Megan Hester is the National Campaign Director, NYU Metro Center and a lead organizer for H.E.A.L. Together. A new wave of culture wars has politicized and divided communities across the country under the guise of parental rights and curriculum debates. Educational gag order bills banning the teaching of topics of race, gender and sexuality have been introduced in 41 states, and this activity has been financed by political and corporate elites working to drive a racial wedge among diverse communities in order to mobilize political support for their undemocratic aims. But come and learn about the grassroots community groups across the country that are using these cultural battles as an opportunity to organize, to forge unusual alliances and to unite communities around the collective treasury of their public schools.