The Zinn Education Project at the NCSS Conference in Seattle

The Zinn Education Project had a major presence at the National Council for the Social Studies Conference in Seattle from Nov. 16-18, 2012. Educators from across the country met and talked about teaching people's history. We featured books by Rethinking Schools and Teaching for Change, people's history resources, and a raffle.
Continue reading

2012: Woody Guthrie Centennial

Born on July 14, 1912, activist folksinger Woody Guthrie's centennial is in full swing across the country. His family and historians developed a website to make sure that his life and work are honored and can continue to inspire another generation.
Continue reading

In Memory of Milton Meltzer

For 50 years, Milton Meltzer wrote over 100 history books for middle and high school school readers that did just that — they told the history of what everyday people make happen.
Continue reading

Howard Zinn, My Courageous Friend

William Holtzman, a former student of Howard Zinn's, decided 30 years later to help bring Zinn’s work to a new generation of students. He contacted Howard Zinn who put him in touch with Rethinking Schools and Teaching for Change. Together they launched the Zinn Education Project. Ever since, Holtzman has played a key role in the project's funding and outreach. He and Zinn met up again for the first time in 34 years at the National Council for the Social Studies conference in Houston where Zinn gave the closing keynote speech.
Continue reading

The Daily Show on Tucson’s Mexican-American Studies Ban

On April 2, the The Daily Show aired a segment on the ban on the Mexican American Studies (MAS) program in Tucson. The Daily Show correspondent Al Madrigal interviewed Tucson School Board member Michael Hicks and Mexican American Studies teacher Curtis Acosta. Jon Stewart introduced the show by saying: "Your children’s education… Nothing is more important! You want them to learn enough to do well in the world, but not so much that they can win arguments with you. "But, what are they really learning in school? Al Madrigal followed this eye-opening story."
Continue reading

The Lorax: Dr. Seuss Revisited and Revised

With the release of the Universal Pictures film, The Lorax, based on Dr. Seuss’s classic “environmental” book of the same name, we share an article by Bill Bigelow about the lessons children learn (and don’t learn) from the book and film about the causes of environmental ruin and how to organize for change.
Continue reading

Rethinking Columbus Banned in Tucson

By Bill Bigelow Imagine our surprise. Rethinking Schools learned today that for the first time in its more-than-20-year history, our book Rethinking Columbus was banned by a school district: Tucson, Arizona. According to journalist Jeff Biggers, officials with the Tucson Unified School District ordered that teachers pull the book from their classrooms, evidently as an outcome of the school board’s 4-1 vote this week to abolish the Mexican American Studies program.
Continue reading

J. Winter Nightwolf Radio Show on the Mexican American Studies Program

On Jan. 20, 2012, Jay Winter Nightwolf's weekly WPFW FM 89.3 program, "American Indian's Truths — Nightwolf — 'The Most Dangerous Show on Radio'” focused on the Arizona state ruling against the Mexican American Studies program in the Tucson Unified School District and the confiscation of books from Tucson classrooms. Nightwolf hosted special guests:
  • Rudy Arredondo, President of the National Latino Farmers & Ranchers Association
  • Dr. Roberto Cintli Rodriguez from the University of Arizona—Tucson
  • Dr. Rudolfo Anaya from the University of New Mexico Professor Emeritus Department of English
Continue reading