In this lesson by Ursula Wolfe-Rocca, students examine excerpts from reports written in 1922, 1968, and 2015, about three major episodes of racial violence: the Chicago Riot of 1919, the “long, hot summer” of 1967, and the Ferguson Uprising of 2014. Students use evidence from these reports to probe the long trajectory of police violence in Black communities, from Jim Crow to today.

Wolfe-Rocca explains, "The goal of the lesson is simple but ambitious: I want my students to recognize the continuities between past and present, better equipping them, I hope, to dream up new solutions to old — and very dangerous — problems."

Visit the Zinn Education Project to download this free lesson.

The fall issue of Rethinking Schools focuses on teaching for Black lives and includes articles, poems, a special guest editorial, and an important roundtable discussion.

Articles include "Teaching the Radical Rosa Parks" by Bill Bigelow, "Song for Tamir Rice" by Martin Urbach, and "Cops Don't Keep Kids Safe at School: The Case Against School Police" by Harley Litzelman, among many others. Poems include "Field Trip to the Museum of Human History" by Franny Choi and "Lessons in 2020" by Mercedes Muñoz. And there's much more, including an article about the struggles around schools reopening by Sarah Jaffe.

The special guest editorial is the "Pledge to Participate in the Black Lives Matter at School 'Year of Purpose,'" written by organizers with the movement organization Black Lives Matter at School. The roundtable discussion follows up with four members of the Black Lives Matter at School steering committee, including Rethinking Schools editor Jesse Hagopian.

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