Born into poverty in rural Georgia and raised under the shadows of Jim Crow segregation and the Great Depression, Alice Coachman fought through gender taboos and racial barriers to become a record-breaking track star. Then, in the 1948 London Olympics (the first to be held after WWII), she leapt to victory in the high jump and became the first black woman in history to win Olympic gold. One of postwar America’s most high-profile athletes and the first African American woman to be spokesperson for a national brand, Coachman’s life and achievements were honored during the 1996 Atlanta Olympic games.

The Woodson Center's Black History and Excellence curriculum is based on the Woodson Principles and tells the stories of Black Americans whose tenacity and resilience enabled them to overcome adversity and make invaluable contributions to our country. It also teaches character and decision-making skills that equip students to take charge of their futures. These lessons in Black American excellence are free and publicly available for all.

This collection uses primary sources to explore the American Abolitionist Movement. Digital Public Library of America Primary Source Sets are designed to help students develop their critical thinking skills and draw diverse material from libraries, archives, and museums across the United States. Each set includes an overview, ten to fifteen primary sources, links to related resources, and a teaching guide. These sets were created and reviewed by the teachers on the DPLA's Education Advisory Committee.

The American LGBTQ Rights Movement: An Introduction is a peer-reviewed chronological survey of the LGBTQ fight for equal rights from the turn of the 20th century to the early 21st century. Illustrated with historical photographs, the book beautifully reveals the heroic people and key events that shaped the American LGBTQ rights movement. The book includes personal narratives to capture the lived experience from each era, as well as details of essential organizations, texts, and court cases that defined LGBTQ activism and advocacy.

Students will explore Asian American and Pacific Islander (“AAPI”) women’s poetry in order to craft and inspire their own poetry, studying central idea and six different poetic elements over the course of the unit. After analyzing and interpreting poems, students will recognize poetry as a vehicle to express untold stories about events small and large. Students will learn about the experiences of and challenges faced by AAPI women, including topics of retaining culture, climate change, and more.

2021 Social Science Standards Integrated with Ethnic Studies:
Civics and Government: 5.1, 7.5
Economics: 4.4
Historical Knowledge: 5.22
Social Science Analysis: 3.19, 4.21, 4.24, 5.26, 52.27, 6.26, 7.28, 7.29

With the United States and the Soviet Union in a Cold War, fears of Southeast Asia falling to communism led to America’s increasing involvement with political and military matters in Vietnam, which was split between the communist North and anti-communist South in 1954. This lesson will address the U.S. government’s economic and tactical support of the conflict in Vietnam, and atrocities committed by American troops against Vietnamese civilians, which later became public. Domestically, an anti-war movement in the U.S. began to grow, with people questioning America’s involvement overseas—the money spent and the lives lost—which later impacted the war itself, including the withdrawal of troops and policies passed to prevent future U.S. military action without congressional approval.

2021 Social Science Standards Integrated with Ethnic Studies:
Civics and Government: 8.10, HS.10
Historical Thinking: 7.25
Social Science Analysis: 7.29, 8.33, 8.36, HS.72, HS.74, HS.77, HS.78

The lesson focuses on the first Asian Americans to run for Congress - Patsy Mink and Daniel Inouye - who paved the way for future generations of Asian Americans to be politically active.

2021 Social Science Standards Integrated with Ethnic Studies:
Civics and Government: 7.5, 8.2, 8.7, 8.8, HS.2, HS.6, HS.9, HS.11
Historical Knowledge: 8.25, 8.27, HS.52, HS.60, HS.64, HS.65, HS.66
Historical Thinking: 7.25, 8.31, 8.32, HS.67, HS.68
Social Science Analysis: 7.27, 7.29, 8.33, 8.36, HS.72, H.73, HS.78

For Asian Americans living, working, and growing up in the margins in the United States during the 1960s and 70s, participating in social activism played an important role in advancing justice for them as citizens of the United States. Asian Americans worked in partnership with other ethnic and racial groups to overcome unfair treatment. Through the examples of the United Farm Workers Movement and the student strike at San Francisco State College, and at the Peace Rally after the L.A. Civil Unrest, students will learn how Asian Americans spoke out against injustice and stood up for the better treatment of all Americans.

