Juneteenth: Teaching Outside the Textbook

Juneteenth — June 19th, also known as Emancipation Day — is one of the commemorations of people seizing their freedom from slavery in the United States. Yet, if the right wing has its way, it will be illegal to teach students about Juneteenth.
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The Right to Learn Is Fundamental

The D.C. Area Educators for Social Justice hosted a Teach Truth day of action event at the Mall — marching (with a brass band) from the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) to the National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI).
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Outside Agitators

“Outside agitators” is a trope used throughout history in response to slave resistance, Reconstruction, the labor movement, the anti-apartheid movement, the Civil Rights Movement, and more to dismiss and repress the legitimate agency, intellect, and concerns of local people.
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Defend the Freedom to Learn

Children’s future depends on what they learn today. That is why we need to defend the freedom to learn, more now than ever. Let students and teachers know we are by their side.
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Traveling Black: A Long Journey of Resistance

Historian Mia Bay discussed her book, Traveling Black: A Story of Race and Resistance, which explores racial restrictions on transportation and resistance to the injustice. This class was part of the Zinn Education Project’s Teach the Black Freedom Struggle online people’s history series.
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Press Release

Fifth annual nationwide rallies and teach-ins, led by educators, students, and local communities aim to pushback unprecedented and increasing legislative efforts to censor history and restrict learning in K–12 classrooms.
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Teach Truth Day of Action Briefing

The Zinn Education Project, in conjunction with more than 80 prominent racial and social justice organizations, will hold a national briefing on June 3, to discuss the growing chorus of diverse voices speaking out against the state and federal attack on students’ freedom to learn and educators’ freedom to teach.
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Memorial Day, originally published in the New York Times. Used here with permission of the artist Owen Freeman.

People’s History of Memorial Day

On this Memorial Day weekend, we feature two articles: one about the early origins of the holiday, led by African Americans in Charleston, South Carolina after the Civil War, and the second by Howard Zinn urging us to "destroy the weapons of death that . . . threaten our children and grandchildren."
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Black Teachers: A Pedagogy of Organized Resistance

Historians Jarvis Givens and Imani Perry discussed the Black Teacher Archive, a digital portal centralizing materials created by professional organizations of African American educators, historically referred to as Colored Teachers Associations (CTAs). This class was part of the Zinn Education Project’s Teach the Black Freedom Struggle online people’s history series.
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Teach Truth Day of Action 2025

We invite educators, students, parents, and community members to host a mini-lesson, rally at a historic site, history walking tour, information table, or other event to defend the right to #TeachTruth.
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Why I Registered

Hundreds of educators register for free each month at the Zinn Education Project to access lessons and other resources. Here’s why.
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Teachers Defy Fascism: Teach the Truth

As state legislatures are passing laws to ban truthful teaching, more and more teachers continue to register at the Zinn Education Project. These numbers reflect a powerful countercurrent — one where teachers, students, and families seek out resources that center justice, people’s history, and critical thinking.
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“Drill, Baby, Drill”? No. Teach, Baby, Teach.

Whether it is Earth Day or any other day of the year, we offer lessons and resources to help students grasp the enormity of the environmental crisis, but also find paths to make a difference, to challenge the profit-first, fossil fuel-forever priorities of the people temporarily running this country.
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