Timothy J. Lensmire is professor in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction, University of Minnesota, where he teaches courses in literacy, critical pedagogy, and race. His early work focused on how the teaching of writing might contribute to education for radical democracy, and includes his books When Children Write and Powerful Writing/Responsible Teaching. In his current work, Lensmire is attempting to reimagine white people as racialized actors in U.S. schools and society, as part of the broader effort to mobilize white people for antiracist action. His most recent book, White Folks: Race and Identity in Rural America, is grounded in the stories of people from a small rural community in Wisconsin—the community in which Lensmire was born and raised.