2021 Social Science Standards Integrated with Ethnic Studies:
Civics and Government: 3.2
Geography: 5.13
Historical Knowledge: 1.12, 5.22
Historical Thinking: 2.21
Social Science Analysis: 1.12, 3.18, 3.19, 4.21, 4.24, 5.28

A project developed by Cornell College’s KIN-200, Athletes and Activism class.  Authored by Caitlin Babcock, Alec Boldt, Cristian Dixon, Megan Gandrup, Olivia Henkel, MacKenzie Macam, Caitlyne Mar, Kali March, Alexis Partida, Ilah Perez-Johnson, Mary Puffett, Kara Rivard, Julissa Rivera, and Delaney Thomas; edited by Professor Christi Johnson. Because of the power that sports have to shape our understandings of everyday life, we explore the stories of athletes who became activists related to social justice causes.  These athletes used their platforms to advocate for positive social change.  We summarize and share their stories here.  In addition to describing their athletic pursuits, our summaries of their stories include key terms, concepts, and definitions related to socially just causes.  We also include short video overviews of the athletes' sporting lives and social activism. 

In this lesson, students will explore the emergence of Sixties Soul music within the context of the Civil Rights movement of the early 1960s. Using Curtis Mayfield and the Impressions' iconic "People Get Ready" as a starting point, students will examine the connection between musical and political voices, and the ways in which popular song helped express the values of the movement and served as a galvanizing force for those involved.

In this lesson, students will examine the history and popularity of "We Shall Overcome" and investigate six additional songs from different musical genres that reveal the impact of the Civil Rights movement. These are: Billie Holiday's "Strange Fruit," a poignant Blues song depicting the horrors of lynching; Bob Dylan's "Oxford Town," a Folk song about protests after the integration of the University of Mississippi; John Coltrane's "Alabama," an instrumental Jazz recording made in response to the September 1963 church bombing in Birmingham, Alabama, that killed four African-American girls; Nina Simone's "Mississippi Goddam," a response to the same church bombing as well as the murder of civil rights activist Medgar Evers in Mississippi; Sam Cooke's "A Change is Gonna Come," a Soul song written after Cooke's arrest for attempting to check in to a whites-only motel in Shreveport, Louisiana; and Odetta's "Oh Freedom," a spiritual that Odetta performed at the 1963 March on Washington.

The boycott is one of the most powerful, time-tested tactics that social movements have at their disposal. History offers many examples of people joining together to exercise their power as consumers in support of movements for social justice, civil rights, and workers' rights. By calling for people to not spend their money on a target good or service, boycotts can aid these movements by drawing on a wider base of supporters who would otherwise be unable to participate.

This lesson examines the historical development of the boycott as a tactic - with examples of its use by both progressives and conservatives - and looks at some recent boycotts that are related to hot-button political issues.

This lesson plan helps students understand the context of the 1992 L.A. civil unrest (L.A. riots). Korean Americans in solidarity with Black Americans and others, formed coalitions to call for racial justice, community healing and rebuilding. Various police reforms, community programs and rebuilding efforts came about after. It covers the importance of building community consciousness and coalitions to fight systemic racism. By using the transcripts from the segment this lesson plan will ask the students to analyze the movement by using guiding questions to identify the issue, research the problem, respond to the problem and reflect on why learning about this topic is important to their lives and current social movements.

2021 Social Science Standards Integrated with Ethnic Studies:
Civics and Government: 7.5, HS.2
Economics: 7.8
Geography: HS.42, HS.51
Historical Knowledge: 8.22, 8.25, HS.60, HS.61, HS.64, HS.65
Historical Thinking: 7.25, 7.30, 8.31, HS.67, HS.69
Social Science Analysis: 8.36, HS.72, HS.73, HS.74, HS.77, HS.78

In this course, students will develop their abilities to expose ways that scientific knowledge has been shaped in contexts that are gendered, racialized, economically exploitative, and hetero-normative. This happens through a sequence of four projects that concern:

Interpretation of the cultural dimension of sciences
Climate change futures
Genomic citizenry
Students’ plans for ongoing practice

The course uses a Project-Based Learning format that allows students to shape their own directions of inquiry in each project, development of skills, and collegial support. Students’ learning will be guided by individualized bibliographies co-constructed with the instructors, the inquiries of the other students, and a set of tools and processes for literary analysis, inquiry, reflection, and support. 
Acknowledgement
Professor Peter Taylor spent several years crafting the unique structure of the course, which is crucial to the way it was taught. 
The Consortium for Graduate Studies in Gender, Culture, Women, and Sexuality
This course was taught as part of the Consortium for Graduate Studies in Gender, Culture, Women, and Sexuality (GCWS) at MIT. The GCWS brings together scholars and teachers at nine degree-granting institutions in the Boston area who are devoted to graduate teaching and research in Women’s Studies and to advance interdisciplinary Women’s Studies scholarship.

