We are saddened by the news that the powerful Ohio organizer and political leader C. J. Prentiss died on April 2, 2024. Our hearts go out to her family, friends, and community. Our Prentiss Charney Fellowship is named for Prentiss and Michael Charney. Prentiss served in the Ohio State Senate and Charney was a teacher and labor organizer. Married for 40 plus years, they lived in North Kingsville, Ohio, and continued to support social justice causes with a focus on education. When we launched the Prentiss Charney Fellowship, C. J. shared the following quotes and stories about her life. I see my ..read more

Menu Lessons & Articles About K–12 | News Coverage | Fact Sheets | Books | Articles | Calls to Action | Films and Film Clips | Podcasts | From the Archives | Climate and Environment | Projects | Classroom Stories At Rethinking Schools and Teaching for Change we are outraged by the ongoing slaughter in Gaza, and the rising death toll in the West Bank. Israel has turned Gaza into a “graveyard for children,” in the words of U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres — and the United States has supplied Israel with weapons and diplomatic cover for their atrocities. No doubt, there is a long histo ..read more

A mural on Whiterock Road in Belfast commemorating the Irish famine. Source: Public domain Too often, textbooks present famines as natural phenomena. They are not. As Sudan, Congo, and Gaza move closer toward famine, it is not hard to see its causes. In addressing Gaza, the European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said recently: This is a humanitarian crisis, which is not a natural disaster. It’s not a flood. It’s not an earthquake. It’s man-made. And when we look for alternative ways of providing support, by sea or by air, we have to [remember] that we have to do it becau ..read more

On this four-year anniversary of the World Health Organization labeling COVID-19 a pandemic, we focus on the topic of health and healthcare. Below are a lesson, author talks, children’s books, the plight of health care in Gaza, and this day in people’s history entries. Lesson Who’s to Blame? A People’s Tribunal on the Coronavirus Pandemic Source: Peter Kneffel/dpa via AP This people’s tribunal by middle-school teacher Caneisha Mills begins with the premise that a heinous crime is being committed as COVID-19 endangers tens of millions of people’s lives. But who or what was responsible for thi ..read more

We offer free lessons for these fabulous books. Let us know how you use any of the lessons and we’ll send you a people’s history book in appreciation. How the Word Is Passed Lessons and Discussion Questions As Clint Smith suggests, one cannot understand the history of the United States without focusing on the centrality of slavery — and this history is essential to helping our students make sense of the world around them. Smith’s How the Word Is Passed can play an important role in that truth telling. We feature lessons and discussion questions to connect students to the critical wisdom conta ..read more

By Mary Beth Tinker This February 24th marks 55 years since the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Tinker v. Des Moines that “state operated schools may not be enclaves of totalitarianism” and that public school students are “persons under our constitution, possessed of fundamental rights,” as Justice Abe Fortas wrote for the 7–2 majority. Mary Beth Tinker and her brother, John, display two black armbands, the objects of the U.S. Supreme Court’s agreement March 4th to hear arguments on how far public schools may go in limiting the wearing of political symbols. The children, Mary Beth at Harding JHS ..read more

“With its unceasing bombardment of our homes and neighborhoods,” writes Gaza-based journalist Afaf Al Najjar in The Nation, “Israel has transformed Gaza into a slaughterhouse. And with its continuous targeting of hospitals, bakeries, water wells, solar panels, and markets, Israel is depriving us of all the necessities of life.” The unrelenting violence there is a crime against humanity. We owe it to our students — and to the people of Gaza — to explore in our classrooms the history of this violence. The Zinn Education Project has just posted “Teaching the Seeds of Violence in Palestine-I ..read more

Exposure to toxic chemicals is on the rise — placing the health and longevity of our students at great risk. Invisible in air and water, toxins should be made visible in the curriculum. We offer lessons and resources for the classroom, along with stories about organizing for environmental justice. Water and Environmental Racism: A Middle and High School Lesson Art by Pete Railand via Justseeds The Water and Environmental Racism lesson introduces students to the struggle of residents to access safe water for drinking, cooking, and bathing in the majority-Black cities of Flint, Michigan; Jacks ..read more

The Frederick Douglass Center for Leadership Through the Humanities is co-hosting an in-person event with Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee veterans and clips from the documentary Lowndes County and the Road to Black Power. Through first person accounts and searing archival footage, Lowndes County and the Road to Black Power tells the story of the local movement and young Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) organizers who fought not just for voting rights, but for Black Power in Lowndes County, Alabama. SNCC veterans Judy Richardson, Jennifer Lawson, and Courtland Cox wil ..read more

On Monday, March 4, 2024, award-winning musicologist and music historian Guthrie P. Ramsey Jr. will discuss his book Who Hears Here?: On Black Music, Pasts and Present. A Guggenheim Fellow and a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Guthrie P. Ramsey, Jr. is a music historian, pianist, composer, and Professor Emeritus of Music at the University of Pennsylvania. A widely-published writer, he’s the author, co-author, or editor of four music history books and many essays and articles. Who Hears Here? On Black Music, Pasts and Present (2022) is his latest book. As a producer, label ..read more