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On this National Voter Registration Day, September 28, we urge educators to engage all students in understanding the registration process and provide eligible youth with the information they need to vote. It is an especially critical time to discuss voting, as recent legislation aimed at limiting voting rights, an ongoing pandemic and natural disasters make participation in the democratic process more challenging and more crucial. We hope these LFJ resources will help!

At this critical moment in K-12 education, we’re thrilled to introduce the inaugural issue of Learning for Justice magazine. Our Fall 2021 issue highlights key lessons learned from this past year—lessons that the education community can carry forward to help create safe and inclusive learning spaces. Be inspired by messages of hope, solidarity and activism that can aid in the transformational work needed to create the just future that all students deserve.

This Suicide Prevention Week—September 10 is World Suicide Prevention Day—support your students and your school community. These resources can help. Use this toolkit to help reduce mental health stigma, promote wellness and acknowledge the mental health needs of students and staff alike. Inform your students about support available through the Crisis Text Line, and use the E.D.G.E. technique to help students support one another throughout the year.

It’s essential to understand—and to teach young people—that enslaved Africans fought for their own liberation, including the first recorded rebellion on Sept. 1, 1663; the Stono Rebellion on Sept. 9, 1739; and David Walker’s September 1829 Appeal to the Colored Citizens of the World. For resources on enslaved people’s work toward freedom, check out these texts and this summary objective from our Teaching Hard History framework.

As we remember the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom of 1963, it’s critical not to whitewash this history. Contextualize the campaign and the struggle associated with it, including the impact of the march’s organizer, Bayard Rustin—an openly gay Black man. That also includes complicating the event’s most iconic figure, Dr. Martin Luther King, and his famous “I Have a Dream” speech. These resources can help.