From Survival to Flourishing: A Critical Review of We Want to Do More Than Survive: Abolitionist Teaching and the Pursuit of Educational Freedom

In We Want to Do More Than Survive: Abolitionist Teaching and the Pursuit of Educational Freedom, argues that American schooling has conditioned Black and Brown students to endure inequitable systems rather than flourish within them, a pattern Love identifies as the educational survival complex. Drawing on Critical Race Theory, Black feminist thought, intersectionality, BlackCrit, and abolitionist traditions, Love advances abolitionist teaching and freedom dreaming as alternatives to reform efforts that often stabilize, rather than transform, inequitable educational institutions. Building on this critique, the present review argues that Love’s most consequential contribution is her reconceptualization of educational justice through human flourishing, positioning mattering, healing, wellness, Black joy, and collective liberation as essential measures of whether education fulfills its purpose. While recognizing the significance of this vision, the review critically examines the framework’s limitations and the challenges of translating its principles into educational practice. Particular attention is given to the limited consideration of disability, language, immigration status, and the experiences of Black students in the rural South, alongside tensions between abolitionist commitments and the institutional demands of accountability-driven public schools. These challenges are further examined within a changing sociopolitical landscape, including state restrictions on teaching about race and gender enacted between 2021 and 2023 and emerging empirical evidence demonstrating that restorative disciplinary practices can reduce overall suspensions while leaving racial disparities intact or exacerbating them.