African American Archives

ing Title (This Day in History) | Zinn Education Project: Teaching People's History

Feb. 25, 1964: Muhammad Ali Won the Heavyweight Boxing Title

In Miami Beach, Florida, Muhammad Ali (then Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr.) won the heavyweight boxing championship title at the age of 22.

The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution

Film. By Stanley Nelson. 2015. 115 minutes.
Documentary on the Black Panther Party for Self Defense.

The Book Itch: Freedom, Truth, & Harlem's Greatest Bookstore ( Book) | Zinn Education Project: Teaching People's History

The Book Itch: Freedom, Truth, and Harlem’s Greatest Bookstore

Picture book. By Vaunda Micheaux Nelson, Illustrated by R. Gregory Christie. 2015. 32 pages.
Tells the story of Lewis Michaux Sr.'s Harlem bookstore that was a center of African American history, scholarship, debate, and activism, for grades 2-5.

Flight from the Devil: Six Slave Narratives

Book — Non-fiction. Compiled and with an introduction by William Loren Katz. 1996. 434 pages.
Six narratives by people who were enslaved that helped expose the horrors of slavery and advance the fight for abolition.

Teaching Activity by William Loren Katz

Dayshaun’s Gift

Book — Historical fiction. By Zetta Elliott. 2015. 88 pages.
Time travelling historical fiction for upper elementary school students on the New York City Draft Riots.

Sylvia Woods: “You Have to Fight for Freedom”

Film clip. Voices of a People’s History.
Dramatic reading of an excerpt from an interview of Sylvia Woods (1919) by Alana Arenas.

Blood in the Water: The Attica Uprising of 1971 and Its Legacy

Book — Non-fiction. By Heather Ann Thompson. 2016. 752 pages.
The hidden history of the infamous 1971 Attica Prison Uprising.

Reconstructing the South: A Role Play

Lesson. By Bill Bigelow. 17 pages.
This role play engages students in thinking about what freedpeople needed in order to achieve — and sustain — real freedom following the Civil War. It's followed by a chapter from the book Freedom's Unfinished Revolution.

Teaching Activity by Bill Bigelow

The Reconstruction Era and the Fragility of Democracy

Teaching Guide. By Facing History and Ourselves. 2015.
A collection of lessons, videos, and primary sources to teach about Reconstruction.

The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America

Book — Non-fiction. By Richard Rothstein. 2017. 368 pages.
A history of the laws and policy decisions passed by local, state, and federal governments that promoted racial segregation.

Teaching Activity by Richard Rothstein

Unbound: A Novel in Verse

Book — Fiction. By Ann E. Burg. 2016. 352 pages.
Story of a family fleeing slavery written in verse for grades 4-8.

Answering the Cry for Freedom: Stories of African Americans and the American Revolution

Book — Non-fiction. By Gretchen Woelfle. Illustrated by R. Gregory Christie. 2016. 238 pages.
Profiles of African American, free and enslaved, during the American Revolution for upper elementary to middle school.

Freedom in Congo Square

Book — Non-fiction. By Carole Boston Weatherford. Illustrated by R. Gregory Christie. 2016. 40 pages.
Introduces children to the brutality of slavery and the role of culture in resistance.

The Era of Reconstruction, 1861-1900

Book — Non-fiction. By National Park Service. 2017. 165 pages.
A theme study on the history of the Reconstruction era.

Now Can We Talk? 40 Years Later

Film. By Lee Anne Bell and Markie Hancock. 2013. 45 minutes.
This DVD and discussion guide offer a powerful way to engage students, teachers, and community groups in honest dialogue about the ongoing problems of racism and what we can do to address them.

Coretta Scott King (R) with Women Strike for Peace founder Dagmar Wilson, 1963 | Zinn Education Project

W. E. B. Du Bois to Coretta Scott King: The Untold History of the Movement to Ban the Bomb

By Vincent Intondi

When the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. announced his strong opposition to the war in Vietnam, the media attacked him for straying outside of his civil rights mandate. In so many words, powerful interests told him: “Mind your own business.” In fact, African American leaders have long been concerned with broad issues of peace and justice — and have especially opposed nuclear weapons. Unfortunately, this activism is left out of mainstream corporate-produced history textbooks.