Linking Literacy and Liberation

On May 3, we celebrated Black Radical Educator Day honoring Septima Clark’s birthday. This new picture book on Clark’s life of activism introduces young people to someone who fought for the voting rights that the Supreme Court is gutting today. Clark was fired from her job as a school teacher because of her NAACP membership. She went on to establish “Citizenship Schools” to link literacy and liberation.

We offer booklists for three heritage celebrations in May: Asian American and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islanders, Jewish Americans, and Haitians. Let us know if you refer to the booklists for your reading selections.

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Featured Booklists

Booklist

Our partnership with Densho informs our selection of titles for the Japanese Americans booklist. For example, we rely on their Guidelines for Choosing Children’s Books on Japanese American Incarceration. Before she came to Densho, their Education and Public Programs Manager Courtney Wai used Social Justice Books. “As a teacher in Texas, Social Justice Books was a resource I could trust, and one that helped me confidently select texts that affirmed my students’ humanity while meeting academic standards.” She added, “Now, at Densho, I encourage teachers to use Social Justice Books. The site’s curated reviews, including books about Japanese American history, are a goldmine for teachers, librarians, and families who want to move beyond sanitized or patriotic framings.”

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Booklist

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Booklist

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Defend the Freedom to Read

We encourage everyone to defend the freedom to read and to teach truthfully.

Book bans and anti-history education laws threaten any chance of an informed and engaged democracy.

Our Zinn Education Project (with Rethinking Schools) offers Teach Truth resources and strategies for public events.

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