Teaching Materials

Reconsidering Reparations

Book — Non-fiction. By Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò. 2022. 280 pages.
Táíwò’s take on reparations and distributive justice has wide implications for views of justice, racism, the legacy of colonialism, and climate change policy.
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colorful but haunting painting of a small reform school surrounded by trees and shadows

The Reformatory: A Novel

Book — Historical Fiction. By Tananarive Due. 2023. 576 pages.
Follow twelve-year-old Robbie Stephens, Jr., who, after a small indiscretion, journeys into the terrors of the Jim Crow South and the very real horror of the school they call The Reformatory.
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book cover showing women protesting during the March on Washington.

More Than a Dream: The Radical March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom

Book — Non-fiction. By Yohuru Williams and Michael G. Long. 2023. 272 pages.
A look at the March on Washington through a wider lens, using Black newspaper reports as a primary resource, recognizing the overlooked work of socialist organizers and Black women protesters, and repositioning this momentous day as radical in its roots, methods, demands, and results.
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hands holding up a sign reading "Your Plantation Prom is Not Okay"

Your Plantation Prom Is Not Okay

Book — Fiction. By Kelly McWilliams. 2023. 320 pages.
This young adult novel introduces readers to the history of slavery and its legacy today, challenging the Lost Cause narrative offered to visitors at most plantations (prison labor camps).
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Detail of book cover showing Black laborers and families walking down a dirt road.

Black Folk: The Roots of the Black Working Class

Book — Non-fiction. By Blair L. M. Kelley. 2023. 352 pages.
This book uses personal narratives to highlight the community and networks of resistance that Black laborers built in the face of racism and segregation in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
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illustration showing Africans of all ages, genders, and nationalities holding a sign reading "Africa is Not a Country."

Africa is Not a Country, Second Edition (Revised)

Picture book. By Mark Melnicove and Margy Burns Knight, and illustrated by Anne Sibley O'Brien. 2022. 48 pages.
Updated to include new information and illustrations, this book counters stereotypes and celebrates the extraordinary diversity of the African continent.
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Water and Environmental Racism

Teaching Activity. By Matt Reed and Ursula Wolfe-Rocca. Rethinking Schools.
A mixer activity, inspired by the 2016 Democracy Now! documentary Thirsty for Democracy, introduces students to the struggle of residents to access safe water for drinking, cooking, and bathing in the majority-Black cities of Flint, Michigan; Jackson, Mississippi; and Newark, New Jersey.
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book cover showing the words Above Ground Poems by Clint Smith over a greenish background.

Above Ground

Poetry. Clint Smith. 2023. 128 pages.
A collection of poetry that explores parenthood, personal lineages, and a world full of constant social and political tumult.
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Picture book cover showing two girls (one Black, one white) standing in front of the words That Flag.

That Flag

Picture Book. By Tameka Fryer Brown. Illustrated by Nikkolas Smith. 2023. 40 pages.
Learn about the history of the Confederate flag, the myths and the reality, through the story of two young girls.
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The Radical King

Book — Non-fiction. By Dr. Martin Luther King. 320 pages.
Arranged thematically in four parts, The Radical King includes twenty-three selections, curated and introduced by Dr. Cornel West, that illustrate King’s revolutionary vision, underscoring his identification with the poor, his unapologetic opposition to the Vietnam War, and his crusade against global imperialism.
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aerial view of city map, representing different ZIP codes

Cooked: Survival by ZIP Code

Film. Directed by Judith Helfand. 2020. 54 minutes.
This documentary focuses on Chicago’s heat wave to look at how a weeklong tragedy is really a story about the “slow-motion disaster” caused by race and class inequality.
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