic agency to shape the world around them.
Learning Deeply Through Projects
Students develop key competencies and a strong sense of cultural and racial identity, belonging, and personal agency. They engage in meaningful work that addresses real issues in their communities while learning to name and challenge the forces that shape their lives.
Making Learning Public
This kind of learning cannot be contained. With a public audience and professional-grade quality, students present, exhibit, and reflect on their work, filling the physical and digital spaces of their schools with powerful examples of beautiful work that transforms the space and the creator of the work. Creation is greater than consumption.
Activating Student Voice
Democratization is a practice best exercised with young people. We create opportunities for students to co-design projects, participate in shared decision-making, and exercise their voices in shaping their learning environments and the culture of their schools.
Our Roots and Reach
The Center for Love & Justice is a proud extension of the High Tech High Graduate School of Education (HTH GSE), which emerged from the groundbreaking work of High Tech High—a network of sixteen innovative K-12 equity-focused schools founded in 2000. High Tech High's legacy includes graduating over 96% of students, with 82% continuing to college, and inspiring global audiences about what's possible in education. (See the documentary Most Likely to Succeed.)
HTH GSE, launched in 2007, serves as a hub for global educational transformation, empowering educators to lead change and disrupt inequitable systems. It is a community of educators, leaders, and change-makers dedicated to building more just, humanizing, and learner-centered environments worldwide.
Join Us
In the aftermath of George Floyd, the Center for Love & Justice was born with a mission to push beyond reform and truly transform education into a force for collective liberation. Together, we can create the future our young people deserve. Since our launch, we have worked alongside 78 schools, 799 educators, and 20,730 students across 12 U.S. districts and 5 international communities.
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Research
My dissertation research focused on what do school leaders say, do, and create to develop relational trust, a keystone resource for initiating and sustaining change, among teachers and adults within learning communities. Creative Strengths Visionary: Imaging the Impossible-->Full of big ideas, ability to see potential and possibilities everywhere StrengthsFinder 2.0 (latest go round, 2019) Maximizer | Empathy | Strategic | Connectedness | Developer StrengthsFinder 2.0 (used to be) Positivity | Relator | Empathy | Communication | Woo 16Personalities: ENFP-A "The Campaigner" Ancestral Connections Origins: West Africa: Yoruba & Western Bantu Peoples Nigeria, Congo, Mali, Senegal, Northwestern Europe, Ghana |
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Recent Engagements & Contributions
- Oeiras Education Forum: The Present and Future of Education in Portugal | Hosted by CNN Portugal & Oeiras Municipality | Keynote Speaker and Leadership Institute Facilitator | Oeiras, Lisbon PT, March 2025
- 1st International Seminar: Educational Innovation: why, for what, how? | Sponsored by RIMED--Education Network for Innovation & Improvement | Keynote Presenter | Porto, PT 2024
- Global Institute of Creative Thinking (GIoCT) in partnership with OECD and UNESCO | Committee for Creativity in Schools & Climate Action | Workshop Presenter | Paris, FR 2024
- Justice Coalition USA: Vote Your Power 2024 Conference Facilitator with Dr. Shameka Gerald
- ASCD Ghana International Educator Summit 2024 | Presenter: Equity Stances for Liberatory Leadership with Shani Leader (CenterforLove&Justice)
