Theme: Organizing
Organizing
When the Impossible Suddenly Became Possible: A Reconstruction Mixer
Teaching Activity. By Adam Sanchez and Nqobile Mthethwa. 25 pages.
A mixer role play explores the connections between different social movements during Reconstruction.
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A mixer role play explores the connections between different social movements during Reconstruction.
Howard Zinn’s Southern Diary
Book — Non-fiction. By Robert Cohen. 2018. 312 pages.
A historical overview and diary entries from Howard Zinn's years as an activist professor at Spelman College.
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A historical overview and diary entries from Howard Zinn's years as an activist professor at Spelman College.
Teaching SNCC: The Organization at the Heart of the Civil Rights Revolution
Teaching Activity. By Adam Sanchez. Rethinking Schools. 24 pages.
A series of role plays that explore the history and evolution of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, including freedom rides and voter registration.
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A series of role plays that explore the history and evolution of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, including freedom rides and voter registration.
What We Don’t Learn About the Black Panther Party — but Should
Teaching Activity. By Adam Sanchez and Jesse Hagopian. Rethinking Schools. 33 pages.
A mixer lesson introduces students to the pivotal history of the Black Panthers.
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A mixer lesson introduces students to the pivotal history of the Black Panthers.
May 8, 1959: Mexican American Communities Evicted
Palo Verde, La Loma, and Bishop were close-knit Mexican American communities that were destroyed in the 1950s to make way for Dodger Stadium.
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Someday Is Now: Clara Luper and the 1958 Oklahoma City Sit-Ins
Picture book. By Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich. Illustrated by Jade Johnson. 2018. 32 pages.
The true story of a teacher who led her students to take direct non-violent action to protest segregation.
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The true story of a teacher who led her students to take direct non-violent action to protest segregation.
Feb. 3, 1964: New York City School Children Boycott School
More than 450,000 New York City school children boycotted school as part of a protest for quality schools for Black and Latino students.
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Nov. 3, 1979: Greensboro Massacre
Five people were killed when the Ku Klux Klan and Nazis fired on an anti-Klan rally in Greensboro, North Carolina.
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Dark Sky Rising: Reconstruction and the Dawn of Jim Crow
Book — Non-fiction. By Henry Louis Gates Jr. with Tonya Bolden. 2019. 240 pages.
Readers trace the rise and fall of racial equity during Reconstruction as increasingly violent white supremacy and new forms of oppression take hold at the turn of the 20th century.
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Readers trace the rise and fall of racial equity during Reconstruction as increasingly violent white supremacy and new forms of oppression take hold at the turn of the 20th century.
Our House Is on Fire — Time to Teach Climate Justice
Article. By Bill Bigelow. Rethinking Schools, Spring 2019.
For too long, the fossil fuel industry has tried to buy teachers’ and students’ silence. But teaching climate justice has never been more urgent.
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For too long, the fossil fuel industry has tried to buy teachers’ and students’ silence. But teaching climate justice has never been more urgent.
Teaching Social Activism in Prison: The Leap Manifesto and Incarcerated Youth
Article. By Rachel Boccio. Rethinking Schools, Winter 2018.
A Connecticut educator who taught English to incarcerated young men for 20 years describes what happened when she introduced her students to the Canadian “Leap Manifesto.”
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A Connecticut educator who taught English to incarcerated young men for 20 years describes what happened when she introduced her students to the Canadian “Leap Manifesto.”
The Young People’s Climate Conference: Teaching Global Warming to 3rd Graders
Teaching Activity. By Rowan Shafer. Rethinking Schools.
A teacher adapts the “Climate Change Mixer” designed for older students as a springboard for a unit on global warming and climate justice. She asks, "How could I bring up an issue so big and abstract, so gloom and doom, with 3rd graders? How could I not?"
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A teacher adapts the “Climate Change Mixer” designed for older students as a springboard for a unit on global warming and climate justice. She asks, "How could I bring up an issue so big and abstract, so gloom and doom, with 3rd graders? How could I not?"
You Got to Move: Stories of Change in the South
Film. Directed by Lucy Massie Phenix and Veronica Selver. 1985. 86 minutes.
Documentary about people who learned to organize, and received peer support, at the Highlander Center.
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Documentary about people who learned to organize, and received peer support, at the Highlander Center.
An Unreasonable Woman: A True Story of Shrimpers, Politicos, Polluters, and the Fight for Seadrift, Texas
Book — Non-fiction. By Diane Wilson. 2006. 392 pages.
Shrimp-boat captain Diane Wilson takes on corporate greed and political corruption in a true story about environmental activism on the Texas Gulf Coast.
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Shrimp-boat captain Diane Wilson takes on corporate greed and political corruption in a true story about environmental activism on the Texas Gulf Coast.
April 7, 1712: Revolt by Enslaved Africans in New York
Twenty-four enslaved Africans launched a rebellion in Manhattan, New York.
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April 10, 2006: Immigrants’ Rights Protests Peak
During a Spring filled with pro-immigrant activism, on this day the largest number of people gathered in over 100 cities in the United States to protest new anti-immigrant legislation.
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April 11, 1968: Fair Housing Act Signed Into Law
The 1968 Fair Housing Act was signed into law after years of struggle and grassroots organizing.
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We the Resistance: Documenting a History of Nonviolent Protest in the United States
Book — Non-fiction. Edited by Michael G. Long, foreword by Chris Hedges, afterword by Dolores Huerta. 2019. 610 pages.
Encounter the voices of activists sharing instructive stories through narrative and primary documents.
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Encounter the voices of activists sharing instructive stories through narrative and primary documents.
June 5, 1981: AIDS Epidemic Recognized by Medical Community
The CDC published a medical study about five gay men, plagued by a mysterious autoimmune disease (AIDS), in June 1981.
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July 4, 1976: Marion Prisoners Stage Bicentennial Hunger Strike
Inmates at United States Penitentiary (USP) Marion staged a hunger strike on the U.S. bicentennial in protest of inhumane treatment by the prison administration.
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June 27, 2015: Bree Newsome Removes Confederate Flag
While politicians debated the implications of taking down the Confederate flag after the white supremacist murder of nine African Americans at Emmanuel AME Church, Bree Newsome scaled the South Carolina state flag pole and took the flag down.
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Who Made the New Deal? The Economic Recovery Conference Role Play
Teaching Activity. By Adam Sanchez. Rethinking Schools.
Through role play, students explore how different social groups influenced New Deal legislation.
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Through role play, students explore how different social groups influenced New Deal legislation.
Troublemaker for Justice: The Story of Bayard Rustin, the Man Behind the March on Washington
Book — Non-fiction. By Jacqueline Houtman, Walter Naegle, and Michael G. Long. 2019. 168 pages.
A biography of antiwar and civil rights activist Bayard Rustin.
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A biography of antiwar and civil rights activist Bayard Rustin.
Young Voices for the Planet: “Words Have Power”
Film. By Lynne Cherry and Young Voices for the Planet. 2019. 6 minutes.
This short documentary features the activism of Jaysa Mellers, a young adolescent girl who rallied her community to challenge local air polluters.
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This short documentary features the activism of Jaysa Mellers, a young adolescent girl who rallied her community to challenge local air polluters.