The Overthrow of Democracy in Chile — A Timeline Article. Timeline by Bill Bigelow. 2023. A timeline of the overthrow of democracy in Chile — the fall of Salvador Allende and the rise of Augusto Pinochet. Continue reading
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. Continue reading
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. Continue reading
Expanding Intersectional Queer History in the Elementary Grades Article. By Laura Shelton. Rethinking Schools. 2022. A 5th- and 6th-grade teacher asks her students to wrestle with what “identity” and “intersectionality” mean. Continue reading
The Day of Silence: Queer Kids, Conservative Kids, and the Silences Within and Between Them Article. By Anna McMaken-Marsh. Rethinking Schools. 2022. A high school teacher navigates the tensions that arise in conversations with students about the Day of Silence, and how to bridge divides. Continue reading
The Climate Crisis Has a History. Teach It. Article. By Mimi Eisen and Ursula Wolfe-Rocca. 2023. A rationale for a new timeline of the climate crisis. Continue reading
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. Continue reading
Barry Farm: Community, Land and Justice in Washington D.C. Film. By Sabiyha Prince and Samuel George. 2023. 50 minutes. This documentary examines the history and impact of redevelopment on African American communities, looking at Barry Farms in Washington D.C. in particular. Continue reading
Our History Has Always Been Contraband: In Defense of Black Studies Book — Non-fiction. Edited by Colin Kaepernick, Robin D. G. Kelley, and Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor. 2023. 220 pages. A collection of critical voices from the Black radical tradition that provides access to a history that is still being suppressed today. Continue reading
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). Continue reading
The Condemnation of Blackness: Race, Crime, and the Making of Modern Urban America Book — Non-fiction. By Khalil Gibran Muhammad. 2019. 416 pages. A biography of the idea of Black criminality in the making of modern urban America, The Condemnation of Blackness reveals the influence this pernicious myth, rooted in crime statistics, has had on our society and our sense of self. Continue reading
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. Continue reading
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. Continue reading
I’ll Take You There: Exploring Nashville’s Social Justice Sites Book — Non-fiction. Edited by Amie Thurber and Learotha Williams. 2021. 300 pages. An exploration of Nashville's social justice sites and people's history, celebrating the power of counternarratives as a tool to resist injustice. Continue reading
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. Continue reading
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. Continue reading
The Attack on Anti-Racist Teaching Attacks Environmental Justice Teaching The right-wing legislation restricting lessons on history and systemic racism also denies students climate literacy. Continue reading
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. Continue reading
How Do You Spell Unfair?: MacNolia Cox and the National Spelling Bee Picture Book. By Carole Boston Weatherford. Illustrated by Frank Morrison. 2023. 40 pages. The story of eighth grader MacNolia Cox, the first African American to win the Akron, Ohio, spelling bee, and the racism she faced during her journey to compete at the prestigious National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C. Continue reading
Look for Me in the Whirlwind: From the Panther 21 to 21st-Century Revolutions Book — Non-fiction. Edited by déqui kioni-sadiki and Matt Meyer. 2017. 648 pages. The collective autobiography of the New York Panther 21, an infamous conspiracy case that highlighted government repression of Black liberation activists during the 1960s and 1970s. Continue reading
American Sirens: The Incredible Story of the Black Men Who Became America’s First Paramedics Book — Non-fiction. By Kevin Hazzard. 2022. 336 pages. The story of the Freedom House EMS in Pittsburgh, a group of Black men who became America's first paramedics and set the gold standard for emergency medicine around the world. Continue reading
The Radical King Book -- Non-fiction. By Dr. Martin Luther King. 320 pp. 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. Continue reading
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. Continue reading
Teaching the Reconstruction Revolution: Picturing and Celebrating the First Era of Black Power Teaching Activity. By Adam Sanchez. 2022. Rethinking Schools. A lesson that help students understand, imagine, and celebrate the Reconstruction period as the first era of Black power in the United States. Continue reading
South to Freedom: Runaway Slaves to Mexico and the Road to the Civil War Book — Non-fiction. By Alice L. Baumgartner. 2020. 384 pages. The story of why Mexico abolished slavery and how its increasingly radical antislavery policies fueled the sectional crisis in the United States. Continue reading
