In the News

During this episode of Why Change? co-host Karla meets with Tamara Anderson who moderated an event recently — in partnership with the Teaching Artists Guild, Zinn Education Project, Black Lives Matter at School, and Creative Generation — titled, “A Day of Purpose: Decolonizing Arts Education with Black Lives Matter at School.” This event was a professional development opportunity for teaching artists that focuses on the ongoing activations and reflections from BLM at School’s Year of Purpose, which aims to uplift Black students and undo institutional racism. From Creative Generation. Read the full article here.

Book bans are surging in the U.S., according to a recent report by the American Library Association. A record 2,571 unique titles were targeted for censorship in 2022, the ALA reported. Even as these laws proliferate, educators and librarians are finding creative ways around them. Jesse Hagopian, a high school teacher in Seattle and organizer with the Zinn Education Project, believes the wave of legislation that “imposes gag orders on teachers” is a backlash to the Black Lives Matter movement and the increasing numbers of people embracing their transgender identities. From Al Jazeera. Read the full article here.

Teachers are getting a chance to participate in a workshop aimed at uncovering what the Zinn Education Project calls “the hidden, bottom-up history” of the Reconstruction era. The workshop is geared toward middle and high school educators, and participants will engage in a series of classroom-friendly activities exploring the neglected history of the Reconstruction period and asking how the unfulfilled promises of Reconstruction might shape politics and American history education moving forward. From the Brattleboro Reformer. Read the full article here.

A display at South by Southwest Conference & Festivals highlights the historical context of book banning nationwide, as well as states seeing the largest volume of books pulled from shelves. The Banned Book Library is an interactive exhibit created by the Zinn Education Project, the African American Policy Forum and Lush Cosmetics. It included a historic timeline of segregation, denied literacy rights for non-white people as well as some specific titles that have faced a heightened level of pushback. From KXAN News. Read the full article here.

The Zinn Education Project’s Jesse Hagopian joins the Nicole Sandler Show, a podcast on The Progressive Voices Network, to discuss Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’s efforts to ban teaching true history in Florida, and campaigns that are pushing back against the attempt to whitewash this history. From the Nicole Sandler Show. Read the full article here.

Bill Resnick talks to the Zinn Education Project’s Jesse Hagopian about the “Stop W.O.K.E. Act,” the recent Florida law led by Governor Ron DeSantis, that is aimed at criminalizing teaching Black history, banning books and limiting what can be taught, claiming that Critical Race theory is itself racist, and more. The conversation exposes the malicious deceit of Desantis’ justifications, and the current impact of the law, with other states enacting similar laws, and teachers fearful and intimidated. From KBOO Community Radio. Read the full article here.

In the wake of Florida’s headline-grabbing efforts to reshape the content of the College Board’s A.P. African American Studies course, publishers at New Press recently scrapped their catalog just before it was set to go the printer, replacing the cover with new art calling out the banning of New Press books, and the back cover with text calling attention to events in Florida and the surge in censorship efforts. The publisher is also reaching out to offer free books to teachers — including a recent partnership with the Zinn Education Project that will offer free New Press books to teachers in Arkansas, Florida, Idaho, Iowa, New Hampshire, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Texas. From Publishers Weekly. Read the full article here.

“I think the College Board needs to be abolished,” said Jesse Hagopian, a campaign organizer at the Zinn Education Project focused on Black history. “It’s an institution that was founded in eugenics and white supremacy, and we have far better models of education to look to. We should be moving towards educational approaches based in ethnic studies, Black studies, or people’s history. There are so many different models for empowering students with education that are far more impactful than the College Board.” From Teen Vogue. Read the full article here.