Meet
Jitu Brown
District 5
Organizer. CPS Parent. Coach.
Jitu Brown is a lifelong organizer for education justice with over 32 years of experience fighting for equity in public schools. As the national director for the Journey for Justice Alliance, Jitu has been at the forefront of organizing communities to win educational equity and resist school privatization. In 2015, Jitu Brown went on a 34-day hunger strike to save Dyett High School from closing.
Equity and Justice
Jitu has worked tirelessly for education justice. He played a key role in founding the Grassroots Education Movement, an alliance of community, labor, parent, and teacher groups committed to transforming public education for equitable education. On a national level, he is a founding member of the Alliance to Reclaim Our Schools.
In Chicago Public Schools, Jitu has served on various Local School Councils for 15 years, coordinated African-centered youth leadership programs for nearly 20 years, and trained teachers on culturally relevant curriculum for 5 years.
Jitu’s organizing has successfully stopped school closures and expanded Sustainable Community Schools.
He developed the Sustainable Community Schools model during the fight for Dyett High School, gathering community input to create a model that truly serves the needs of students.