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In these clips from Bryan Stevenson’s magnificent Zinn Education Project “Teach the Black Freedom Struggle” session, he discusses Reconstruction, the Jim Crow era beyond the South, and the power of monuments and memorials.

“Their refusal to endure violence silently constitutes an underappreciated form of resistance to white supremacy.” — Kidada Williams, speaking of the people who bravely testified in congressional hearings about the Klan.

On Monday, March 20, 2023, historian Kidada E. Williams will discuss her latest book with Jessica Rucker, I Saw Death Coming: A History of Terror and Survival in the War Against Reconstruction.

Free Copies

How the Word Is Passed

In How the Word Is Passed, Clint Smith explains that one cannot understand U.S. history without focusing on the centrality of slavery. This history helps our students make sense of the world around them.

At the Zinn Education Project, we offer lessons, discussion questions, and writing prompts to take students deeply into Smith’s brilliant book.

Share a story about using the lessons or discussion questions for Smith’s book. In appreciation, we’ll send you paperback copies of How the Word Is Passed for your class.

Spotlight

Teaching for Black Lives Study Group

Since 2020, the Zinn Education Project has hosted hundreds of Teaching for Black Lives study groups. Teachers discuss how to teach for Black lives and gain the strength to face right-wing attacks. There is power in numbers. We periodically spotlight Teaching for Black Lives groups.

The St. Louis Teaching for Black Lives study group begins their monthly meetings by reciting “An Invitation to a Brave Space” by Mickey S. Jones.

In January 2023, they discussed articles in Teaching for Black Lives about gentrification, including: “Burned Out of Homes and History,” “The Most Gentrified City of the Century,” and “What Do You Mean When You Say Urban?”

Members remarked that when they were in school, they had not learned the history of housing segregation. They acknowledged the need to know this history to better serve their students today.

We need your support to double the number of study groups in 2023–2024.

Free Streaming License

Counter the Bans

Books for Teachers in Selected States

In the face of growing attacks on the teaching of history, the Zinn Education Project is partnering with The New Press to send books to teachers and teacher educators in Arkansas, Florida, Idaho, Iowa, New Hampshire, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia.

Time to Speak Out

Sign Up for Teach Truth Day of Action

Bainbridge Teach Truth Day of Action | Photo by Chasity Malatesta, June 2022

For the past two summers, teachers organized rallies across the country at historic sites to speak out against anti-history education bills and to pledge to teach the truth.

The teacher-led rallies received national media attention, providing a valuable counter-narrative to the oversized coverage of anti-CRT legislation and protests at school board meetings. We invite educators, students, parents, and community members to host #TeachTruth events on June 10, 2023.

Conferences and Classes

For Social Justice Educators

Check out the list of upcoming events hosted by the Zinn Education Project and our colleagues.

Teachers are under attack for teaching truthfully about U.S. history. Please donate so that we can continue to offer free people’s history lessons and resources, and defend teachers’ right to use them.

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PO BOX 73038, WASHINGTON, D.C. 20056 

202-588-7205 | zinnedproject.org