Long Island Black Educators Association (LIBEA)
Programs
What we run, all year
Annual Recognition Symposium
Celebrating excellence
Our 2026 symposium is Saturday, June 6, 2026, with the Community Service Award going to Island Harvest Food Bank. 2025 honorees included Educator of the Year Dr. Felicia Thomas-Williams, Community Service honoree James “Dr. Love” Banks, and Legacy Award recipient Carrie Gilbert.
Professional development
Grow with us
TEE laptop program
Laptops for classrooms
Through TEE we put laptops and tablets into the hands of students who need them, including a donation to Central Islip. Donations to TEE are always welcome.
Scholarships
How to apply
Scholarship interest
Recommended reading
Books we come back to
“Once you learn to read, you will be forever free.”Frederick Douglass
These are the books our members return to and recommend: on equity in the classroom, on leading well, on our history, and on the stories that inspire our students. Many have been featured at LIBEA guest-speaker events and workshops.
Diversity, equity and inclusion in education
For teachers and leaders building classrooms where every student belongs.
- Lead from the OutsideStacey AbramsA practical leadership handbook for people working outside traditional power structures, on ambition, fear, money and failure.
- Promoting a Global Community Through Multicultural Children’s LiteratureStanley F. SteinerA guide to hundreds of multicultural titles, with classroom strategies for using them across subjects.
- Start Where You Are, But Don’t Stay ThereH. Richard Milner IVWhat teachers and school leaders need to know to serve students of color well.
From our guest-speaker workshops
Titles that shaped our professional development sessions.
- Mindset: The New Psychology of SuccessCarol S. DweckHow a growth mindset changes what students, and educators, can achieve.
- Brain-Powered Strategies to Engage All LearnersLaVonna RothClassroom-ready, brain-based strategies for grades K–8.
- Teach Like a PIRATEDave BurgessIdeas for bringing passion, rapport and real engagement into every lesson.
Popular best sellers
History, identity and leadership, widely read and widely discussed.
- Stamped from the BeginningIbram X. KendiThe National Book Award–winning history of racist ideas in America.
- How to Be an AntiracistIbram X. KendiMoving from awareness of racism to actively building equity.
- Between the World and MeTa-Nehisi CoatesA father’s letter to his son on race and American history.
- Letters to a Young SisterHill HarperHonest encouragement for young women on family, friendships, school and dreaming big.
- Letters to a Young BrotherHill HarperGuidance for young men on what success really means, beyond the stereotypes.
- BecomingMichelle ObamaThe former First Lady’s memoir of family, purpose and public service.
Books behind the movies
Great for pairing a film with history in the classroom.
- Hidden FiguresMargot Lee ShetterlyThe African American women mathematicians who helped launch America into space.
- What Hollywood Got Right and Wrong about the Tuskegee Airmen in Red TailsDaniel HaulmanA military historian compares the film with the real missions of the Tuskegee Airmen.
- Black Panther: The Official Movie CompanionMarvelThe making of the film and the world of Wakanda, for younger readers and fans.
62 great books by Black authors
A wider reading list recommended by TED speakers, spanning fiction, memoir and history.
See the listFor young readers: the Amazing Annabelle series
A children
A children’s book series we recommend for elementary classrooms and home libraries.
rsquo;s book series we recommend for elementary classrooms and home libraries. View the series