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By Bill Bigelow Last week nearly 700 Arkansas teachers and school librarians received copies of books by Howard Zinn—thanks to a right wing state representative. Well, not exactly. But here’s the story.

When we made a call for donations to send books to Arkansas teachers, we were touched by the comments donors gave with their contribution. We share these inspiring quotes with you.

We are honored that our lesson, “Hunger on Trial: An Activity on the Irish Potato Famine and Its Meaning for Today” by Bill Bigelow, was used at the 2016 International Great Hunger Commemoration, an annual event sponsored by the Irish government, held in Philadelphia.

We want to hear about your feedback about use of our lessons on Reconstruction. In appreciation for your time, we will send you a free copy of A Short History of Reconstruction.

On last Sunday’s CBS show “Face the Nation,” senior Trump policy adviser Stephen Miller defended Trump’s travel ban and said, “The powers of the president to protect our country are very substantial and will not be questioned.” We need to remind students that this country has been at its best when people have organized to question and challenge presidents.

With each passing day, it's becoming more apparent that Trump's agenda can only be enacted if people are ignorant of the issues underlying his supposed solutions. Having trouble finding and keeping work? Build that wall. Fearful of terrorist attacks? Ban Muslims. Want energy security and infrastructure development? Build that pipeline. The best antidote to Trump's xenophobia, racism, misogyny, and fossil-fuel soaked future is critical thinking.

The Zinn Education Project has just posted "Standing with Standing Rock: A Role Play on the Dakota Access Pipeline" by Wolfe-Rocca, her colleague Andrew Duden, and Zinn Education Project co-director Bill Bigelow. The teaching activities help students grasp the issues at stake in the historic struggle of the Standing Rock Sioux for recognition of their treaty rights and for clean water for all.

In popular culture, the most memorable depiction of Reconstruction was D.W. Griffith's film, Birth of a Nation. Missing from this racist portrait of Reconstruction — and from too many textbooks — was the extraordinary experiment in grassroots multiracial democracy this period represented — land reform, public schools, expanded voting rights, greater equality.

The Zinn Education Project's ability to get people's history lessons into the hands of teachers is made possible by donations from individuals like you. We express our thanks to everyone who donated last year so that we can reach more classrooms in 2017.

Dear friends, More than 65,000 teachers are helping students learn the truth, and teach outside the textbook. Their role has become all the more urgent. These teachers are often the only chance students have to learn a different story—one that looks honestly at this country’s long history of exploitation, but one that also features the social movements that have made it more just and equal.

Show your support with a union-made Zinn Education Project t-shirt. The front features our name and logo. The back features a quote by Howard Zinn: "History should emphasize new possibilities by disclosing those hidden episodes of the past when people showed their ability to resist, to join together, and to occasionally win."

Dear friends, Right wing media and politicians understand the importance of what children learn—or don't learn—about history in K-12 classrooms. That's why they went after the Mexican American Studies program in Tucson, Arizona. That's why they attacked the climate change education resolution in Portland, Oregon. They feared the spread of these good examples.

The Zinn Education Project had a robust two days of discussions and community building during the 2016 National Council for the Social Studies annual conference.

On December 2, the Zinn Education Project hosted a packed house for the first-ever People’s History Trivia Night. Scheduled during the National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) conference being held in Washington, D.C., this fundraising event brought together people’s history teachers and friends from around the country. It was a lively night of laughing and sharing as everyone enjoyed themselves while learning non-trivial people’s history.