2001 – Present
Teaching Activity PDFs
Whose “Terrorism”?
Teaching Activity PDF. By Bill Bigelow. 11 pages.
Using scenarios based on real situations, this lesson helps middle and high school students examine the definition of terrorism and the use of the term terrorism in the media and U.S. foreign policy.
‘Don’t Take Our Voices Away’: A Role Play on the Indigenous Peoples’ Global Summit on Climate Change
Teaching Activity PDF. By Julie Treick O’Neill and Tim Swinehart. 16 pages.
A role play on the Indigenous Peoples’ Global Summit on Climate Change that asks students to develop a list of demands to present to the rest of the world at the U.N. climate change treaty meeting.
Environment & Food, Native American, Pacific Islander, Science, World History/Global Studies
Bush II and the “War on Terror”
Teaching Activity PDF. By Gayle Olson-Raymer. 18 pages.
Questions and teaching ideas for Chapter 24 of Voices of a People’s History of the United States on George W. Bush, the “War on Terror,” Afghanistan, Iraq, and the Patriot Act.
Democracy & Citizenship, US Foreign Policy, Wars & Related Anti-War Movements
Five Years After the Levees Broke: Bearing Witness Through Poetry
Teaching Activity PDF. By Renée Watson. 7 pages.
A teacher’s reflection on the power of poetry to spark critical discussion and reflection on current issues of inequality surrounding disaster response in the United States.
African American, Art & Music, Environment & Food, Language Arts, Laws & Citizen Rights, Media, Racism & Racial Identity
Teaching Guides
On Coal River
Film and Teaching Guide. Directed by Francine Cavanaugh and Adams Wood. 2010. 81 minutes.
This documentary follows four individuals and their struggle to stop the damage caused by Massey Energy to the health of the people and to the environment.
Democracy & Citizenship, Economics, Environment & Food, Social Class
Rethinking Globalization: Teaching for Justice in an Unjust World
Teaching Guide. Edited by Bill Bigelow and Bob Peterson. 2002. 402 pages. Grades 4 – 12.
An extensive collection of readings and source material on critical global issues, plus teaching ideas, lesson plans, and rich collections of resources for classroom teachers.
Workplace Issues and Collective Bargaining in the Classroom
Teaching Guide. By Linda Tubach and Patty Litwin. 2008.
A role play and simulation curriculum on labor relations for Secondary Social Studies.
Articles
Whitewashing Our Past: A Proposal for a National Campaign to Rethink Textbooks
Article. By Bob Peterson. 4 pages.
A critique of social studies textbooks and the rationale for a campaign to rethink them.
Education, Individuals in US History, Racism & Racial Identity
Books: Fiction
Behind the Mountains
Book – Fiction. By Edwidge Danticat. 2004. 166 pages.
A riveting novel detailing the struggles of a young Haitian girl as she adjusts to life in New York.
Little Brother
Book – Fiction. By Cory Doctorow. 2008. 384 pages.
A contemporary novel for teenagers that explores Homeland Security and freedom of speech in the post-9/11 United States.
Ninth Ward
Book – Fiction. by Jewell Parker Rhodes. 2010. 217 pages.
Through this historical fiction, middle and high school readers can learn about the devastation caused by the levees breaking in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina and the how people drew on their wits, community, and history to survive.
Sunrise Over Fallujah
Book – Fiction. By Walter Dean Myers.
Young adult novel about a U.S. soldier in Iraq. In addition to the day to day experiences of the war, Walter Dean Myers weaves in the limited media coverage of the war and raises questions about the US government “intelligence.”
Books: Non-Fiction
News for All the People: The Epic Story of Race and the American Media
Book – Non-fiction. By Juan González, and Joseph Torres. 256 pages. 2011.
The history of media in the United States, through the lens of race.
Brother, I’m Dying
Book – Non-Fiction. By Edwidge Danticat. 2008. 288 pages.
A gripping autobiographical book, about one Haitian woman’s experience as a young immigrant and her family’s struggle to survive in the United States while fearing for those they left behind.
Chew on This
Book – Non-fiction. By Eric Schlosser. 2006. 318 pages.
Geared to the young consumer, takes a bite out of fast-food industry.
The Field Guide to the Global Economy
Book – Non-fiction. By Sarah Anderson, John Cavanagh and Thea Lee. 2005. 160 pages.
The economics of globalization in easy to read charts.
Heroes of the Environment: True Stories of People Who are Helping to Protect our Planet
Book – Non-fiction. By Harriet Rohmer. 2009. 109 pages.
Presents the true stories of twelve people across North America who are challenging environmental devastation. Written for middle school readers.
Howard Zinn on War
Book – Non-fiction. By Howard Zinn. Introduction by Marilyn B. Young. 2011. 272 pages.
Essays spanning 1962 to 2006 that examine specific wars, wartime incidents, and the force of non-violence to move beyond war, if we are to survive.
The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness
Book – Non-Fiction. By Michelle Alexander. 2010. 290 pages.
A critical analysis of the role the justice system plays in the oppression of African Americans in the United States.
African American, Laws & Citizen Rights, Racism & Racial Identity
A People’s History of the United States: 1492 – Present
Book – Non-fiction. By Howard Zinn. 2005. 702 pages.
Howard Zinn’s groundbreaking work on U.S. history. This book details the lives and facts that are rarely included in textbooks — an indispensable teacher and student resource.
