March 25, 1965: Last Selma March
The Selma marches were three protest marches about voting rights, held in 1965.
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Theme: Organizing
Organizing
From Mountaintop Removal to Divestment: The Story of Swarthmore Students’ Fight Against Fossil Fuels
Article. By Hannah Jones.
The global movement to get institutions to divest from fossil fuels began with students. This article tells the inspiring story.
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The global movement to get institutions to divest from fossil fuels began with students. This article tells the inspiring story.
June 7, 1892: Homer Plessy Arrested for Violating Louisiana’s Separate Car Act
Homer Plessy was arrested for violating Louisiana’s Separate Car Act.
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June 11, 1962: Students for a Democratic Society Issue Port Huron Statement
Students for a Democratic Society held its founding convention in Michigan and issued the Port Huron Statement.
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COINTELPRO: Teaching the FBI’s War on the Black Freedom Movement
Teaching Activity. By Ursula Wolfe-Rocca. Rethinking Schools. 29 pages.
Through examining FBI documents, students learn the scope of the FBI’s COINTELPRO campaign to spy on, infiltrate, discredit, and disrupt all corners of the Black Freedom Movement.
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Through examining FBI documents, students learn the scope of the FBI’s COINTELPRO campaign to spy on, infiltrate, discredit, and disrupt all corners of the Black Freedom Movement.
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.
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.
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 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.
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.
The Green New Deal and Our Schools
Article. By the Rethinking Schools Editorial Board. Rethinking Schools, Summer 2019.
The Green New Deal will only be brought to life by people who grasp the enormity of the crisis that humanity faces and the radical changes necessary to address it. This requires that we teach a climate justice curriculum.
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The Green New Deal will only be brought to life by people who grasp the enormity of the crisis that humanity faces and the radical changes necessary to address it. This requires that we teach a climate justice curriculum.
Colored Conventions Project
Digital collection. A repository for primary sources and collection of essays about the origins, activities, and influence of the 19th-century Colored Conventions Movement that advocated for Black civil and human rights.
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The Southern Mystique
Book — Non-fiction. By Howard Zinn. 1964.
In one of his earliest published works, Howard Zinn writes about his experiences teaching and organizing with the Civil Rights Movement in the South.
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In one of his earliest published works, Howard Zinn writes about his experiences teaching and organizing with the Civil Rights Movement in the South.
Disobedience and Democracy: Nine Fallacies on Law and Order
Book — Non-fiction. By Howard Zinn. 1968.
A cogent defense of civil disobedience.
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A cogent defense of civil disobedience.
May 9, 1968: Ocean Hill-Brownsville Teachers’ Strike of 1968
Teachers went on strike for seven months, against community control, after Black and Puerto Rican parents organized for better schools for their children in New York City.
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