- ASCD Ghana International Educator Summit 2024 | "System Leadership: African Americans Leading Student-Centered Networks of Innovation, Creativity & Deeper Learning" with Carlos Moreno (Big Picture Learning) and Tony Simmons (HSRA, 4Learning, CLJ)
- ASCD Ghana International Masterclass: Leading Systemic Change 2024, hosted by Ghanaian Ministry of Education | Presenter: "Big Change, Starts Small: Systemic Change for Creative Freedom"
- World Design Capital 2024 | San Diego-TIjuana | Contributor 2016-2024 with the UC San Diego Design Lab
- Anti-Racist Educator Network Collaborator, Opening & Closing Keynote Speaker with BC Minister of Education the Honourable Rachna Singh & the great Dr. George Dei, Vancouver, BC, 2023, designed by Beth Applewhite & Equitas International Centre for Human Rights Education
- High School for the Recording Arts, 25 Year Anniversary Den Talk Speaker at RemixED, St. Paul, MN, 2023
- Digital Promise, Co-Facilitator with Dr. Katy Martin (LCC), San Diego Regional STEM Pathways Initiative, 2023
- UManresa, Founding Member of The International Conference on Early Childhood Studies, Catalonia-Spain, 2023
- Diàleg Educatiu: Innovació per a la transformació, Closing Dialogue Session with Eduard Vallory, hosted by Umanresa & Fòrum Futurs de Educació, November 2022
- Institute for Radical Permission, Participant | Summer 2022 hosted by Sonya Renee Taylor & adrienne maree brown
- Toward Deeper Learning, Presenter | Speaker, 2021-2022, Fraser Valley | Metro Vancouver, BC hosted by ALPS
- CISC 2022: LIBERATE | Our Voice | Our Time, Keynote Speaker, February 2022, Monterey, CA hosted by Monterey County Office of Education
- Presenter, Gates Foundation NSI: Community of Practice, October 2021, Virtual
- Leadership Journeys MC with DJ Mickey Breeze & Carlos Moreno hosted by Big Picture Learning, August 2021, ASU GSV
- Deeper Learning Symposium, Keynote & Presenter, hosted by Jefferson County Public Schools, Louisville, KY, August 2021
- Virginia School Consortium for Learning (VaSCL) Student Leadership Conference Keynote with 230+ High School Students: Joy & Justice, March 2021
- PolyVocal Keynote, City Neighbor's 10th Annual Progressive Education Summit, with Dr. Jal Mehta & Dr. Crystal Laura, January 2021
- Keynote, Catholic Educator Conference 2021 Catholic Independent Schools of Vancouver Archdiocese, February 2021
- Equity in Education Keynote, Fielding International, with Karla Vigil, January 2021
- Keynote & Workshop, New Tech Network, Deeper Learning & Social Justice, October 2020
- Keynote, New School Venture Fund, Community of Practice: Model Design in the Midst of Dual Pandemics, October 2020
- Presenter, IDEO's Teacher's Guild: A Virtual Summer Experience: It's Starts with Schools," Summer 2020
- Keynote Panelist, A New Way Forward Summit, "Building a Learner-Centered Future," Spring 2020
- Guest Lecturer, Claremont Graduate University, "Futuristic Leadership" Spring 2020
- Virginia is For Learners Innovation Network (#VaLIN), Advisor 2020, in partnership with Virginia Department of Education, James Madison University, Virginia School Consortium for Learning, Edu21C Foundation and Jobs for the Future
- IDEO Design Council, San Francisco, 2019
- "Design Thinking for Education Leaders" Advisor, Hong Kong 2019-2020, in partnership with HK Centre for Design, HK University & Future Impact Lab
- LTE--Learning & Teaching Expo Panelist: From Teacher to Student Centered Learning, Hong Kong, 2019
- Interim Director, New School Creation Fellowship, 2019-2020
- #DesignCampMonterey, Monterey County Office of Education, Salinas, CA 2019
- #DesignCampStLouis, Lindbergh Schools, St. Louis, MO 2019
- Program Design with Monterey County Office of Education, Salinas, CA 2019 #TLCMonterey
- Hewlett: District-Community Partnerships for Learner-Centered Education, District Coach and Presenter, San Diego, CA 2019
- Creative Summer Institute Guest Speaker, Teacher's Guild + IDEO, San Francisco 2019
