21st Century Archives

Paradise on Fire

Book — Fiction. By Jewell Parker Rhodes. 2023 paperback release. 256 pages.
A powerful coming-of-age survival tale exploring issues of race, class, and climate change.

Running

Book — Fiction. By Natalia Sylvester. 2020. 328 pages.
A story that celebrates young people who find themselves as they come to political consciousness and commitment.

Social Studies for a Better World: An Anti-Oppressive Approach for Elementary Educators

Book — Non-fiction. By Noreen Naseem Rodriguez & Katy Swalwell. 2021. 256 pages.
This book is full of social justice teaching methods and materials for elementary educators.

Teaching Activity by Noreen Naseem Rodriguez & Katy Swalwell

Jan. 5, 2021: Grassroots Organizing Shifts Balance of Power in Senate

In 2021, two new Democratic lawmakers from Georgia were elected to the U.S. Senate, one of whom is only the 11th African American senator in U.S. history.

LGBTQ+ History in High School Classes in the United States Since 1990

Book — Non-fiction. By Stacie Brensilver Berman. 2021. 296 pages.
Based on interviews with high school teachers about integrating LGBTQ+ history in their classes, this book offers the first detailed portrait of educators and activists championing a more inclusive and accurate vision of U.S. history.

Teaching Activity by Stacie Brensilver Berman

Teaching Gloria E. Anzaldúa: Pedagogy and Practice for Our Classrooms and Communities

Book — Non-fiction. Edited by Cantú-Sánchez, de León-Zepeda, and Cantú. 2020. 360 pages.
Essays on the first-hand use of Gloria E. Anzaldúa's theories in classrooms and community environments.

Teaching Activity by Edited by Margaret Cantú-Sánchez, Candace de León-Zepeda, and Norma Elia Cantú

More Than a Score: The New Uprising Against High-Stakes Testing

Book — Non-fiction. Edited by Jesse Hagopian. 2014. 336 pages.
A collection of essays, poems, speeches, and interviews from frontline fighters who are defying the corporate education reformers and fueling a national movement to reclaim and transform public education.

Teaching Activity by Edited by Jesse Hagopian

No Kids in Prison

Website. NoKidsinPrison uses art to model, imagine and advocate for alternatives to youth incarceration by lifting up the voices of youth most impacted by the criminal justice system through art and culture.

Standing with Standing Rock: Voices from the #NoDAPL Movement

Book — Non-fiction. Edited by Nick Estes and Jaskiran Dhillon. 2019. 448 pages.
Through poetry and prose, essays, photography, interviews, and polemical interventions, the contributors, including leaders of the Standing Rock movement, reflect on Indigenous history and politics and on the movement's significance.

Teaching Activity by Nick Estes (editor)

Colin in Black and White: The Kaepernick Curriculum

Teaching Guide. Presented by Ra Vision Media & Know Your Rights Camp. 2022. 85 pages.
In conjunction with the Netflix series of the same name, this teaching guide provides students with resources and activities to understand and address systemic and institutional racism.

Our History Is the Future: Standing Rock Versus the Dakota Access Pipeline, and the Long Tradition of Indigenous Resistance

Book — Non-fiction. By Nick Estes. 2024. 328 pages.
In Our History Is the Future, Nick Estes traces traditions of Indigenous resistance that led to the #NoDAPL movement.

Teaching Activity by Nick Estes

No More Police: A Case for Abolition

Book — Non-fiction. By Mariame Kaba and Andrea Ritchie. 2022. 400 pages.
No More Police calls on us to turn away from systems that perpetrate violence in the name of ending it toward a world where violence is the exception, and safe, well-resourced and thriving communities are the rule.

Teaching Activity by Mariame Kaba and Andrea Ritchie

Teaching White Supremacy: America’s Democratic Ordeal and the Forging of Our National Identity

Book — Non-fiction. By Donald Yacovone. 2022. 464 pages.
This book details the battle over historical memory in public schools and how the white elite has devoted extraordinary resources to perpetuating racist ideas in each generation through K-12 curriculum.

Under the Skin: The Hidden Toll of Racism on American Lives and on the Health of Our Nation

Book — Non-fiction. By Linda Villarosa. 2023. 288 pages.
This book details racial health disparities in the United States.

Teaching Activity by Linda Villarosa

book cover showing a father holding his child on a wartorn street in Ukraine.

War in Ukraine: Making Sense of a Senseless Conflict

Book — Non-fiction. By Medea Benjamin and Nicolas Davies. 2022. 198 pages.
An examination of the events leading up to the 2022 conflict between Russia and Ukraine, the different parties involved, and the risks of escalation and opportunities for peace.

The Counter Revolution of 1836: Texas Slavery & Jim Crow and the Roots of American Fascism

Book — Non-fiction. By Gerald Horne. 2022. 632 pages.
A detailed history of counterrevolutionary forces in Texas state history.

book cover showing protester draped with colorful Black Lives Matter flag.

21st Century Voices of a People’s History of the United States: Documents of Resistance and Hope, 2000-2023

Book — Non-fiction. Edited by Anthony Arnove and Haley Pessin. 2023. 352 pages.
Speeches, essays, songs, and documents from a range of movements offering hope for those seeking to understand our recent history so they can better understand how to change it.

That Flag

Picture Book. By Tameka Fryer Brown. Illustrated by Nikkolas Smith. 2023. 40 pages.
Learn about the history of the Confederate flag, the myths and the reality, through the story of two young girls.

Sugarcane during a controlled burn in South Florida.

June 19, 2015: Stop Sugar Field Burning Campaign Begins

The Sierra Club launched the Stop Sugar Field Burning Campaign to bring an end to the practice of sugarcane field burning which is harmful to the environmental and the health of local residents.

Above Ground

Poetry. Clint Smith. 2023. 128 pages.
A collection of poetry that explores parenthood, personal lineages, and a world full of constant social and political tumult.

Protest of the proposed Byhalia Connection Pipeline.

July 2, 2021: Opposition Prevents Byhalia Pipeline Construction

Due to overwhelming opposition from activists and community members, construction of the Byhalia Connection oil pipeline in greater Memphis, Tennessee was canceled by its developers, Plains All American Pipeline.

Ten Myths About Israel

Book. By Ilan Pappe. An Israeli historian examines the most contested ideas concerning the origins and identity of the contemporary state of Israel.

A graphic showing a Black hand, medical equipment, and flowers, along with the words "The People's Hospital"

The People’s Hospital: Hope and Peril in American Medicine

Book — Non-fiction. By Ricardo Nuila. 2023. 384 pages.
Tells the story of five uninsured Houstonians who are each struggling with life-threatening ailments and denied critical care until they arrive at Ben Taub Hospital, where they find a crucial model of innovative healthcare.

Behind the Shield: The Power & Politics of the NFL

Film. By Dave Zirin and the Media Education Foundation. 2022. 94 minutes.
This documentary film explores the hidden politics of militarism, nationalism, gender, and race in the NFL.

The Occupation of the American Mind: Israel’s Public Relations War in the United States

Film. Directed by Loretta Alper and Jeremy Earp. Media Education Foundation. 2016. Three versions: 21 min./45 min./84 min.
This film helps students recognize how the media and politicians consistently frame “Palestinian resistance as terrorism and Israeli aggression as self-defense.”

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