Race & Social Justice Teacher Resources: African American & Black Experience

The 1619 Project

"The 1619 Project was launched in August 2019, on the 400th anniversary of the arrival of the first enslaved Africans in the English colonies that would become the United States. It consisted of two components: a special issue of the magazine, containing 10 essays exploring the links between contemporary American life and the legacy of slavery, as well as a series of original poetry and fiction about key moments in the last 400 years; and a special broadsheet section, produced in collaboration with the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture. This work was converted into supplementary educational materials in partnership with the Pulitzer Center. The materials are available free on the Pulitzer Center’s website, pulitzercenter.org."
- New York Times Magazine

The NYT special and supplemental educational materials created in partnership with the Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture, and the Pulitzer Center can be used to highlight additional voices/perspectives in the experience of history.

Also, the related articles included here can be adapted for lessons in higher grade levels to serve as a case study in historiography, to discuss the conflicts that can be present among historians themselves regarding historical interpretation.
This is an opportunity to highlight the importance of information literacy by discussing various voices of the historical record who have been included or silenced.

In addition, the above conversation can be extended to model lifelong learning for our students:
- to articulate that as collecting institutions (libraries, archives, museums, etc.) focus on providing greater access to resources of the historically marginalized history will continue to reveal itself, filling in gaps and providing a fuller depiction of the events of history rather than the widely known documentation of history;
- to explain that thoroughly researching a topic includes examining various sources and being aware that there may be challenges to what has become the dominant narrative, prompting questions such as, "Why has it become the dominant narrative?" and "How was the historical narrative influenced by existing power structures of the time?"

The Green Book [podcast episode] | Retropod | Washington Post
Aired February 22, 2018 (4 minutes)

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Thanks for reviewing a draft of "Important Questions" go to
Dr. Melissa Perkins, 'Iolani School History Faculty
2021 Hawai'i History Teacher of the Year

Collections sample searches:

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