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This Black History Month, we’re encouraging educators to recognize and teach that Black history includes narratives that don’t focus solely on trauma. While it’s imperative to teach about the realities of racial oppression, it’s just as important to engage students with the many ways Black people have consistently and powerfully resisted white supremacy. For the next week, we’ll be sharing some of our favorite resources for celebrating Black liberation movements.

Young Black organizers who confront oppressive systems have always been met with violence—educators can look at the uprisings of Freedom Summer in 1964 and those in Minneapolis in 2020 for evidence. Despite the pushback they face, Black activists’ work leads to changes in laws and culture. Use these resources to teach about Freedom Summer and highlight how Black people have asserted their agency in efforts to effect policy change in the United States.

This weekend, thousands of people from across the country will assemble on the National Mall to commemorate the 57th anniversary of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. The event is a rededication of the 1960s movement while also capturing the urgency of today’s commitment to fight for Black lives amidst a global pandemic and a year marked by police violence. Use these resources to help students draw connections between the marches for justice—and the vital roles of young people—then and now.

This Media Literacy Week, it’s more important than ever to ensure your students are informed digital citizens. As Election Day approaches, your students are encountering plenty of online information about issues that affect them and their communities. Our digital literacy resources can help you teach them to evaluate and check sources for bias, interrupt hate speech, and critically analyze and discuss online information about the election.

As activists across the country push back against policies and legislation restricting the vote, we take time this week to honor those who have come before us in the fight for voting rights. We hope these resources, all of which celebrate the incredible contributions of the late Congressman John Lewis, help you learn and teach about voting rights—and encourage action for a more accessible democracy for us all.

On May 31, 1921, white supremacist terrorists attacked the Greenwood community in Oklahoma, killing up to 300 Black residents and burning over 1,000 homes. We don’t know the exact number: For too long, the history of this and other acts of racist terror across the United States were intentionally kept quiet. We urge you to teach the truth about Tulsa and other hard histories. These resources can help.

Freedom Summer not only marked the mobilization of civil rights organizers in Mississippi during the 1960s, but it also yielded the creation of Freedom Schools and historic legislation. The fight for civil rights continues today, from voting rights to efforts to keep educators from teaching truthfully about our country’s full history. Use these resources next school year to help students contextualize Freedom Summer and how it connects to movements today.

So far this year, more than 80 anti-transgender bills have been proposed at the state level, and much of this legislation targets trans children and youth. As anti-LGBTQ groups and lawmakers attack trans rights, schools must ensure trans students and educators are supported. Use these resources to build policy and help create a safer space for all students who could be harmed by policies that rigidly define and police gender norms.

As we grapple with the impact of violence following shootings in Atlanta and Boulder—and ongoing stressors surrounding the pandemic—it’s important to be mindful of students’ mental health needs and our own. Share resources like the Crisis Text Line with students, some of whom may need immediate support amidst a crisis. And use these webinars to help you respond to trauma, normalize talking about mental health and continue practicing good self-care.