“Who Gets to Vote?” Curriculum Workshop

On Tuesday, October 6, the Zinn Education Project will host the “Who Gets to Vote?” curriculum workshop that will introduce educators to a voting rights mixer role play that includes a variety of people with firsthand experience having their voting rights granted or denied. The roles reach back as far as the colonial era and forward to the present. Participants will also have an opportunity to meet in groups with other social justice teachers from across the country to discuss ways to address this topic in their own teaching. Rethinking Schools editor Jesse Hagopian will facilitate the workshop.

We are witnessing a vicious attack on voting rights, democratic participation, and truthful education. History reminds us that we must organize to protect the gains won through generations of struggle. We can help young people see voting as part of a broader effort to improve their lives and communities, and see themselves as agents of change rather than spectators to politics.

This event is a part of our national call to action to teach about voting rights in an age of authoritarianism, which includes a workshop series focused on voting rights, Reconstruction, constitutional struggles, student organizing, and the long movement to expand freedom in the United States.