Black History Month

Students explore the origins of Black History Month and consider where we stand today in creating a more inclusionary history in classrooms across the country.     

This lesson focuses on a less well-known part of Martin Luther King Jr.’s legacy, but one that is extremely relevant today: the Poor People’s Campaign that Dr. King led over 40 years ago. The lesson links this campaign to current struggles to combat poverty in the US, including efforts by workers at...

The 50th anniversary of the Civil Rights Movement's 1963 March on Washington is a great teaching opportunity. We offer some helpful resources. 

Students discuss Dr. King’s views about alliance-building; consider these in light of Obama’s inauguration; learn about the alliance-building work of Ai-jen Poo, founder of Domestic Workers United; and think about things in their own lives that they might want to build alliances to change. 

Students use a remarkable 1957 comic book to learn about the Montgomery Bus Boycott and the real nature of the civil rights movement. 

Students consider nonviolence as a strategy for intentionally building public support in both the Civil Rights Movement (as expressed by Martin Luther King, Jr.) and the Occupy movement.

Through engaging activities, video, and small-group discussion, students consider the Montgomery Bus Boycott and how they might stand up against injustice in their own lives.