- Hopewell City Public Schools, Admin Leadership Retreat 2019 Facilitator: Leading for Equity, Innovation and Deeper Learning, Virginia 2019
- Steam Conference Barcelona, Keynote Speaker, CosmoCaixa, Barcelona 2019
- Unleashed! Empowered by Design, Distinguished Speaker, Hong Kong Design Centre, Hong Kong 2019
- Keynote Speaker with Andrew G. and YahYah, Chicago, IL 2018, hosted by Glenbard High School
- #DesignCampBC with the AWESOME Dr. Chagala, Vancouver, BC 2018, hosted by Thomas Haney Secondary School
- PBL World Keynote with two AH-MAZING students, Blake D. and Zelma D.: Love + Justice, Napa, CA 2018
- Design 4 San Diego (DS$D) at UCSD Design Lab, San Diego, CA 2018
- #DesignCamp Co-Creator (with the AWESOME Dr. Chagala!!), San Diego, CA 2016-2018: DesignCamp2018
- Mastery Transcript Consortium (MTC), Advisory Council, 2018
- VA ASCD Keynote Speaker: Love + Disruption, Williamsburg, VA 2017
- ShiftEDU Keynote and Facilitator: Love + Disruption II and School ReTool Hack-a-Thon, Miami, FL 2017
- Edleader21 Co-Facilitator: The Power of Human-Centered Design, with Eric Chagala, Atlanta, GA 2017
- School Retool Co-Presenter, Hactivation Nation: Hacking Toward Equity, with Susie Wise + Marthaa Torres, Stanford d. School, CA 2017
- School Retool Coach, Hactivation Nation: Student Exhibition of Learning, Stanford d.School, CA 2017
- Leadership + Design Facilitator, 4D Studio: Design. Disrupt. Dare. Dream. Richmond, VA 2017
- NAACP Legal Defense Fund Panelist, Deeper Learning Convening, Washington, DC, 2017
- Leadership + Design Member, Board of Directors, 2017
- #DesignCampBC Kickoff Co-Presenter, Vancouver, BC, Winter 2017 with Eric Chagala
- NSF Advisory Board for Classrooms as Enterprises: Improving STEM Education Through Authentic Entrepreneurship Experiences, 2017-present
- School Retool: San Diego Coach & Instigator, Winter 2017
- Innovation of Diffusion Cluster Grantee Meet Up (Hewlett + IDEO + Stanford d.School), 2016 to 2019
- SXSWedu 2017 Presenter, Austin, TX: "Design + Leadership" with Ela Ben Ur and Eric Chagala
- Hactivation Nation Facilitator & Partner | Building Networks of School Designers, Stanford d. School K12-Lab, 2015-2019
- MVIFI: A Night of Inquiry, Impact and Innovation Speaker, Atlanta, GA: "Love + Disruption"
- Real World Scholars Advisory Board, 2016-present
- The Buck Institute for Education (BIE): High Quality PBL Steering Committee, Present
- Deeper Learning Leadership Forum (Hewlett Foundation & National Equity Project), 2015-2017
- NeverSummer's edOS: A New Operating System for Education, Denver, CO: "Bringing PBL to School/Integrating Design Thinking" June 2016
- SxSwEdu 2016, Austin, TX: "Creating a Culture of Innovation"
- FutureNOW Conference, San Diego, CA: “PBL 102: Teaching Innovation via PBL" 2016
- DesignForward San Diego Presenter: "Scaling Design Thinking in Schools" 2016
Badassery on the Bookshelf
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Afro-Indigenous Ways
Pedagogy
Change Leadership
Historical Perspectives
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Organizational Culture
Philosophy (Love, Justice, Liberation)
Fiction
Seminal Research & Resolutions (follow the links).
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Where do we go from here
"Power properly understood is to achieve purpose. Power without love is reckless and abusive, and love without power is sentimental and anemic. Power at its best is LOVE implementing the demands of justice, and justice at its best is power correcting everything that stands against love."
--Martin Luther King, Jr.
"Power properly understood is to achieve purpose. Power without love is reckless and abusive, and love without power is sentimental and anemic. Power at its best is LOVE implementing the demands of justice, and justice at its best is power correcting everything that stands against love."
--Martin Luther King, Jr.