In the News

Teachers and union leaders are rallying to protect Black students and public schools from Trump’s Project 2025 policies. “We need an uprising,” Zinn Education Project organizer Jesse Hagopian tells Word In Black. “We need a mass multiracial uprising to challenge those in power. Nobody’s coming to save us.”

Across the country, history and social studies teachers are grappling with balancing the strictures of the public education system alongside their own visions for what their students need and deserve to know. For educators of color, particularly Black teachers who primarily educate students of color, the importance of ensuring that their lessons are reflective of all of the histories, backgrounds, and stories is magnified. Three teachers share how they use resources beyond traditional textbooks to build a more radical and reflective curriculum.

The Los Angeles museum hosted its annual commemoration of the 1871 Chinese Massacre, marking 153 years on the anniversary of the mass killing. A mob of approximately 500 individuals, consisting of White and Mexican Americans, descended on Los Angeles’ Chinatown, killing at least 17 Chinese residents, including a child. As detailed by the Zinn Education Project, the mob looted businesses and lynched many victims in public spaces. Although some perpetrators were initially convicted, their sentences were overturned a year later, underscoring the racial injustices of the era​.

Prism spoke to educators from Texas, Vermont, and New York who have found ways to address LGBTQIA+ justice in their classrooms in the face of censorship. As the national discourse around LGBTQIA+ rights continues to evolve, these educators remain committed to creating a safe and inclusive space for their students.

As debates over critical race theory rage on, educators find creative ways to engage students about the U.S.’s racial past. In a conversation with three teachers across the U.S. who teach middle and high school history or social studies, Prism sought to explore how these conversations shape classroom life.

A high school teacher in New Mexico discusses how literature — and classroom resources from the Zinn Education Project — can help young people make powerful connections to modern struggles for immigrant rights.

One year after Israel’s genocide in Palestine began, educators across the U.S. continue to face censorship and pushback when addressing the subject in their lessons. Two teachers share how they’re using Zinn Education Project resources to engage students in critical discussions about Palestine.

Middle school teachers from Iowa and Illinois discuss the powerful connections students make when given the opportunity to discuss the root causes and consequences of climate change. Their students learn that individuals aren’t to blame for the climate crisis and that, for some communities, the climate crisis is already here.