The people of D.C. are in collective grief and mourning on the death of Washington Teacher Union president Elizabeth “Liz” A. Davis in a car accident on April 4, 2021. She has been a powerful presence in the lives thousands of students, teachers, and families through her unwavering dedication to radical teaching, righteous activism, and …
D.C. Area Teach Truth Rally
SNCC veteran and founder of the African American Civil War Memorial and Museum Dr. Smith spoke at the #TeachTruth rally at the African American Civil War Memorial on June 12, 2021. A transcript of his remarks is below: Parents and great grandparents, which I am, we are kids first teachers, you are our second …
Thank You Dr. Cierra Kaler-Jones
On her first day as an Education Anew Fellow with Teaching for Change, Dr. Cierra Kaler-Jones joined a high school student field trip on gentrification in D.C. and wrote a story about it. This was two years ago. She has written dozens of stories since, amplifying the work of social justice teachers throughout the D.C. metro area. …
New Staff for Teach the Beat Bring Go-Go into Classrooms
Teaching for Change is pleased to announce the expansion of our Teach the Beat program with the additions of Jonas Strickland and Matthew Miller serving as our program specialists. Both Strickland and Miller are native Washingtonians with a deep love of go-go music and its impact and influence on the culture of the D.C. metro …
Bills Would Ban Teaching People’s History
In an alarming number of states across the country, Republican lawmakers are proposing bills to ban the truthful teaching of history. These efforts are described in an Education Week article by Sarah Schwartz, “8 States Debate Bills to Restrict How Teachers Discuss Racism, Sexism.” Many of the proposed bills are based on language from Trump’s 2020 Executive Order …
Cast Your Vote to Defend Teaching People’s History
It is more important than ever for students today to learn people’s history — a history that looks honestly at the roots of inequality and shares lessons about how people can organize to make the world a better place. But truth telling in the classroom is under threat by right wing legislators. Education Week recently reported on …
Elizabeth Davis, ¡Presente!
The people of D.C. are in collective grief and mourning on the death of Washington Teacher Union president Elizabeth “Liz” A. Davis in a car accident on April 4, 2021. She has been a powerful presence in the lives thousands of students, teachers, and families through her unwavering dedication to radical teaching, righteous activism, and …
Welcoming Keesha Ceran
We are pleased to welcome to the Teaching for Change staff our new associate director Nakeesha “Keesha” Ceran. Keesha is a first-generation American of Haitian immigrant parents who holds three degrees in political science as a proud community college graduate and a double alumna of The American University in Washington, D.C. In her first few …
2021 Black Lives Matter at School Virtual Curriculum Fair
It was a moment to really draw a line and reaffirm my convictions and purpose for being a part of this and how I want to do my part. The most important thing I learned about teaching the history of Black Americans is to not sugarcoat injustice and center the lesson on resistance every time. …
2021 NEH Institute on the Grassroots History of Civil Rights Movement
Summer 2021 ONLINE Teaching for Change partnered with a team of scholars, SNCC veterans, Duke University’s Center for Documentary Studies, and the SNCC Legacy Project on a National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) Teacher Institute, The Civil Rights Movement: Grassroots Perspectives. Participants (classroom teachers and school librarians in grades 5 – 12) learned the bottom-up history …
Teaching for Change in 2020
We are pleased to share selected highlights from Teaching for Change’s work in 2020. Our work is made possible by the ongoing support of allies like you. Help us deepen our impact by sharing these stories (as well as our resources for parents and teachers) as we continue building social justice, starting in the classroom. …