Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell has declared April Confederate History Month. His original seven-paragraph proclamation was full of paeans to grey-clad heroes but nowhere mentioned the agonies of slavery. This understandably offended African Americans, and McDonnell spent a day or so getting beat up in the media.
Maya Angelou was an activist up until the very end of her life: visible, accessible, present to the people to whom her work and her message of hope meant the most.
Racial inequity, gender stereotypes and heternormity continue to dominate children’s books. This toolkit will help you assess your classroom library and make future selections that reflect a range of cultures, genders, immigration and socio-economic statuses, sexual orientations and family structures.
Almost every teacher has heard students use the expression, “that’s so gay” as a way of putting down or insulting someone (or to describe something). These lessons will help students examine how inappropriate language can hurt, and will help them think of ways to end this kind of name-calling.