Liberated Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum Consortium (LESMCC) is a left-of-center educational organization that produces lesson plans informed by critical race theory and anti-colonialist academic frameworks.

Background

Liberated Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum Consortium offers what it calls “access to quality, aligned and liberatory Ethnic Studies to as many educators as humanly possible” and advocates “for an anti-racist, anti-colonial, liberatory Ethnic Studies for all students in California and throughout the United States.” ¹

LESMCC publishes curricula that include lesson plans on history and race. It is informed by critical race theory, ethnic studies, and various other academic “lenses” and “frameworks.” ² It supports critical race theory , dedicating a page on its website touting that “many scholars use Critical Race Theory in their research and pedagogy.” ³

LESMCC has been criticized for its far-left content and in particular its disparagement of Israel. ⁴

Pedagogical Theory

Liberated Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum Consortium has an infographic on its website explaining the differences between traditional “Multicultural Education” and “Ethnic Studies.” It defines “Multicultural Education” as typical of a standard social studies curriculum, that teaches students multiple cultural perspectives and promotes tolerance. It criticizes multicultural education as weak and ineffective at furthering the radical transformation of society. Conversely, it praises the critical race theory-influenced “Ethnic Studies” for “cent[erring] racialized communities of color” and for “community-driven, abolitionist teaching” that is “anti-imperialist, decolonial and liberatory.” ⁵

Curriculum

Liberated Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum Consortium’s curriculum is divided into six chapters: Introduction to Ethnic Studies, Black Studies, Asian American Studies (including Pacific Islander, SWANA, and Arab American Studies), American Indian and Native American Studies, Chicanx/Latinx Studies, Intersectionalities, and Comparative Ethnic Studies. ⁶

LESMCC states that it is guided by “Seven C’s” or principles: cultivating empathy and well-being of all “especially Native People/s and people of color (POC)”; celebrating “Native People/s of the land” and their “resistance”; centering “pre-colonial, ancestral, indigenous, diasporic, familial, and marginalized knowledge”; critiquing “empire” and “white supremacy, racism, patriarchy, cisheteropatriarchy, capitalism, ableism, anthropocentrism,” and other alleged forms of oppression; challenging “imperialist/colonial hegemonic beliefs and practices on the ideological, institutional, interpersonal, and internalized level”; connecting “to past and contemporary resistance movements that struggle for social justice” to “ensure a truer democracy”; and conceptualizing “new possibilities for post-imperial life” that would enable “transformative resistance.” ^{7 8}

LESMCC also states that each chapter of its curriculum develops lessons on “the Five S’s” or themes: “Self: The story of my racialized intersectional identity”; “Stories: The collective narratives of my people”; “Systems: the experiences of my people with systems of power and oppression”; “Social Movements: The resistance and resilience of my people in organizing against injustice”; and “Solidarity: The transformative solidarity between my people and other communities in constructing a better world.” ^{9 10}

Leadership

As of 2023, Liberated Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum Consortium is led by founder Guadalupe Carrasco Cardona, Theresea Montano, Trish Gallagher-Geursten, Taunya Jaco, Guillermo Gomez, Ricardo Medina, Eunice Ho, Tracie Noriega, and Samia Shoman. ¹¹

1. “LESMC Story.” Liberated Ethic Studies Model Curriculum Consortium. Accessed April 17, 2023. https://www.liberatedethnicstudies.org/lesmc-story.html.
2. “LESMC Story.” Liberated Ethic Studies Model Curriculum Consortium. Accessed April 17, 2023. https://www.liberatedethnicstudies.org/lesmc-story.html.
3. “CRT.” Liberated Ethic Studies Model Curriculum Consortium. Accessed April 17, 2023. https://www.liberatedethnicstudies.org/crt.html.
4. Rossman-Benjamin, Tammi. “The Antisemitic Gall of a ‘Liberated’ Ethnic Studies Curriculum.” The Algemeiner, August 25, 2021. Accessed April 17, 2023. https://www.algemeiner.com/2021/08/25/the-antisemitic-gall-of-a-liberated-ethnic-studies-curriculum/.
5. “Multicultural vs. Ethnic Studies.” Liberated Ethic Studies Model Curriculum Consortium. Accessed April 17, 2023. https://www.liberatedethnicstudies.org/multicultural-vs-ethnic-studies.html.
6. “LESMC Story.” Liberated Ethic Studies Model Curriculum Consortium. Accessed April 17, 2023. https://www.liberatedethnicstudies.org/lesmc-story.html.
7. “LESMC Story.” Liberated Ethic Studies Model Curriculum Consortium. Accessed April 17, 2023. https://www.liberatedethnicstudies.org/lesmc-story.html.
8. “Principles.” Liberated Ethic Studies Model Curriculum Consortium. Accessed April 17, 2023. https://www.liberatedethnicstudies.org/principles.html.
9. “LESMC Story.” Liberated Ethic Studies Model Curriculum Consortium. Accessed April 17, 2023. https://www.liberatedethnicstudies.org/lesmc-story.html.
10. “Curriculum.” Liberated Ethic Studies Model Curriculum Consortium. Accessed April 17, 2023. https://www.liberatedethnicstudies.org/curriculum.html.
11. “About.” Liberated Ethic Studies Model Curriculum Consortium. Accessed April 17, 2023. https://www.liberatedethnicstudies.org/about.html.