This month we feature the very popular article on how the commercialization of Cinco de Mayo perpetuates stereotypes and misconceptions of this holiday that commemorates the defeat of Napoleon III, not Mexico’s Independence Day. Published on the Huffington Post and the Zinn Education Project websites.

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By Sudie Hofmann I recently came across a flier in an old backpack of my daughter’s: Wanted: Committee Chairs for this Spring’s Cinco de Mayo All School Celebration. The flier was replete with cultural props including a sombrero, cactus tree, donkey, taco, maracas, and chili peppers. Seeing this again brought back the moment when, years earlier, my daughter had handed the flier to me, and I’d thought, “Oh, no.” The local K-6 elementary school’s Parent Teacher Student Association (PTSA) was sponsoring a stereotypical Mexican American event. There were no Chicana/o students, parents, or staff members who I was aware of in the school community and I was concerned about the event’s authenticity. I presumed the PTSA meant well, and was attempting to provide a multicultural experience for students and families, but it seemed they were likely to get it wrong. Continue reading.

Thank you to the 209 donors in 2014 whose support makes it possible for the…

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Vietnam Peace Movement which is being commemorated at the Vietnam: The Power of Protest convening in Washington, D.C. on May 1-2. As conference organizers explain, "This effort began last fall in reaction to the Pentagon’s plans for their own commemoration, including extensive public outreach and a false and one-sided website history of the Vietnam War that excluded the peace movement."

We’re delighted to announce the posting of four new articles and activities on environmental justice issues. At a moment when the dimensions of the climate crisis are becoming more apparent, the Zinn Education Project is committed to providing teachers more resources to help students confront the causes and consequences of climate change and the broader environmental crisis. Our collective house is burning down. The least we can do is help our students understand why and consider ways to respond.

We are featuring some of our favorite people's history artists as a resource to connect art and social justice in the classroom.

We express our heartfelt appreciation to Alison Kysia for her work with the Zinn Education…

Dear Zinn Education Project friends, The great historian and social justice activist, Howard Zinn,…

More teachers. More students. More people's history. This year, we reached 44,500 K-12 teachers who are using free Zinn Education Project lessons. That's almost a million students receiving a more honest and complex understanding of U.S. history. Help us reach 55,000 teachers in 2015 with people's history resources.

This week, the Zinn Education Project reached a milestone: 10,000 new registered teachers in 2014. We now have more than 44,500 teachers using our materials, teaching outside the textbook. As one of the 44,500 educators who have registered for the Zinn Education Project website, please donate so that we can reach even more teachers and students in the coming year. You can make an online donation, a stock donation, or mail a check to the address below.

In light of the grand jury decision, we share this collection of teaching ideas and resources, originally published by Teaching for Change in August of 2014. By Julian Hipkins III As the new school year begins, first and foremost on our minds and in our hearts will be the killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri. Teachers may be faced with students’ anger, frustration, sadness, confusion, and questions. Some students will wonder how this could happen in the United States. For others, unfortunately, police brutality and intimidation are all too familiar.

The Zinn Education Project will have a major presence with three booths at the National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) Conference in Boston from Nov. 21-22, 2014. If you are one of the thousands of social studies teachers from around the world attending the NCSS conference, be sure to stop by the Zinn Education Project booths.

Performances of Voices of a People's History Scheduled for Los Angeles and New York in November The 10th anniversary edition of Voices of a People’s History of the United States will be published by Seven Stories Press this fall.

The Colorado students protests in defense of learning history are reverberating in the media around the country and are also generating discussions around family dinner tables.