The Overthrow of Democracy in Chile — A Timeline Article. Timeline by Bill Bigelow. 2023. A timeline of the overthrow of democracy in Chile — the fall of Salvador Allende and the rise of Augusto Pinochet. Continue reading
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. Continue reading
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. Continue reading
Expanding Intersectional Queer History in the Elementary Grades Article. By Laura Shelton. Rethinking Schools. 2022. A 5th- and 6th-grade teacher asks her students to wrestle with what “identity” and “intersectionality” mean. Continue reading
The Day of Silence: Queer Kids, Conservative Kids, and the Silences Within and Between Them Article. By Anna McMaken-Marsh. Rethinking Schools. 2022. A high school teacher navigates the tensions that arise in conversations with students about the Day of Silence, and how to bridge divides. Continue reading
The Climate Crisis Has a History. Teach It. Article. By Mimi Eisen and Ursula Wolfe-Rocca. 2023. A rationale for a new timeline of the climate crisis. Continue reading
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. Continue reading
Barry Farm: Community, Land and Justice in Washington D.C. Film. By Sabiyha Prince and Samuel George. 2023. 50 minutes. This documentary examines the history and impact of redevelopment on African American communities, looking at Barry Farms in Washington D.C. in particular. Continue reading
Our History Has Always Been Contraband: In Defense of Black Studies Book — Non-fiction. Edited by Colin Kaepernick, Robin D. G. Kelley, and Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor. 2023. 220 pages. A collection of critical voices from the Black radical tradition that provides access to a history that is still being suppressed today. Continue reading
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). Continue reading
The Condemnation of Blackness: Race, Crime, and the Making of Modern Urban America Book — Non-fiction. By Khalil Gibran Muhammad. 2019. 416 pages. A biography of the idea of Black criminality in the making of modern urban America, The Condemnation of Blackness reveals the influence this pernicious myth, rooted in crime statistics, has had on our society and our sense of self. Continue reading
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. Continue reading
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. Continue reading
I’ll Take You There: Exploring Nashville’s Social Justice Sites Book — Non-fiction. Edited by Amie Thurber and Learotha Williams. 2021. 300 pages. An exploration of Nashville's social justice sites and people's history, celebrating the power of counternarratives as a tool to resist injustice. Continue reading
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. Continue reading
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. Continue reading
The Attack on Anti-Racist Teaching Attacks Environmental Justice Teaching The right-wing legislation restricting lessons on history and systemic racism also denies students climate literacy. Continue reading
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. Continue reading
How Do You Spell Unfair?: MacNolia Cox and the National Spelling Bee Picture Book. By Carole Boston Weatherford. Illustrated by Frank Morrison. 2023. 40 pages. The story of eighth grader MacNolia Cox, the first African American to win the Akron, Ohio, spelling bee, and the racism she faced during her journey to compete at the prestigious National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C. Continue reading
Look for Me in the Whirlwind: From the Panther 21 to 21st-Century Revolutions Book — Non-fiction. Edited by déqui kioni-sadiki and Matt Meyer. 2017. 648 pages. The collective autobiography of the New York Panther 21, an infamous conspiracy case that highlighted government repression of Black liberation activists during the 1960s and 1970s. Continue reading
American Sirens: The Incredible Story of the Black Men Who Became America’s First Paramedics Book — Non-fiction. By Kevin Hazzard. 2022. 336 pages. The story of the Freedom House EMS in Pittsburgh, a group of Black men who became America's first paramedics and set the gold standard for emergency medicine around the world. Continue reading
The Radical King Book -- Non-fiction. By Dr. Martin Luther King. 320 pp. 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. Continue reading
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. Continue reading
Teaching the Reconstruction Revolution: Picturing and Celebrating the First Era of Black Power Teaching Activity. By Adam Sanchez. 2022. Rethinking Schools. A lesson that help students understand, imagine, and celebrate the Reconstruction period as the first era of Black power in the United States. Continue reading
South to Freedom: Runaway Slaves to Mexico and the Road to the Civil War Book — Non-fiction. By Alice L. Baumgartner. 2020. 384 pages. The story of why Mexico abolished slavery and how its increasingly radical antislavery policies fueled the sectional crisis in the United States. Continue reading
