Civil Rights Teaching

Teaching Tolerance Honors Putting the Movement Back into Civil Rights Teaching

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The teaching guide Putting the Movement Back into Civil Rights Teaching was chosen by Teaching Tolerance as one of the best professional development resources for teachers wishing to introduce students to a more accurate portrayal of the Civil Rights Movement.

For 20 years, the Teaching Tolerance staff have reviewed and recommended culturally aware literature and anti-bias resources to educators.

We are deeply honored that Putting the Movement Back into Civil Rights Teaching (published by Teaching for Change and PRRAC) was selected by Teaching Tolerance staff as one of the top 20 titles from the last two decades that is an “enduring classic.”

Teaching Tolerance was founded by the Southern Poverty Law Center in 1991 to “to reduce prejudice, improve intergroup relations, and support equitable school experiences for our nation’s children.”

Read the full story in Staff Picks: Our favorites over the years from the 20th anniversary issue of Teaching Tolerance.

Young People’s Project in McComb and DC

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The Young People’s Project (YPP) is now working with students in McComb, Mississippi. The Young People’s Project’s mission is to ”develop students aged 8-22 from traditionally marginalized populations as learners, teachers, leaders, and organizers through math and media literacy, community-building, and advocacy in order to build a unique network of young people who are better equipped to navigate life’s circumstances, are active in their communities, and advocate for education reform in America.” 

YPP-Jackson wiht Baba-CThe connection between the Young People’s Project and teachers in McComb was made at the SNCC 50th anniversary conference at Shaw University in Raleigh, North Carolina in the spring of 2010. In December of 2010 the project was launched with YPP staff from Jackson, Mississippi making weekly visits to McComb to work with a team of junior and senior high school students after school.

[Read more…]

New Book Release: Civil Rights History from the Ground Up

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Civil Rights History from the Ground Up: Local Struggles, A National Movement is a collection of scholarly essays that illustrate the critical role local-level organizing  played during the civil rights movement. Edited by Emilye Crosby, the essays weave oral history and activist accounts with traditional sources to compel students and general readers to rethink who and what were important to the African American freedom struggle.

The collection covers a broad timeframe—from the movement during the 60s to the present—and examines locales, incidents, and events that remain invisible in traditional narratives on the movement. [Read more…]

Women Make History: Updated Lesson Honoring Women’s Activism

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In honor of women’s history month, Teaching for Change updated and posted online the popular Women Make History lesson from Putting the Movement Back into Civil Rights Teaching. In this interactive activity, participants are introduced to 36 women of note and the strategies they used as activists.

Women's Work

Educators use the Women Make History lesson to challenge traditional narratives that often exclude the critical role of women in movements for change. Women don’t just sit at home, but sit at counters during sit-ins, organize boycotts and protests, fight for reform, and courageously risk their lives for what they deem is right. 

Stephanie Minor-Harper, co-chair of the Dr. Betty Shabazz Delta Academy program, invited Jenice View, co-editor of Putting the Movement Back into Civil Rights Teaching, to present Women Make History to youth enrolled in the program.

“The young ladies were like so many other young people today,” Minor-Harper said. “They could recite the names of a few famous persons who were a part of the civil rights movement—like Martin Luther King, Jr., Rosa Parks, and Jesse Jackson—but they had little sense of the greater context in which they carried out their work.”

Minor-Harper was thankful that View used the activity to move the participants beyond those few icons. “I was amazed by the breadth and depth of the women’s stories,” she continued. “The youth will definitely remember a few, and that’s an excellent start.”

The updated version of Women Make History is available here.

Teaching American History Grant for McComb, Mississippi

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A consortium of seven school districts, led by the McComb, Miss. school district and including Brookhaven, Claiborne, Columbia, Lamar, Marion, and Natchez-Adams districts was awarded a Teaching American History grant in August, 2010. Teaching for Change worked closely with McComb on the application thanks to the support they have received from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation to deepen instruction about Civil Rights Movement and labor history in McComb. (Corinth County School District also received a TAH grant in 2010 and Jackson Public Schools received a grant a few years ago.) [Read more…]