Teaching Materials

Re-examining the Revolution

Background Reading. By Ray Raphael. 7 pages.
Based on his book Founding Myths, Raphael critiques the textbook portrayal of the American Revolution. The textbooks say that "a few special people forged American freedom" which "misrepresents, and even contradicts, the spirit of the American Revolution."
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The Truth About Helen Keller (Lesson) | Zinn Education Project

The Truth About Helen Keller

Article. By Ruth Shagoury.
A review of children's picture books about the life of Helen Keller reveals the omission of any description of her active role in key social movements of the 20th century.
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Get on the Job and Organize

Book — Non-fiction. By Jaz Brisack. 2026. 320 pages.
Highlighting the Starbucks and Tesla unionization efforts, this book tells the broader story of the new, nationwide labor movement unfolding in our era of political and social unrest.
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The Black Schooner: Rebellion on the Amistad, A Graphic Novel

Book — Non-fiction. By David Lester and Marcus Rediker, and edited by Paul Buhle. 2026. 136 pages.
graphic history of how enslaved Africans on board the Amistad rebelled and captured the slave ship in 1839, challenging a whitewashed version of history and putting the Africans back at the center of their own freedom story.
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Backtalker: An American Memoir

Book — Non-fiction. By Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw. 2026. 400 pages.
This memoir traces the way Crenshaw’s lived experiences led her to articulate the concepts of intersectionality and critical race theory.
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Until the Last Gun Is Silent

Book — Non-fiction. By Matthew F. Delmont. 2026. 368 pages.
The history of the Vietnam War with a focus on the African American experience in the antiwar movement and as returning soldiers.
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How We Get Free (Updated 2nd Edition)

Book — Non-fiction. Edited by Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor. 2026. 264 pages.
A collection of essays and interviews with founding members of the Combahee River Collective and contemporary activists who reflect on the organization’s contributions to Black feminism and its impact on today’s struggles.
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ain’t i a woman: black women and feminism

Book — Non-fiction. By bell hooks. 2014. 206 pages.
Examines the impact of sexism on Black women during slavery, the devaluation of Black womanhood, Black male sexism, racism among feminists, and the Black woman’s involvement with feminism.
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Stitching Freedom

Book — Non-fiction. By Gary Tyler with Ellen Bravo. 2025. 288 pages.
In the tradition of books by Albert Woodfox and Angela Davis, this memoir of a wrongful conviction and time spent on death row in Angola prison shows how incarcerated people care for each other and fight for justice.
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The Rediscovery of America for Young People

Book — Non-fiction. By Ned Blackhawk, adapted by Rebecca Stefoff. 2026. 576 pages.
Weaves five centuries of Native and non‑Native histories, from Spanish colonial exploration to the rise of Native American self-determination in the late twentieth century and its evolution in the twenty-first century.
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The Overseer Class: A Manifesto

Book — Non-fiction. By Steven W. Thrasher. 2026. 400 pages.
Explores what happens when members of historically minoritized groups are selected for high-visibility positions of power within existing institutions.
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Sarah Keys Evans: The Power of Quiet Courage

Book — Non-fiction. By Amy Nathan with Sarah Keys Evans, and illustrated by Jermaine Powell. 2025. 72 pages.
Chapter book about how Sarah Keys Evans was arrested at a North Carolina bus station in 1952 for not moving to the back of a bus. She went on to challenge the arrest in court.
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