One topic barely mentioned in textbooks and Black History Month activities in schools is reparations for African Americans. To fill this gap, we share a new documentary, two lessons, and a class in our Teach the Black Freedom Struggle series.

New Documentary on Reparations

A new documentary, The Cost of Inheritance, examines “the growing movement for reparations for Black American descendants of people who were enslaved and addressing the historical injustices they have faced.”

Check out an interview on Democracy Now! with the film’s director Yoruba Richen and people featured in the film.

Democracy Now!

Lessons

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Repair: Students Design a Reparations Bill

Students take on the role of activist-experts to improve upon a Congressional bill for reparations for Black people. They talk back to Congress’s flimsy legislation and design a more robust alternative.

Lesson

How to Make Amends: A Lesson on Reparations

Students meet dozens of advocates and recipients of reparations from a variety of historical eras to grapple with the possibility of reparations now and in the future.

Lesson

Let us know if you use either of these lessons. Share your story and we'll send you a people's history book in appreciation.

Reparations and Climate Justice

Class with Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò

On Monday, May 6, philosophy professor Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò will discuss his book Reconsidering Reparations that takes on reparations and distributive justice with wide implications for views of justice, racism, the legacy of colonialism, and climate change policy.

This Day in People’s History Reparations

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Our This Day in People’s History series is searchable by date, theme, and state. It includes entries on reparations.

Dates include the Compensated Emancipation Act in 1862, the founding of the Freedmen’s Bureau in 1865, the first National Convention of the Ex-Slave Mutual Relief, Bounty, and Pension Association in 1898, the Rosewood Massacre in 1923, climate justice protesters demanding reparations in Glasgow in 2021, and more.

More Events

The History of Black Music

Explore Black music from the 18th century to the present day and find ways to incorporate rich musical traditions of resistance and community building in the classroom. Ramsey will be in conversation with Rethinking Schools editor Jesse Hagopian.

Our free classes offer the chance to learn directly from scholars and to meet educators from across the country. Invite colleagues and students to join you. ASL interpretation and professional development certificates provided.

Teaching for Black Lives Study Groups

Informational Session

Our Teaching for Black Lives study group was one of the few things I took on this year that added to my resilience, to my sense of community, to my energy to keep going and do the work. The support that came as we worked together was and is invaluable. — teacher, Providence, Rhode Island

Interested in forming a Teaching for Black Lives study group in your school, district, or state? Study group members receive a free copy of the Rethinking Schools book, Teaching for Black Lives, a Rethinking Schools subscription, workshops, and more.

Learn how to host a group on Monday, March 18. Teaching for Black Lives co-editor Jesse Hagopian will provide an introduction to the benefits and logistics of study groups in this 45-minute informational session. Current study group coordinators will briefly share their experiences and respond to questions.

Conferences and Classes

For Social Justice Educators

Check out the list of events hosted by the Zinn Education Project and our colleagues — for example, the classes in the Zinn Education Project’s Teach the Black Freedom Struggle online series, Rethinking Schools conversation with Jonathan Kozol, and many more.

Events Calendar

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