African American, Civil Rights Movements, Democracy & Citizenship, Economics, Education, Immigration, Imperialism, Individuals in US History, Labor, Laws & Citizen Rights, Native American, Organizing, Racism & Racial Identity, Slavery, Social Class, US Foreign Policy, Wars & Related Anti-War Movements, Women's History
Pledging Allegiance: The Politics of Patriotism in America’s Schools
Book – Non-fiction. Edited by Joel Westheimer. Foreword by Howard Zinn. 2007. 219 pages.
Educators address the politics of patriotism in America’s schools.
Radical Equations: Civil Rights from Mississippi to the Algebra Project
Book – Nonfiction. By Robert P. Moses and Charles E. Cobb, Jr. 2001. 256 pages.
Algebra Project founder on math literacy and civil rights.
The Real Cost of Prisons Comix
Book – Non-Fiction. By Ellen Miller-Mack, Craig Gilmore, Lois Ahrens, Susan Willmarth, and Kevin Pyle. 2008. 104 pages.
This comic book presents the human stories behind the statistics.
The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism
Book – Non-fiction. By Naomi Klein. 2008. 720 pages.
Klein demonstrates how shock has been used by global elites to push through a radical agenda of privatization and “free trade.”
Solidarity Divided: The Crisis in Organized Labor and A New Path Toward Social Justice
Book – Non-fiction. By Bill Fletcher, Jr. and Fernando Gapasin 2009. 304 pages.
A critical examination of labor’s current crisis and a plan for social justice in the twenty-first century.
Ultimate Field Guide to the U.S. Economy: A Compact and Irreverent Guide to Economic Life in America
Book – Non-fiction. By Jonathan Teller-Elsberg, James Heintz and Nancy Folbre. 2006. 256 pages.
Easy to read graphs make complex economic data accessible to all ages.
Films
Bread and Roses
Film. Ken Loach. 2001. 106 min.
A compelling, fictionalized account of an actual labor campaign in Los Angeles.
Cindy Sheehan: “It’s Time for the Antiwar Choir Started Singing”
Cindy Sheehan’s “It’s Time the Antiwar Choir Started Singing” (2005) is read by Marisa Tomei and Staceyann Chin. From Voices of a People’s History of the United States.
Democracy & Citizenship, Imperialism, Wars & Related Anti-War Movements, Women's History
The Corporation
Film. By Mark Achbar, Jennifer Abbott and Joel Bakan. 2004. 145 minutes.
This 26 award-winning documentary examines the nature, evolution, impacts and future of the modern business corporation and the increasing role it plays in society and our everyday lives.
Dirty Business: “Clean Coal” and the Battle for Our Energy Future
Film. Produced by Peter Bull, Justin Weinstein, Alex Gibney. 88 minutes. 2010.
A feature documentary that addresses the questions: Can coal be made clean? Can renewables and efficiency happen on a scale large enough to replace coal?
Echando Raices/Taking Root
Film. Rachael Kamel/JT Takagi. 2002. 60 min.
The struggles of immigrants through the personal stories of families in communities in California, Texas, and Iowa.
Maquilapolis (City of Factories)
Film. Directed and produced by Vicky Funari and Sergio De La Torre. 2006. 68 minutes.
The impact of globalization as told through the lives of the women who experience it in Tijuana, Mexico.
Labor, Organizing, Women's History, World History/Global Studies
On Coal River
Film and Teaching Guide. Directed by Francine Cavanaugh and Adams Wood. 2010. 81 minutes.
This documentary follows four individuals and their struggle to stop the damage caused by Massey Energy to the health of the people and to the environment.
Democracy & Citizenship, Economics, Environment & Food, Social Class
Orlando and Phyllis Rodriguez: “Not In Our Son’s Name”
Film clip. Orlando and Phyllis Rodriguez’s “Not In Our Son’s Name” (2001) is read by Benjamin Bratt.
From Voices of a People’s History of the United States.
Poto Mitan: Haitian Women, Pillars of the Global Economy
Film and website. Produced by Mary Becker and Renée Bergan. Writer/Narrator: Edwidge Danticat. 2009. 50 minutes.
Documentary about Haiti and global economics told through the lives of five women.
Rachel Corrie: “Letter from Palestine”
Film clip. Rachel Corrie’s “Letter from Palestine” (2003) is read by her mom, Cindy Corrie and Alice Walker. From Voices of a People’s History of the United States.
US Foreign Policy, Wars & Related Anti-War Movements, World History/Global Studies
Soldiers of Conscience
Film. By Catherine Ryan and Gary Weimberg. 2007. 86 min.
Documentary about war, peace, and US soldiers in Iraq, from active military to conscientious objectors, wrestling with conscience over killing in war.
When the Levees Broke – A Requiem in Four Acts
Film. By Spike Lee. 2006. 256 minutes.
Spike Lee’s masterful 4-part, 4-hour documentary on Hurricane Katrina.
Songs and Poems
Occupy Wall Street – Song by David Rovics
Song. By David Rovics. 2011.
A ballad of the Occupy Movement with a high energy beat.
Spanish/Bilingual
Democracy Now!
Website. Radio program hosted by Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzalez.
Daily news radio program with voices rarely heard in corporate media.
Websites
CFT Labor In The Schools Committee
Website.
Free downloadable teaching activities for pre-school to college to introduce labor history in the classroom.
Democracy Now!
Website. Radio program hosted by Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzalez.
Daily news radio program with voices rarely heard in corporate media.
Speak Out
Website. A clearinghouse of over 150 speakers, performers, scholars, artists, exhibits and films, representing a wide range of social and political movements.
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