- Zinn Education Project

A colorful painting of people being deported back to Mexico, by Kaelyn Savard.

Deportations on Trial: Mexican Americans During the Great Depression

Teaching Activity. By Ursula Wolfe-Rocca.
In this role play students analyze who is to blame for the illegal, mass deportations of Mexican Americans and immigrants during the Great Depression.

Teaching Activity by Ursula Wolfe-Rocca

The History All Around Us: Roosevelt High School and the 1968 Eastside Blowouts

Teaching Activity. By Brian C. Gibbs. Rethinking Schools. 6 pages.
A teacher uses the activist history of Theodore Roosevelt High School in East Los Angeles to pose students the question: “What would you be willing to do to create change?"

Plotting Inequalities, Building Resistance: High School Students Use Math to Reflect on Social Inequality

Teaching Activity. By Adam Renner, Bridget Brew, and Crystal Proctor. Rethinking Schools. 5 pages.
An article describing how math teachers in a San Francisco high school shed light on the ways economics and racism affect education, housing, and job opportunities.

Pump Up the Blowouts: Reflections on the 40th Anniversary of the Chicano/a School Blowouts

Teaching Activity. By Gilda L. Ochoa. Rethinking Schools. 5 pages.
Reflections on teaching students about the 1968 walkouts by Chicano students in California.

Salt of the Earth: Grounds Students in Hope

Teaching Activity. By S. J. Childs. Rethinking Schools. 6 pages.
The author describes how she introduces students to the classic 1953 film, Salt of the Earth, about a miners’ strike in New Mexico.

Stealing Home: Eminent Domain, Urban Renewal, and the Loss of Community

Teaching Activity. By Linda Christensen. Rethinking Schools. 9 pages.
Teaching about patterns of displacement and wealth inequality through the history of Palo Verde, La Loma, and Bishop communities and the building of Dodger Stadium.

Teaching Activity by Linda Christensen

A blue and white poster reading "Chicano Codices Presents: Simplified Histories: The U.S. Invasion of Mexico, 1846-1848"

U.S. Mexico War: “We Take Nothing by Conquest, Thank God”

Teaching Activity. Lesson by Bill Bigelow and student reading by Howard Zinn. Rethinking Schools. 21 pages.
Interactive activity introduces students to the history and often untold story of the U.S.-Mexico War. Roles available in Spanish.

Teaching Activity by Bill Bigelow

Conexiones Caribenas: La Republica Dominicana

Teaching Guide. By Anne Gallin, Ruth Glasser and Jocelyn Santana. 2005.
Selected readings in Spanish from "Caribbean Connections: Dominican Republic."

Caribbean Connections: Moving North

Teaching Guide. Edited by Catherine Sunshine and Keith Warner. 2005. 240 pages.
Literature and essays about Caribbean life in the United States.

The Line Between Us (Book) | Zinn Education Project: Teaching People's History

The Line Between Us: Teaching About the Border and Mexican Immigration

Teaching Guide. By Bill Bigelow. 2006. 160 pages. Rethinking Schools.
Lessons for teaching about the history of U.S.–Mexico relations and current border and immigration issues.

Teaching Activity by Bill Bigelow

Pancho Rabbit and the Coyote: A Migrant’s Tale

Picture book. Written and illustrated by Duncan Tonatiuh. 2013. 32 pages.
An age-appropriate story that brings to light the hardship and struggles faced by thousands of families crossing the border.

Separate Is Never Equal: Sylvia Mendez and Her Family’s Fight for Desegregation

Picture book. By Duncan Tonatiuh. 2014. 40 pages.
Upper elementary school picture-book about the Mendez v. Westminster case to desegregate California schools.

Si, Se Puede! Yes, We Can!: Janitor Strike in L.A.

Picture book. By Diana Cohn and illustrated by Francisco Delgado. 2008. 31 pages.
A children's book based on the true story of the Justice for Janitors strike.

Side by Side/Lado a lado

Picture book. By Monica Brown and translation by Carolina Valencia. Illustrated by Joe Cepeda. 2010. 32 pages.
The life stories and activism of the two founders of the United Farm Workers (UFW), written and illustrated for young children.

Somos como las nubes/We Are Like the Clouds

Picture book. By Jorge Argueta. Illustrated by Alfonso Ruano. 2016. 36 pages.
Poems written in Spanish and English address the struggles of child refugees fleeing Central America for the United States. Grade 2+.

Still Dreaming / Seguimos soñando

Picture book. Written by Claudia Guadalupe Martínez, illustrated by Magdalena Mora, and translated by Luis Humberto Crosthwaite. 2022. 40 pages.
The story of a boy and his family who leave their beloved home to avoid being separated by the government during the Mexican Repatriation.

That's Not Fair! / No Es Justo! (Book) | Zinn Education Project: Teaching People's History

That’s Not Fair! Emma Tenayuca’s Struggle for Justice/¡No Es Justo!: La lucha de Emma Tenayuca por la justicia

Picture book. By Carmen Tafolla, Sharyll Tenayuca, and Celina Marroquin. 2008. 40 pages.
Bilingual (Spanish and English) biography of labor activist Emma Tenayuca for upper elementary.

The Streets are Free

Picture book. By Karusa. Illustrated by Monica Doppert. 1985 (reissued 2008). 48 pages.
A group of children organize to convince the mayor that they need a playground.

500 Years of Chicana Women’s History

Book — Non-fiction. By Elizabeth Martinez. 2007. 899 illustrations.
Stories and photos of Chicana/Mexican-American women in politics, labor, art, health, and more.

500 Años del Pueblo Chicano – 500 Years of Chicano History in Pictures

Book — Non-fiction. By Elizabeth Martinez. 1991 (2nd Edition).
Chicano history as told through hundreds of pictures and bilingual text.

An African American and Latinx History of the United States

Book — Non-fiction. By Paul Ortiz. 2018. 296 pages.
This narrative, intersectional history describes the shared struggle for African American and Latinx civil rights, and argues that the “Global South” was crucial to the development of the United States.

Always Running: La Vida Loca: Gang Days in L.A.

Book — Non-fiction. By Luis J. Rodriguez. 2005. 288 pages.
Memoir about a young Chicano gang member surviving the dangerous streets of East Los Angeles.

Arise!: Global Radicalism in the Era of the Mexican Revolution

Book — Non-fiction. By Christina Heatherton. 2022. 336 pages.
This book tells the international history of radical movements and their convergences during the Mexican Revolution, reconstructing how this era's organizers found new ways to fight global capitalism.

The Battle for Paradise (Book) | Zinn Education Project

The Battle for Paradise: Puerto Rico Takes on the Disaster Capitalists

Book — Non-fiction. By Naomi Klein. 2018. 91 pages.
Post-Hurricane Maria, Puerto Ricans are engaged in a pitched struggle with "disaster capitalists" over how to remake the island.

Beyond the Fields: Cesar Chavez, the UFW, and the Struggle for Justice in the 21st Century

Book — Non-fiction. By Randy Shaw. 2010. 347 pages.
The impact of the United Farm Workers (UFW) on organizing and labor today.