Second Edition of Voices of a People’s History Released

Just in time for the History Channel broadcast of The People Speak, Seven Stories Press released a new edition of Voices of a People’s History by Howard Zinn and Anthony Arnove.

Zinn Education Project Website Out of Beta Phase

January 5, 2010: The Zinn Education Project website was upgraded and is no longer in the beta phase. In response to feedback provided by teachers from across the country, features have been added to make it easier to navigate, to comment on the resources, and to share pages using social media. Additional improvements are in process. This transition requires that everyone who registered during the beta phase (December 5, 2009 - January 4, 2010) re-register the next time they use the site. We welcome continued feedback about the use of the materials and suggestions for site improvements.

Coalition Stops Social Studies Textbook Adoption

A multi-racial coalition of educators, parents, and community members, including Rethinking Schools, has pushed for quality social studies teaching in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. They raised concerns about the content of the social studies textbook series that was up for adoption by Milwaukee Public Schools. After several weeks of mobilization they succeeded in convincing the MPS administration to withdraw its proposal for the $4.2 million adoption. Their objection was that the textbooks miseducated students and failed to teach social responsibility. For more information, see the Social Studies Task Force, Social Studies Resources, and the CLEaR Justice Initiative (a partnership with the Milwaukee district).

Rethinking Schools Releases New Book

Rethinking Schools announced the publication of Teaching for Joy and Justice: Reimagining the Language Arts Classroom by Linda Christensen. It is the ideal book for any language arts teacher looking to infuse the themes and content of A People’s History of the United States into their classroom, or for social studies teachers working to help students develop strong writing skills while studying social issues. The contents include: “Warriors Don’t Cry: Connecting History, Literature, and Our Lives”; “Literature Circles: Slavery and Resistance”; “Honoring Our Ancestors: Building Profile Essays”; “Hurricane Katrina and Everyday Heroes,” and much more.

Lies My Teacher Told Me Author Has New Book

Teaching What Really Happened: How To Avoid the Tyranny of Textbooks and Get Students Excited About Doing History is James Loewen’s follow-up to his landmark bestseller, Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong. Howard Zinn says, “James Loewen’s new book is not only a devastating critique of how our nation’s history has been taught in our schools, but also a wonderful guide to how the teaching of history can open up minds, excite the imagination, and educate a new generation dedicated to making this a better world.” Read the Table of Contents and a sample chapter here.

Hip Hop Theater Festival and Voices of a People’s History

On Tuesday, July 7, 2009, there was a performance of VOICES [of a People's History]: REMIX in Washington, D.C. at The Kennedy Center. The cast included Kerry Washington, Regie Cabico, Staceyann Chin, W. Ellington Felton, Walter Mosley, and DJ Earth 1ne, with Dave Zirin as moderator. This performance was part of the Hip Hop Theater Festival. To see other upcoming engagements,visit www.howardzinn.org.

ZEP Website 2.0 In Progress

The Zinn Education Project has partnered with Vibrant Design Group to launch a new, expanded website, featuring 60-plus new downloads, searchable by theme or timeline, and an extended resource page.

Howard Zinn on Democracy Now!

“We’re trying to energize people by learning a history that is provocative and that is inspirational.” — Howard Zinn

On May 13, 2009, Howard Zinn was a guest on Democracy Now!, where he discussed the new edition of A Young People’s History of the United States (Seven Stories Press) and played clips from the forthcoming documentary The People Speak.

Zinn said, “In this Young People’s History we don’t present the history of victimization; we present the history of people fighting back. We want to give Americans a history [that] shows them that it’s possible to fight back, that you don’t have to depend on the President and Congress and the Supreme Court. In fact, you had better not depend on them, because they’re not going to solve the fundamental problems that we have in our society. We can only do it ourselves, when we organize, when we act, when we protest. And so, we’re trying to, yes, energize people by learning a history that is provocative and that is inspirational.”

Listen to the show or read the transcript here.

Howard Zinn’s Keynote at the NCSS Conference

Howard Zinn offers keynote at 2008 NCSS Conference in Houston, TX. Photo by Steve Puppe.

Howard Zinn spoke to over 800 social studies teachers at the 2008 National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) conference held in Houston, TX. Zinn Education Project representatives were on site to give away 800 copies of A People’s History for the Classroom. Thanks to NCSS, you can now view the keynote address online.

Follow-up Survey Complete

Thanks to everyone who participated in the follow-up survey. We received useful and thought-provoking feedback which we will use to design Phase II of the Zinn Education Project. The raffle prizes will be mailing out in late December/early January. More information in the February 2009 newsletter.