Teaching Hard History

You cannot teach the civil rights movement without talking about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. But it's critical that students deconstruct the mythology surrounding the movement's most iconic figure to learn about the man, not just the hero. The real Dr. King held beliefs that evolved over time. A complex man, he was part of a much larger movement—one that shaped him as much as he shaped it. Our new Spotify playlist has even more movement music inspired by this episode. Educators! Get a professional development certificate for listening to this episode—issued by Learning for Justice. Listen for the special code word, then visit learningforjustice.org/podcastpd. And for even more resources, check out the enhanced full transcript of this episode. For example... These Birmingham News file photos from the 40s, 50s and 60s, recollect the explosive death and destruction at the hands of racists in 'Bombingham.' And the lesson "Birmingham 1963: Primary Documents" asks your students to interrogate historical documents with differing opinions about this conflict.(Grades 6-8, 9-12) New from Teaching Tolerance: Introduce your students to the history of Indigenous enslavement on land that is currently the United States with The Forgotten Slavery of our Ancestors (12 min)—along with Discussion Guide.

The Civil Rights Movement was never strictly a Southern phenomenon. To better understand the Jim Crow North, we explore discrimination and Black protest in places like Milwaukee, Omaha, Cleveland and New York. To examine the Black Freedom Movement beyond the South, we examine the Black-led fights to gain access to decent housing, secure quality education and end police brutality in these cities. For more movement music inspired by this episode, visit this new Spotify playlist. Be sure to watch our new classroom film The Forgotten Slavery of our Ancestors (12 min), which offers an introduction to the history of Indigenous enslavement on land that is currently the United States. And here's a Discussion Guide with Text Dependent Questions for the film. The Roz Payne Sixties Archive, a one-of-a-kind digital archive of historical artifacts from a wide array of social movements. In this lesson—"The Color of Law: Creating Racially Segregated Communities"—Students examine local, state and federal policies that supported racially discriminatory practices and cultivated racially segregated housing. For even more resources, check out the enhanced full transcript of this episode. And educators! Get a professional development certificate for listening to this episode—issued by Learning for Justice. Listen for the special code word, then visit learningforjustice.org/podcastpd.

Armed resistance and nonviolent direct action co-existed throughout the civil rights era. In this episode, three historians confront some comfortable assumptions about nonviolence and self-defense. Wesley Hogan examines the evolution, value and limitations of nonviolence in the movement. Christopher Strain offers a three-part strategy for rethinking this false dichotomy in the classroom. And Akinyele Umoja offers insights about armed resistance from his research in Mississippi. Educators! Get a professional development certificate for listening to this episode—issued by Learning for Justice. Listen for the special code word, then visit learningforjustice.org/podcastpd. For more movement music inspired by this episode, visit this new Spotify playlist. And check out the enhanced full transcript of this episode.

Alice Qannik Glenn is the host of Coffee and Quaq and assistant producer of The Forgotten Slavery of our Ancestors. This short, classroom-ready film offers an introduction to the history of Indigenous enslavement on land that is currently the United States. This new resource from Teaching Tolerance features an extensive group of experts, many of whom will be familiar to listeners from Season 2. Educators! Get a professional development certificate for listening to this episode—issued by Learning for Justice. Listen for the special code word, then visit learningforjustice.org/podcastpd. And for even more resources, check out the enhanced full transcript of this episode on our website.

Jim Crow was more than signs and separation. It was a system of terror and violence created to control the labor and regulate the behavior of Black people. In this episode, historian Stephen Berrey unpacks the mechanics of racial oppression, the actions white people took—in and beyond the South—to maintain white supremacy, and the everyday ways Black people fought back. And the directors of the film An Outrage join ELA teacher Ahmariah Jackson to discuss teaching the racial terror of lynching. For more movement music inspired by this episode, visit this new Spotify playlist. Here's the Gordon Parks' 1956 Atlanta airline terminal photograph that Dr. Berrey describes. Check out the enhanced full transcript of this episode. It is full of links to resources related to this episode, like this audio of Daisy Thomas Livingston from the Behind the Veil oral history collection about the Jim Crow South, this interactive map of "Sundown Towns in the United States." Or the teaching guide and full documentary An Outrage (free to stream at tolerance.org) And educators! Get a professional development certificate for listening to this episode—issued by Learning for Justice. Listen for the special code word, then visit learningforjustice.org/podcastpd.

