Bookmark Collection

Not only did Howard Zinn open my eyes to much of the hypocrisy of our history, his foundation showcases educators & scholars of color & makes available culturally relevant sources written by members of the community of which they are experts.

This collection will consist of material designed to be both culturally relevant & responsive due to the use of both English & Spanish within the sources. As well as the sources themselves being of a similar cultural background. This is important for students to experience source material not just about their own cultures but written & published by someone of a similar culture as well.

I found this source innumerably helpful & useful. Not only does one fine fascinating sources, but El Salvador in particular, is not a place I personally have learned a lot about. At the risk of projecting my ignorance on others, I am not positive much is discussed in the average k-12 history class about El Salvador. It seems to pop up whenever civil unrest or some other geopolitical issue involving El Salvador becomes front page news but it is often highlighting the negatives of the place. This source material gives these largely unrepresented people's a voice as well as agency.

What I like about this source is the Chicano movement is somewhat special & specific to California's social history. Considering I will be teaching students that are going to be largely, statistically of Chicano, LatinX & the like, descent. To be able to show sources & assign activities to students who will be able to connect to it on a deeper level, is a very exciting & important prospect.

Just seeing the title of this source material alone, got me very excited about it. The Black Freedom Struggle is a recent terminology becoming more utilize when discussing Black American Racial Violence & the struggles the community has endured beginning in 1619. So rather than saying "the Civil Rights Movement" which is reductive & generally only encompasses a portion of the 1950's-1960's. It also implies an ending when there has never been an ending to the degradation & societal structures meant to keep Black Americans in lower status than whites. The Black Freedom Struggle is ongoing and has been in effect since the first slaves brought into the New Amsterdam harbor in 1619. To get even more technical, the struggle encompasses the African Diaspora & the attempts to free themselves from captivity the moment they were put in shackles. This material utilizes the primary & secondary sources created in large part by Black scholars, historical figures & the like.

I absolutely love this source as it gives the Black American community agency and control of the narrative. These sources are from well respected, experts in their fields & much like the other sources, these academics are either of a similar cultural background or they approach the topic more as inquiry than true understanding, if that makes sense. It is a fantastic resource & I will certainly utilize it in my teachings.