Dear County and District Superintendents and Charter School Administrators:

Living Black History Webinar with Dr. Gibor Basri on February 6, 2025

I would like to invite you and your students to join me for a new ongoing webinar series in recognition of Black History Month. In this webinar series, I will interview Black civic leaders whose work is a testament to the contributions of Black Californians to the history of our state and our nation.

These conversations are designed as an educational resource for teachers to view with their students, and there will be opportunities for students to submit questions in advance. This series supports my ongoing efforts to elevate oral history and highlight the contributions of distinguished Californians as a meaningful component of classroom instruction.

The series will kick off on Friday, February 6, 2026, at 10:30 a.m. with an interview featuring astronomer and astrophysicist Dr. Gibor Basri, Professor Emeritus of Astronomy at the University of California (UC), Berkeley, whose accomplishments include researching exoplanets for NASA, naming many of the stars in our sky, and serving as the first Vice Chancellor for Equity and Inclusion at UC Berkeley.

Teachers may register their classrooms to participate via Zoom at https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_uLX8v19iQm2jvsjNHiNROA, and members of the public may view each session through the California Department of Education Facebook Live page at https://www.facebook.com/CAEducation.

I encourage educators to teach about Dr. Basri’s life and accomplishments. If students would like to suggest questions for me to ask Dr. Basri, they may submit suggested questions via tinyurl.com/BHM-Astronomer by Thursday, February 5 at 4 p.m.

I look forward to seeing you via Zoom or Facebook Live on February 6!

Sincerely,