Music chronicles the history of the civil rights struggle: The events, tactics and emotions of the movement are documented in songs of the era. From The Freedom Singers to Sam Cooke, historian Charles L. Hughes explains how your students can use music for both historical insight and evidence in the classroom. For more movement music, check out this episode's Spotify playlist. Educators! Get a professional development certificate for listening to this episode—issued by Learning for Justice. Listen for the special code word, then visit learningforjustice.org/podcastpd. And you can find useful resources—like how to bring Beyoncé into your classroom with "Pop Music as Critical Text"—along with a full transcript on our website.

Students don't enter our classrooms as blank slates. When it comes to the civil rights movement, we often have to help our students unlearn what they think they know while we're teaching them what actually happened. The people were more complex, the strategies more complicated and the stakes more dangerous than we like to remember. In this episode, historian Nishani Frazier and social studies teacher Adam Sanchez demonstrate the value of teaching the movement from the grassroots up. Check out Nishani's Harambee City website and Adam's "Teaching SNCC" classroom activities. You can find more useful resources like those – along with an enhanced transcript – on our website. For more Movement Music, check out the Spotify playlist for this episode. And educators! Get a professional development certificate for listening to this episode—issued by Learning for Justice. Listen for the special code word, then visit learningforjustice.org/podcastpd.

Teaching the civil rights movement accurately and effectively requires deconstructing the myths and misconceptions about the civil rights movement. Most people are familiar with a very specific version of the Civil Rights Movement that exaggerates Government support and denies the existence and persistence of racism outside the South. Julian Bond called this the "Master Narrative." It celebrates sanitized icons and downplays grassroots organizing. It overhypes nonviolence while disparaging self-defense and Black Power. In this episode, we talk with historian Nishani Frazier and social studies teacher Adam Sanchez about how to separate civil rights fact from civil rights fiction in your classroom. You can find links to useful resources—like Adam's "Who said it: Malcolm or Martin?" worksheet (and the answer key)—along with an enhanced transcript on our website. Educators! Get a professional development certificate for listening to this episode—issued by Learning for Justice. Listen for the special code word, then visit learningforjustice.org/podcastpd. And be sure to check out the Spotify playlist for this episode

The systems that enabled and perpetuated African and Indigenous enslavement in what is now the U.S. have much in common, and their histories tell us a great deal about the present. Professors Bethany Jay and Steven Oliver join us to talk about connections between the first two seasons and how to teach them, and we preview what's to come in season three. You can find a complete transcript in the show notes for this episode, along with a list of resources to help you teach the hard history explored in this episode. And educators! Get a professional development certificate for listening to this episode—issued by Learning for Justice. Listen for the special code word, then visit learningforjustice.org/podcastpd.

In this special call-in episode, listeners share their stories and questions from throughout season 2—including teaching remotely, working with families and stakeholders, and incorporating social justice into subjects like math and science. As educators, we're strongest when we support each other. And you'll hear great suggestions from fellow teachers, like these resources we discuss from Fairfax County Public Schools in Virginia: Changes in Population (PDF 800 KB) Dos and Don'ts of Teaching About Race, Culture, and Identity (PDF 130 KB) The Role of Virginians During the Civil War (PDF 1.4 MB) The Role of Virginians in the Founding of the New Nation (PDF 970 KB) Of course, you'll find more even more resources, links and a complete transcript on our website. And educators! Get a professional development certificate for listening to this episode—issued by Learning for Justice. Listen for the special code word, then visit learningforjustice.org/podcastpd.