Comment s’engager dans des actions en faveur de la vie et du bien commun en cette période marquée par des problèmes d’envergure planétaire tels que le réchauffement climatique, la pollution accrue, l’acidification des océans ou les menaces sur la biodiversité? Des gouvernements tentent tant bien que mal de s’entendre pour agir.

There will always be issues that we disagree with and would like to see changed, but we tend to minimize our role in society. How many times have you thought to yourself, “I’m only one person”? This seminar will explain the important role you play in government. You might not feel like you play an important role, but you do! The “dem” in “democracy” comes from the Greek word demos, meaning “people.” There are many ways that you can be actively engaged in your local, state, and federal government. In this seminar, you will learn about the rights and responsibilities you have as an American citizen and what you can do to help on a small and large scale.StandardsCC.8.6.9.-10.C--Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.5.2.9.C--Examine political leadership and public service in a republican form of government.5.2.9.D--Analyze citizens’ role in the political process toward the attainment of goals for individual and public good.

This lesson explores the topics of Japanese American incarceration and redress, and its relation to the definition of an “American”, rights, and the Census. Definitions of race, nationality, ethnicity, and rights are explained to define “American”. The lesson also explains how Constitutional rights are basic human rights granted to all people regardless of citizenship as well as the differences that benefit an American citizen. To further analyze Japanese incarceration camps, studying the Census will explain its role in carrying out Executive Order 9066 as well as how the laws have changed to protect all Americans. Lastly, students will review the Civil Liberties Act of 1988 to understand how the American government apologized for the treatment of Japanese Americans.

2021 Social Science Standards Integrated with Ethnic Studies:
Civics and Government: 7.5, 8.9, HS.2, HS.6, HS.9, HS.11
Historical Knowledge: 8.25, 8.27, HS.58, HS.60, HS.65, HS.66
Historical Thinking: 8.31, 8.32, HS.67
Social Science Analysis: 7.27, 7.30, 8.33, HS.72, HS.73, HS.74, HS.78

 These anthologies  parallel and supplement the OYH school modules, available as Open Education Resources.  Groups of all ages can explore & discuss these collections. Also available through the OYH website, https://www.ownyourhistory.us/multimediaresourcesThis anthology focuses on the strategies and methods used in the 1960s by Black Americans to challenge Jim Crow segregation and to  put equal rights and opportunities on the nation’s agenda. They called into question the subordination of Blacks and other people of color based upon racist views. Young, new leaders undertook nonviolent direct-action protests supported by Black religious organizations and studentsin the face of determined opposition and violence by Southern Whites. By 1965, the federal government responded by passing historic civil rights and voting rights legislation.These landmark accomplishments did not address economic inequalities. Urban uprisings in 1967-68 were fueled by these economic inequalities and the assassination of Dr. King. President Johnson  appointed a  commission led  Otto Kerner to examine these uprisings and make recommendations.

Until about 1966, the Civil Rights Movement led by Dr. King and the other national Black organizations focused on ending segregation, changing racist attitudes, advancing equality under the law, and securing the vote. Because of the system of Jim Crow laws, the Movement’s attention was largely on the South. Protests also highlighted economic inequalities and jobs and demanded government responses to effect change. In the “long hot summer” of 1967, over 20 uprisings and disorders took place in cities across the country. This prompted President Johnson to appoint a study commission led by former Illinois Governor Otto Kerner to examine these uprisings and make recommendations. Additional rioting occurred in 1968 in reaction to the assassination of Dr. King. The 1968 Kerner Commission report is a detailed, thoughtful, and clear-eyed analysis of these urban disorders with a comprehensive and bold set of recommendations for addressing systemic racism and its economic and social consequences.

On this edition of Conversations with History, UC Berkeley's Harry Kreisler is joined by linguist and political activist Noam Chomsky to discuss activism, anarchism and the role the United States plays in the world today. (59 min)

In this edition, Nigerian attorney and environmental activist Oronto Douglas, talks about political activism and cultural identity in the context of globalization, the international oil economy, and the domestic politics of Nigeria. (55 min)