The 15th Amendment
Teaching materials and guides on the 15th Amendment's significance in 2020 — its 150th anniversary and an election year.
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Theme: Racism & Racial Identity
Racism & Racial Identity
Dec. 17, 1951: “We Charge Genocide” Petition Submitted to United Nations
Paul Robeson and William Patterson submitted a petition from the Civil Rights Congress (CRC) to the United Nations, signed by almost 100 U.S. intellectuals and activists.
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Jan. 1, 1915: John Henrik Clarke Born in Alabama
The teacher, scholar, and Pan-Africanist intellectual leader was born in Alabama.
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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.
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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Unpunished Murder: Massacre at Colfax and the Quest for Justice
Book — Non-fiction. By Lawrence Goldstone. 2018. 288 pages.
This young adult book provides students with the history of the 1873 massacre of unarmed African Americans in Colfax, Louisiana and the subsequent Supreme Court Case.
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This young adult book provides students with the history of the 1873 massacre of unarmed African Americans in Colfax, Louisiana and the subsequent Supreme Court Case.
Trans-Atlantic and Intra-American Slave Trade Database
Digital collection.
Through this website, over 130,000 voyages made in the Trans-Atlantic and Intra-American slave trade can be searched, filtered, and sorted by variables including the port of origin, the number of enslaved Africans on board, and the ship's name.
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A New Lesson on Rosa Parks
Bill Bigelow wrote a lesson about Rosa Parks' long life of activism, inspired by Jeanne Theoharis's stories in the People's Historians Online series.
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The Strange Careers of the Jim Crow North: Segregation and Struggle Outside of the South
Book — Non-fiction. Edited by Brian Purnell and Jeanne Theoharis with Komozi Woodard. 2019. 352 pages.
This important work shows how the Jim Crow North maintained inequality in the nation’s most liberal places, and chronicles how activists worked to undo those inequities born of Northern Jim Crow.
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This important work shows how the Jim Crow North maintained inequality in the nation’s most liberal places, and chronicles how activists worked to undo those inequities born of Northern Jim Crow.
Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You
Book — Non-fiction. By Ibram X. Kendi and Jason Reynolds. 2020. 320 pages.
Described as 'Stamped from the Beginning' "remixed," this young adult book brings African American history into sharp focus as context for the here and now.
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Described as 'Stamped from the Beginning' "remixed," this young adult book brings African American history into sharp focus as context for the here and now.
Black Lives Matter at School: An Uprising for Educational Justice
Book — Non-fiction. Edited by Denisha Jones and Jesse Hagopian. 2020.
This collection of writings offers lessons from successful challenges to institutional racism that have been won through the grassroots Black Lives Matter at School movement.
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This collection of writings offers lessons from successful challenges to institutional racism that have been won through the grassroots Black Lives Matter at School movement.
Reconstruction: Repression and Resistance
In a people's history online class, Professor Kidada Williams and Tiffany Mitchell Patterson discussed African American survivors of racist violence in the context of Reconstruction, drawing parallels to the contemporary moment.
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The Colored Conventions Movement: Black Organizing in the Nineteenth Century
Book — Non-fiction. Edited by Gabrielle Foreman, Jim Casey, and Sarah Patterson. Introduction by P. Gabrielle Foreman. 2021.
This volume of essays is the first to focus on the Colored Conventions movement, the nineteenth century’s longest campaign for Black civil rights.
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This volume of essays is the first to focus on the Colored Conventions movement, the nineteenth century’s longest campaign for Black civil rights.
Unspeakable: The Tulsa Race Massacre
Picture book. By Carole Boston Weatherford and illustrated by Floyd Cooper. 2021. 32 pages.
This children's book centers the history of the thriving Black community of Greenwood before the 1921 Tulsa Massacre.
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This children's book centers the history of the thriving Black community of Greenwood before the 1921 Tulsa Massacre.
Teaching After Georgia Victory and Attempted Coup
How to contextualize and frame the two major political events of Jan. 6, 2021: An historic grassroots organizing victory in Georgia and an attempted coup at the U.S. Capitol.
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Body and Soul: The Black Panther Party and the Fight against Medical Discrimination
Book — Non-fiction. By Alondra Nelson. 2013.
Drawing on extensive historical research as well as interviews with former members of the Black Panther Party, Alondra Nelson documents the Party’s focus on health care.
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Drawing on extensive historical research as well as interviews with former members of the Black Panther Party, Alondra Nelson documents the Party’s focus on health care.
Feb. 2 and 5, 1951: Virginia Executes the Martinsville Seven
In 1951, the Commonwealth of Virginia executed seven Black men despite a national campaign in their defense.
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The First Rainbow Coalition
Film. Directed and produced by Ray Santisteban. Nantes Media LLC. 2019. 56 minutes.
In this documentary, Chicago's Black Panther Party forms alliances across lines of race and ethnicity with other community-based movements in the city to collectively confront issues such as police brutality and substandard housing.
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In this documentary, Chicago's Black Panther Party forms alliances across lines of race and ethnicity with other community-based movements in the city to collectively confront issues such as police brutality and substandard housing.
The Lost Education of Horace Tate: Uncovering the Hidden Heroes Who Fought for Justice in Schools
Book — Non-fiction. By Vanessa Siddle Walker. 2018.
This history tells the little-known story of how Black educators in the South laid the groundwork for 1954’s Brown v. Board of Education and weathered its aftermath.
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This history tells the little-known story of how Black educators in the South laid the groundwork for 1954’s Brown v. Board of Education and weathered its aftermath.
Racial Equity Tools (Website)
Website.
RET offers research, tips, curricula, and ideas for people who want to increase their own understanding and to help those working for racial justice at every level.
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To ‘Joy My Freedom: Southern Black Women’s Lives and Labors After the Civil War
Book — Non-fiction. By Tera W. Hunter. 1998.
An examination of post-Civil War lives of African American women, focusing on their labor organizing, leisure, hope, and struggle.
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An examination of post-Civil War lives of African American women, focusing on their labor organizing, leisure, hope, and struggle.
Revolution in Our Time: The Black Panther Party’s Promise to the People
Book — Non-Fiction. By Kekla Magoon. 2021.
An account of militant revolutionaries and human rights advocates working to defend and protect their community.
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An account of militant revolutionaries and human rights advocates working to defend and protect their community.
July 15, 1964: Ozell Sutton Denied Service at Arkansas Capitol Cafeteria
WWII veteran Ozell Sutton was denied service at the Arkansas Capitol cafeteria after visiting the building to collect voter registration materials.
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The Port Chicago 50: Disaster, Mutiny, and the Fight for Civil Rights
Book — Non-fiction. By Steve Sheinkin. 2014. 208 pages.
The story of 50 African American sailors charged with mutiny during World War II for challenging working conditions after a deadly munitions explosion.
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The story of 50 African American sailors charged with mutiny during World War II for challenging working conditions after a deadly munitions explosion.
When Black Lives Mattered: Why Teach Reconstruction
By Adam Sanchez
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Every day seems to bring new horrors as the U.S. president’s racist rhetoric and policies have provided an increasingly encouraging environment for attacks on Black people and other communities of color. The acquittal of yet another police officer accused of murdering a Black man in St. Louis, the raging battle across the country over whether symbols of slavery should be removed from public spaces, and the formation of a “Commission on Election Integrity” to further suppress voting by people of color are just a few of the recent reminders that racism is as American as apple pie. In moments like these, it’s worth remembering a time in U.S. history when Black lives mattered.