Walking in Their Shoes: Using #BlackLivesMatter to Teach the Civil Rights Movement – w/ Shannon King and Nishani Frazier
Release Date: 04/13/2021
Resistance Means More Than Rebellion
Teaching Hard History
To see a more complete picture of the experience of enslaved people, you have to redefine resistance, Dr. Kenneth S. Greenberg offers teachers a lens to help students see the ways in which enslaved people fought back against the brutality of slavery. With host Hasan Kwame Jeffries. (Teaching Tolerance / Southern Poverty Law Center)
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In the Footsteps of Others: Process Drama
Teaching Hard History
Students learning about slavery often ask, “Why didn’t enslaved people just run away or revolt?” Lindsay Anne Randall offers a lesson in “Process Drama”—a method teachers can use to answer this question, build empathy and offer perspective. With host Hasan Kwame Jeffries. (Teaching Tolerance / Southern Poverty Law Center)
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Doing the Work of Teaching Hard History
Teaching Hard History
In many ways, the U.S. has fallen short of its ideals. How can we explain this to students—particularly in the context of discussing slavery? Professor Steven Thurston Oliver has this advice for teachers: Face your fears. With host Hasan Kwame Jeffries. (Teaching Tolerance / Southern Poverty Law Center)
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Slavery and the Northern Economy
Teaching Hard History
When we think of slavery as a strictly Southern institution, we perpetuate a “dangerous fiction,” according to Professor Christy Clark-Pujara. Avoid the trap with this episode about the role the North played in perpetuating slavery and the truth behind the phrase “slavery built the United States.” With host Hasan Kwame Jeffries. (Teaching Tolerance / Southern Poverty Law Center)
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Slavery and the Civil War, Part 2
Teaching Hard History
Dr. Bethany Jay is back to talk about teaching the end of the Civil War, and how enslaved people’s participation in the war helped subvert the institution of slavery. With host Hasan Kwame Jeffries. (Teaching Tolerance / Southern Poverty Law Center)
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Slavery and the Civil War, Part 1
Teaching Hard History
What really caused the Civil War? In this episode, Salem State University Professor Bethany Jay offers tips for teaching lesser-known history that clarifies this question and cuts through our cloudy national understanding of the Confederacy. With host Hasan Kwame Jeffries. (Teaching Tolerance / Southern Poverty Law Center)
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Why Hard History Matters: Addressing the Legacy of Jim Crow – w/ Rep. Hakeem Jeffries
Teaching Hard History
Congressman Hakeem Jeffries represents New York’s 8th congressional district. Our final episode this season takes us to the U.S. House of Representatives for a conversation between Rep. Jeffries and his brother, our host, Dr. Hasan Jeffries, to discuss the lingering effects of the Jim Crow era—including voter access, prison and policing reform and other enduring injustices—and to discuss the continued relevance of teaching “hard history” as it relates to public policy today. Educators! for listening to this episode—issued by Learning for Justice. Listen for the code word, then...
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Criminalizing Blackness: Prisons, Police and Jim Crow – w/ Robert T. Chase and Brandon T. Jett
Teaching Hard History
After emancipation, aspects of the legal system were reshaped to maintain control of Black lives and labor. Historian Robert T. Chase outlines the evolution of convict leasing in the prison system. And Historian Brandon T. Jett explores the commercial factors behind the transition from extra-legal lynchings to police enforcement of the color line. We examine the connections between these early practices and the more familiar apparatuses of today’s justice system—from policing to penitentiaries. Learning for Justice has great tools for teaching about criminal justice during Jim Crow...
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Music Reconstructed: Lara Downes’ Classical Perspective on Jim Crow – w/ Charles L. Hughes
Teaching Hard History
From concertos to operas, Black composers captured the changes and challenges facing African Americans during Jim Crow. Renowned classical pianist Laura Downes is bringing new appreciation to the works of artists like Florence Price and Scott Joplin. In our final installment of Music Reconstructed, Downes discusses how we can hear the complicated history of this era with historian Charles L. Hughes. And for helpful classroom resources, check out the of this episode.
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Music Reconstructed: Adia Victoria and the Landscape of the Blues – w/ Charles L. Hughes
Teaching Hard History
When we consider the trauma of white supremacy during the Jim Crow era—what writer Ralph Ellison describes as “the brutal experience”—it’s important to understand the resilience and joy that sustained Black communities. We can experience that all through the “near-comic, near-tragic lyricism” of the blues. In part 3 of this series, acclaimed musician, songwriter and poet Adia Victoria shows how the bittersweet nature of blues does “the very emotionally mature work of acknowledging” this complex history. And for helpful classroom resources, check out the of this episode.
info_outlineThe civil rights movement offers critical context for understanding the systemic police violence, voter suppression efforts, ‘law and order’ rhetoric and criminalization of activism we see today. It also helps us understand the strategies activists use to fight these injustices. Historians Shannon King and Nishani Frazier explain how they use 21st-century Black activism to teach the movement’s history—and how they use the movement to help students better understand the contemporary Black freedom struggle.
Listen to our latest Spotify playlist for even more Movement Music inspired by this episode.
“You do know that when Dr. King was alive we had the Watts riots…” – Watch the exchange we discuss between Don Lemon and Rev. Jesse Jackson during the 2014 Ferguson uprising.
Are you qualified to vote? – This is an amazing collection of Jim Crow era state voter applications and literacy tests from before the Voting Rights Act.
“Voter suppression then and now” – This lesson plan offers students historical context and an examination of the issue today.
“Teaching About Mass Incarceration: From Conversation to Civic Action” – A teacher shares ideas from her own classroom.
Visit the enhanced episode transcript for even more resources about using current events to teach about the civil rights movement.
And Educators! Get a professional development certificate for listening to this episode—issued by Learning for Justice. Listen for the special code word, then visit learningforjustice.org/podcastpd.