People’s Historians Online– Mini-Classes with Jeanne Theoharis and Jesse Hagopian in April: 1) Rebellious Rosa Parks; 2) Young People in the Civil Rights Movement; 3) Civil Rights Movement Outside the South
I’m excited to announce that I will be joining the great people’s historian, Jeanne Theoharis for a series of racial and social justice online courses for the first three Fridays in April. I first began working with Professor Theoharis last school year when she contacted me about partnering with the Black Student Union at my high school to have them provide ideas for her forthcoming young adult version of her seminal book, “The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks.” My students and I had the unbelievable opportunity to read the original version of the book together and provide feedback to Professor Theoharis for translating the book into a YA version.
That partnership led to us joining together to host an online class about Rosa Parks on March 27, 2020. That session filled up so quickly–and was so much fun–that we quickly organized a “People’s Historian Online Class” series where we will join together in dialog every Friday for the next three weeks.
This Friday, April 3rd the class will be at 10am PST/1pm EST, and for the following Fridays the class will be held at 11am PST/2pm EST. Students, parents, educators, and everyone else, are invited to join us to unlearn the many Master Narratives that have used by those in power to distort and hide the lessons of Rosa Parks and the Civil Rights Movements and learn the true history that we can use today to fight for justice in this time of deep health, ecological, economic and social crises. Already, some educators are registering their whole classes for these courses and I hope we will see you there too!
-Jesse Hagopian
People’s Historians Online: Mini-Classes with Jeanne Theoharis and Jesse Hagopian in April
In support of middle and high school teachers while school buildings are closed, the Zinn Education Project is hosting online people’s historians miniclasses.
The pilot session was with historian and author Jeanne Theoharis and high school teacher/Rethinking Schools editor Jesse Hagopian on March 27 on “The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks.” The response to the pilot session was so enthusiastic that we are hosting three more sessions with them in April. Read more and register below.
Jeanne Theoharis is a distinguished professor at Brooklyn College. She is the author or co-author of nine books and numerous articles on the civil rights and Black Power movements and the politics of race and education. Her books include the award-winning titles The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks and A More Beautiful and Terrible History: The Uses and Misuses of Civil Rights History.
Jesse Hagopian teaches Ethnic Studies and is the co-adviser to the Black Student Union at Garfield High School in Seattle. He is an editor for Rethinking Schools, the co-editor of Teaching for Black Lives, and editor of More Than a Score: The New Uprising Against High-Stakes Testing.
The session format is as follows:
- Presentation by Jeanne Theoharis in conversation with Jesse Hagopian.
- Small group conversations by participants (using Zoom breakout rooms) with time to discuss insights from the talk and approaches to teaching.
- Facilitators respond to questions with the full group and share teaching resources.
- Evaluation by participants.
The upcoming sessions, all on Fridays, are:
April 3, 10am PST/ 1:00pm EST: Did you know that Rosa Parks was an activist for many years prior to the Montgomery Bus Boycott (MBB), went to the Highlander Folk School, and dedicated decades of her life challenging racism in the North after the MBB? Join us for a conversation about Parks’ rebellious life.
April 10, 11am PST/ 2:00pm EST: Did you know that teenagers led at crucial points in the Civil Rights Movement, at times against the objections of many adults in their lives? Join us for a conversation on the role of young people in the Civil Rights Movement, from the teenagers who led the case desegregating Montgomery’s buses to the student sit-ins to the high school walkouts of the 1960s.
April 17, 11am PST/ 2:00pm EST: Did you know that the biggest civil rights demonstration of the 1960s happened in New York City? Did you know that at the same time people were pressing for desegregation in Montgomery and Birmingham, they were doing so from Los Angeles to Milwaukee to Boston? Join us for a conversation on the Civil Rights Movement outside the South.
Participants will need access to Zoom (on computer or phone). Register below. A day or two before the session, you will receive a confirmation, the Zoom link (with a password), and an optional pre-reading.
Questions? Write to zep@zinnedproject.org
Please consider making a donation so that we can continue to offer people’s history lessons, resources, workshops — and now online mini-classes — for free to K-12 teachers and students. We receive no corporate support and depend on individuals like you.