Every year around this time, Southern California Museums open their doors for free.  And while the official "Free-for-All day" was today, there are many more opportunities to see these great institutions which contribute to and reflect our region. This year, we wanted to do a quick shout-out to some of our museum partners who have not only participated in the annual Free-for-All day but have opened their doors to us in the past and in the future.  We hope to see you at one of these events!

In order to be strong and powerful, you have to know who you are first."

Sana Amanat, Director of Content & Character Development at Marvel Entertainment, shared the thought above with students and educators at the 2016 celebration of Upstanders from Facing History Los Angeles Partnership Schools. On stage, Amanat shared how inspired she was by the students, who she credited with being further along than she was at their age by already making a difference. The students were inspired by Sana to find their own voice and continue contributing to a more diverse and compassionate world.

Facing History is proud to partner with YALLWEST Book Festival, the only book festival on the west coast dedicated to young adult literature. YALLWEST has generously provided funding for buses to bring students from a handful of Facing History schools to participate in the festival this coming weekend in Santa Monica. They've also donated hundreds of novels and graphic novels for Facing History students.

During the last few months, Southern California has hosted many conferences including three statewide conferences at which Facing History and our teachers presented:

• California Association of Teachers of English (CATE)
• California Council for the Social Studies (CCSS)
• CUE (the largest Education Technology conference on the West Coast at almost 7000 attendees!)

Do you want to see our presentations? Participate in the fun of an Exhibit Hall giveaway without the hassle of missing school? Keep reading. We have a special gift for those who couldn't make it to the conferences in person!

What would it mean to have your picture taken by a world-renowned fashion photographer? What would it mean to your daughter or son? What could it mean for your students, more specifically for that student who walks in, head down, and heads to the back of the classroom, to the shadows?

Positive Exposure, featured in a special exhibit at the Museum of Tolerance, turns society’s definition of “beauty” on its head and asks us to “change how you see, see how you change.”

StoryCorps's mobile booth is in Los Angeles this month, which makes us appreciate all the more the power of stories. I'm always amazed by the depth and breadth of stories a simple conversation with another person can yield. 

Here's one of the animated StoryCorps shorts I found recently that is quickly becoming a favorite:

LA2050 is an initiative that invites us all to innovate, imagine and create the future of Los Angeles. Facing History LA has a vision for strengthening the opportunity for youth to shape Los Angeles to be more compassionate, more engaged. Here one teacher shares his experience of this work. If you like what you read, vote for us in the LA2050 competition and share with others! We'd love to give this opportunity to youth from all over Los Angeles.

What do you choose to do with the trauma you have seen/experienced?

Wiesenthal, the one-man play, will be staged at the Wallis Theatre October 23 to November 8, 2015. While I haven't yet seen it, I had the pleasure of working with educators to prepare their students to see it, and the themes of justice, choices, and the power of an individual are great opportunities for any post-theatre discussions.

Last summer I read the book I am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban for a book club. It's not often that I read a book and want to immediately share it with my daughters (mostly because their ages are 15, 13 and 7) but I found Yousafzai's memoir so compelling and inspiring, I couldn't help but share her story with my children. That summer, I read the book aloud to my girls nightly and found that not only did they love the book, but they also felt a strong connection to the author. Each evening as we curled up in one of their beds for the night's installment of the memoir, they became more invested in the story, interested in the issues the book raised, and inspired by her example. On a recent trip to the bookstore, my 7 year old saw a poster of Yousafzai and exclaimed with delight, "Look, it's Malala! Oh I just LOVE her!" And why not? They feel connected to and inspired by Malala in four key ways.

I love the LA Film Festival. Neither my husband or I have ever worked in the film industry. In the course of a normal year, we are lucky to see even 3 or 4 movies in the theater. In fact, we started going to the LA Film Festival just to support the festival's move to downtown since we live here. The first year we got a modest little "4-pack" of films - toughly negotiated between his love of action films and my quirky taste for some foreign films. They were fantastic.