Zinn Education Project

Picture This: Reflecting Diversity in Children’s Book Publishing At the 2016 ALA Annual Conference, author Tameka Fryer Brown presented the Cooperative Children’s Book Center’s (CCBC) multicultural publishing statistics during the panel “Celebrating Diversity: The Brown Bookshelf Salutes Great Books for Kids.” She displayed Tina Kügler’s oft-cited 2012 infographic, with the comment that even though the numbers are now 4 years old, the image communicated inequity in publishing so well that she would use it at every opportunity. Just before ALA Annual, St. How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram X Kendi review – a brilliantly simple argument If Ibram X Kendi has been a lifelong racist – as he confesses in this book – then we all have. This is the unsettling idea at the heart of How to Be an Antiracist, in which one of the US’s most respected scholars of race and history steps away from documenting the racist sins of others, and turns the lens pointedly, uncomfortably, at himself. Kendi’s argument is brilliantly simple. An idea, action or policy is either racist – that is, contributing to a history that regards and treats different races as inherently unequal – or it is antiracist, because it is trying to dismantle that history.

2018 Summer Reading List 2018 Summer Reading List PDF Are you looking for a curated summer reading list that celebrates diversity and all its intersections? The team at We’re the People select books that are by and about IPOC (Indigenous and People of Color), people with disabilities and people from the LGBTQ+ community. Chosen books are thoroughly discussed, vetted and given second reads. WTP team members: Tad Andracki, Edith Campbell, Laura M. Jimenez, Alia Jones, Sujei Lugo, Lyn Miller-Lachmann & Sonia Alejandra Rodriguez

Looking for Excellent “Diverse” Books for Children? Start Here! In 8 tips for choosing ‘good’ picture books featuring Black and Indigenous people and People of Color (BIPOC), our colleagues at Diverse BookFinder offer recommendations about how to evaluate “diverse” and “multicultural” children’s books to find great books the children in your life will love. In this piece, we identify promising starting points, in addition to the Diverse BookFinder, for your search for children’s books to which you might apply the criteria described in 8 tips. The blogs and sites named below by no means exhaust the list of sites that highlight excellent children’s books. Nor do all the books featured on those sites meet each of the 8 tips criteria.

Citizenship and Social Justice Alison Bechdel For your next dose of media, ask yourself these three questions that make up The Race Bechdel Test: 1) Are there two or more named people of Color Teachers Must Hold Themselves Accountable for Dismantling Racial Oppression This week began with a hike in the woods for my family and me in the Shenandoah Valley State Park. Pre COVID-19, our outings consisted of laser tag, movies every weekend, and going out to eat, but now, we are just happy being outside. As we parked our car, the first thing I noticed was the huge Confederate flag hanging from the window of the adjacent house. It was not lost on me that I was only 30 minutes away from Charlottesville, and it was not bears that I feared in those woods that day. At the same time, Amy Cooper was in a park too, breaking the law and not adhering to the park rules. Rather than acknowledge her wrongdoing and moving on, she decided to call 911 and say an African American man was threatening her life.

Q&A: How White Educators Can Move Beyond 'White Fragility' Commentary What educators can do to break the status quo of racism Author Robin DiAngelo thinks white people are being too sensitive. 15 Classroom Resources for Discussing Racism, Policing, and Protest - Teaching Now By Sarah Schwartz and Madeline Will As nationwide protests against police brutality continue, teachers in their virtual classrooms are once again searching for ways to help their students process the killings of black people in police custody in the United States. Speaking with Education Week on Monday, teachers said that they and their colleagues have a responsibility to address these protests, which erupted when George Floyd, an unarmed black man, died after a Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck for almost nine minutes. "Teachers cannot be silent during this time," said Patrick Harris, a 6th and 7th grade English and social studies teacher at the Detroit Achievement Academy.

A Sociologist Examines the “White Fragility” That Prevents White Americans from Confronting Racism In more than twenty years of running diversity-training and cultural-competency workshops for American companies, the academic and educator Robin DiAngelo has noticed that white people are sensationally, histrionically bad at discussing racism. Like waves on sand, their reactions form predictable patterns: they will insist that they “were taught to treat everyone the same,” that they are “color-blind,” that they “don’t care if you are pink, purple, or polka-dotted.” They will point to friends and family members of color, a history of civil-rights activism, or a more “salient” issue, such as class or gender. They will shout and bluster. They will cry. In 2011, DiAngelo coined the term “white fragility” to describe the disbelieving defensiveness that white people exhibit when their ideas about race and racism are challenged—and particularly when they feel implicated in white supremacy.

Foundational Texts — Teaching While White Clark, Christine and James O’Donnell, Eds. (1999). Becoming and Unbecoming White: Owning and Disowning a Racial Identity. Bergin and Garvey.Delgado, Richard & Jean Stefanic. (1997). Critical White Studies: Looking Behind the Mirror. Temple University Press.Doane, Ashley & Eduardo Bonilla-Silva, Eds. (2003). White Out: The Continuing Significance of Racism. Robin DiAngelo, PhD DiAngelo, R. & Sensoy, Ö. (2008). “But I’m shy!”: Classroom participation as a social justice issue. Sensoy, Ö. & DiAngelo, R. (2017). “Diverse Candidates Encouraged To Apply…”: How Faculty Hiring Committees Reproduce Whiteness and Practical Suggestions for How They Can Change.

National Museum of African American History and Culture Releases “Talking About Race” Web Portal Research shows that many people feel they do not have the information needed to discuss race in a way that is candid, safe and respectful of other viewpoints and experiences. “The portal offers a wealth of resources to inform and guide discussions—videos, role-playing exercises, targeted questions and more, said Crew.” “We hope that people will use this site to become more comfortable about engaging in honest dialogue and self-reflection.” Talking About Race builds upon decades of work by the museum’s educators. It is the result of extensive research, studies, consultations, and educational resources from these fields: history, education, psychology and human development. Phase one of the portal features eight foundational subjects including: