Democracy Now! Archives

Malcolm X: Make It Plain

Film. Written by Steve Fayer and Orlando Bagwell. 1994. 138 minutes.
Documentary film on the life and words of Malcolm X/ El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz.

"Running the Negro out of Tulsa" | Zinn Education Project

Burned Out of Homes and History: Unearthing the Silenced Voices of the Tulsa Massacre

Teaching Activity. By Linda Christensen. Rethinking Schools. 20 pages.
Teaching about racist patterns of murder, theft, displacement, and wealth inequality through the 1921 Tulsa Massacre.

Teaching Activity by Linda Christensen

Censoring Howard Zinn: Former Indiana Gov. Tried to Remove “A People’s History” from State Schools

On July 22, Democracy Now! reported on former Indiana governor Mitch Daniels’ efforts to…

book cover in sepia showing Martin Luther King Jr. giving a speech at a microphone

The Speech: The Story Behind Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s Dream

Book — Non-fiction (updated edition). By Gary Younge. 2023. 215 pages.
Chronicle behind "The Speech" and other events surrounding the March on Washington.

Teaching Activity by Gary Younge

by Andy Piascik In an epoch of imperial hubris and corporate class warfare on steroids, the release of these books could hardly have come at a better time. Soldier, coal miner, Sixties veteran, recent graduate — there’s much to be gained by one and all from a study of Lynd’s life and work. In so doing, it’s inspiring to discover how frequently he was in the right place at the right time and, more importantly, on the right side.

Ordinary Citizens Catalyzing Change: A ‘People’s History’ of 2013

By Katy Swalwell This year has been full of examples of people making history. Although newspapers and textbooks often focus on political and military leaders, the real story was with "ordinary people" in the streets who challenged injustice and worked for good.

Freedom Summer 1964

Profile. Summer initiative to register African American voters in Mississippi.

The Counter-Revolution of 1776: Origins of the United States of America

Gerald Horne, professor of history and African American studies at the University of Houston, was interviewed on Democracy Now! on "the great disparity between how people in the United States talk about the creation myth of the United States."

Hundreds of High Schoolers Walk Out to Protest Conservative Takeover of History Standards

By Zaid Jilani, Alternet.org As part of the long-running textbook wars over American school curricula, the Jefferson County Colorado Board of Education moved earlier this month to alter AP U.S. history standards to meet a more right-wing view of the world, emphasizing “patriotism” and the “free enterprise system” and downplaying “social strife.”

Tè Tremblé: An Unnatural Disaster: A Trial Role Play Probes the Roots of Devastation in Haiti

Teaching Activity. By Adam Sanchez. Rethinking Schools. 12 pages.
A trial role play asks students to question the role played by the U.S. government and other international actors in the 2010 earthquake.

Teaching Activity by Adam Sanchez

Walkout

Film. Produced by Moctesuma Esparza. 2006. 111 minutes.
Walkout tells the true story of the Chicano students of East L.A., who in 1968 staged several dramatic walkouts in their high schools to protest academic prejudice and dire school conditions.

Bree Newsome: I Refused to Be Ruled by Fear

In June, while politicians continued to debate about the implications of taking down the Confederate flag after the shooting of nine people at Emmanuel AME Church and several arson fires on Black churches in the South that followed, Bree Newsome scaled the South Carolina state flag pole and took the flag down herself. She did not organized this effort alone.

Wendell Pierce on Hurricane Katrina Anniversary

On this tenth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, we recommend listening to this interview with actor, activist, and author Wendell Pierce on the "greatest crime" in the wake of the storm.

Blood in the Water: The Attica Uprising of 1971 and Its Legacy

Book — Non-fiction. By Heather Ann Thompson. 2016. 752 pages.
The hidden history of the infamous 1971 Attica Prison Uprising.

The Voting Rights Act: Ten Things You Should Know

With the 2016 presidential election in the news, we share this article by Emilye Crosby and Judy Richardson, “The Voting Rights Act: Ten Things You Should Know.” Crosby and Richardson discuss key points in the history of the 1965 Voting Rights Act missing from most textbooks. We also share a segment from Democracy Now! on voting rights today.

Slavery by Another Name

Film. By Sam Pollard, Catherine Allan, Douglas Blackmon and Sheila Curran Bernard. 2012. 90 minutes.
Reveals the interlocking forces in the South and the North that enabled “neoslavery” post-Emancipation Proclamation.

Pitchfork Magazine on Education and the Election

Pitchfork magazine wrote about the 2016 elections in an article titled, "How to Get Involved in Politics Right Now: Take These Musicians’ Leads." They stressed the importance of teaching people's history, "...we must take seriously the ways in which public school resources represent our history. One easy way to do so it to look at the Zinn Education Project."

Standing with Standing Rock: A Role Play on the Dakota Access Pipeline

Teaching Activity. By Ursula Wolfe-Rocca, Bill Bigelow, and Andrew Duden. Article by Ursula Wolfe-Rocca. Rethinking Schools. 15 pages.
A role play helps students recognize the issues at stake in the historic struggle of the Standing Rock Sioux to block construction of the Dakota Access oil pipeline.

Teaching Activity by Ursula Wolfe-Rocca

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 and played clips from the forthcoming documentary The People Speak.