It is an exciting time to be an Ethnic Studies teacher. We are in troubling times and the insights emerging from resistance movements creates profound opportunities for deep conversations about justice in the classroom. Perhaps the most impactful recent example is The 1619 Project edited by Nikole Hannah-Jones and published by The New York Times. Last Fall, Facing History offered class sets of the magazines for teachers in the L.A. area. After spending much of my summer trying to locate copies of the release, I jumped at this opportunity. 

The 1619 Project is a major initiative from The New York Times observing the 400th anniversary of the beginning of American slavery. It aims to reframe the country’s history, understanding 1619 as our true founding, and placing the consequences of slavery and the contributions of black Americans at the very center of the story we tell ourselves about who we are.

In the fall, Facing History partnered with The 1619 Project to get materials into the hands of teachers wishing to use this resource with their students. So, what did they do? And what could YOU do?

We are excited to partner with the Smithsonian Institution and the Japanese American National Museum to offer 100 Southern California educators a free 8-poster set based on the Smithsonian's exhibition, Righting a Wrong, tracing the story of Japanese national and Japanese American incarceration during World War II.

Facing History is proud to be partnering with The 1619 Project to get materials into the hands of teachers who wish to use this resource with their students.

The 1619 Project is a major initiative from The New York Times observing the 400th anniversary of the beginning of American slavery. It aims to reframe the country’s history, understanding 1619 as our true founding, and placing the consequences of slavery and the contributions of black Americans at the very center of the story we tell ourselves about who we are.

If you are in the Southern California area, we invite you to come to a free, open house at the Facing History LA office in downtown Los Angeles to pick up magazines and broadsheets from The New York Times. We will hold this open house five times over the next 6 weeks to make it available for teachers on each day of the week.

A back-to-school message from Liz Vogel, Los Angeles Director for Facing History and Ourselves.

As LA area schools go back to school, we want to feature the new "Back to School Toolkit" from Facing History. Each day this week, we will showcase one part of the toolkit.

In addition to establishing class norms and culture, the first week of school is a time to show students what the course will be like. I always loved introducing how my class would engage their curiosity and their voice through the activities we did early on. 

Lesson 5 of the Back-to-School Toolkit pulls back the curtain on the work of a historian, inviting students to engage more critically with historical narrative:

As LA area schools go back to school, we want to feature the new "Back to School Toolkit" from Facing History. Each day this week, we will showcase one part of the toolkit.

By using the fourth lesson from the Back-to-School Toolkit, classes get to collaborate on something that can guide them and serve as a touchpoint for the whole year – the classroom contract. While it can seem like a simple exercise, the importance of this lesson should not be minimized. It provides the opportunity for the entire community to have a voice and a stake in establishing the tone for wrestling with important ideas, conversations, and learning. 

As LA area schools go back to school, we want to feature the new "Back to School Toolkit" from Facing History. Each day this week, we will showcase one part of the toolkit.

One of my favorite things about the beginning of school year as a teacher was community- building. For me, it went so much farther than learning all my students’ names—it also became about their identities. Who were these people in my classroom? Where did they come from? What experiences have they had? What experiences do they bring into my classroom?

As LA area schools go back to school, we want to feature the new "Back to School Toolkit" from Facing History. Each day this week, we will showcase one part of the toolkit.

The first days of school are so important for setting the tone of the class.  How do you signal to students that you are interested in being in partnership with them?