May 17, 2024, marks the 70th anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas, one of the most significant Supreme Court decisions and a major victory for the Civil Rights Movement. We must, however, resist the simplified narrative of the end of segregation and teach a more comprehensive story that includes analyzing Brown’s complex impact, the opposition to desegregation, and the ongoing movement for inclusive education.
This week, a photograph of a math assignment asking fifth graders to set prices for enslaved people went viral. Assignments like this are clearly harmful. But students can learn about slavery in ways that recover the lives and histories of enslaved people or dehumanize them; celebrate their resistance or erase their agency; recognize how slavery shaped our nation or ignore it completely. Educators can teach this hard history—and teach it well—in any discipline, to students of almost any age. Here are a few examples of how.
The struggle for equality and justice for all women is not relegated to history; it is the lived experience of women today in the United States and around the world. Our newest resource page, published in recognition of Women’s History Month, offers a variety of articles, texts and other resources to help discuss and uplift both the history of and the ongoing struggle for women’s equality.
Celebrate Women’s History Month by making a commitment to discuss, teach and learn about women’s rights and history, past and present, all year long.