Subversives: Stories from the Red Scare Students meet targets of government harassment and repression to analyze why disparate individuals might have become government targets.

Last month, many teachers signed up to access ZEP resources on the Red Scare.

Amidst hate speech from the White House & accusations that educators are “indoctrinating” students, many seek lessons to teach about McCarthyism and its modern echoes.

Learn more:
www.zinnedproject.org/materials/su...

A few months before the Ludlow Massacre, women in nearby Trinidad, CO, marched in protest of Mother Jones’ arrest when she came to town to aid striking miners. A marker in Trinidad notes the march, while an I-25 rest stop has a display dedicated to the massacre: bsky.app/profile/hist...

Student Essays that Matter — Defying Formulaic Writing Students write “unbound” essays about topics that impact their lives.

Also, Linda Christensen's contemporary articles in the @rethinkingschools.bsky.social magazine, such as this one in the latest issue: "Student Essays that Matter — Defying Formulaic Writing"

One of many reasons to subscribe to Rethinking Schools magazine.

rethinkingschools.org/articles/stu...

Reading, Writing, and Rising Up- 2nd Edition For almost two decades, teachers have looked to Reading, Writing, and Rising Up as a trusted text to integrate social justice teaching in language arts classrooms. This accessible, encouraging book […...

Any book by Linda Christensen of Rethinking Schools @rethinkingschools.bsky.social such as "Reading, Writing, and Rising Up: Teaching About Social Justice and the Power of the Written Word, 2nd edition"

rethinkingschools.org/books/readin...

April 20, 1914: Ludlow Massacre The National Guard fired on striking miners and their families in Ludlow, Colorado.

#tdih 1914: National Guard fired on Colorado tent colony of striking miners.

Howard Zinn learned of the Ludlow story from Woody Guthrie ballad, not his history classes, leading Zinn to write and teach people’s history. #TeachTruth

Short film and more ⬇️
www.zinnedproject.org/news/tdih/lu...

Man holding a copy of Erasing the Black Freedom Struggle report at the Zinn Ed Project booth

Mark Steiner, wearing glasses and pink shirt, holding a copy of Erasing the Black Freedom Struggle report at the Zinn Ed Project booth

Woman holding a copy of the Erasing the Black Freedom Struggle report at the Zinn Ed Project booth

Have you read our report?

"Erasing the Black Freedom Struggle: How State Standards Fail to Teach the Truth About Reconstruction" includes our findings, a state-by-state assessment, recommendations, & suggested lessons and books for the classroom.

Read in full: www.teachreconstructionreport.org

Tyler Parry, wearing glasses and black shirt and backpack, holding a copy of Erasing the Black Freedom Struggle at the Zinn Ed Project booth

Samanthis Smalls, wearing glasses, dress, and white shawl, holding a copy of Erasing the Black Freedom Struggle at the Zinn Ed Project booth

Michon Boston, wearing burn orange top and scarf, holding a copy of Erasing the Black Freedom Struggle report and postcard at the Zinn Ed Project booth

Charles Reed (left) wearing blue shirt and blue jacket. Hilary Green (right) wearing glasses and white sweater with red hearts, holding a copy of Erasing the Black Freedom Struggle report at the Zinn Ed Project booth

We are just back from the Organization of American Historians @oah.org conference in Philadelphia. Our Reconstruction report & campaign were popular with visitors to our booth.

Nice to see Teach Reconstruction advisors Tyler D. Parry & @hngreen.bsky.social -- & people's history classroom teachers.

April 19, 1943: Warsaw Ghetto Uprising Began The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising began, on the eve of Passover, when Nazi forces attempted to clear out the Jewish ghetto in Warsaw, Poland, to send them to concentration camps.

#tdih 1943, Warsaw Ghetto Uprising.

Jewish resistance fighters held off Nazis for 28 days.

Read words ⬇️of Szmul Zygielbojm. He alerted Allies to Nazi’s crimes against humanity and later Jewish resistance in Warsaw.

Despite his pleas, Allies stood by. 💔
www.zinnedproject.org/news/tdih/wa...

Why Did the United States Invade Venezuela? Student Inquiry Teaching Activity. By Jesse Hagopian. 2026. 24 pages. Students are invited to explore competing explanations for U.S. intervention in Venezuela and then develop their own hypothesis.

At the TAG Philly conference, Adam Sanchez of @rethinkingschools.bsky.social and Geo Maher facilitated a workshop on teaching about the history of U.S. imperialism.

To learn more, access our critical inquiry lesson, Why Did the U.S. Invade Venezuela? ⬇️
www.zinnedproject.org/materials/wh...

panelists listening to a panelist speaking with a screen behind in church sanctuary

Man facilitating group discussion while participants sitting listen, speak and one raises hand

We're inspired to be at Teacher Action Group Philly’s Education for Liberation conference in community with liberatory educators. Workshops focused on racial justice, community empowerment, and critical pedagogy.

A wonderful space that nurtures hope while examining the history of how we got here. 🧵

Teach Truth Young people face immense challenges — racism, war, gun violence, climate crisis, voter suppression, and more. However, across the country, legislatures,

Similar to anti-history education bills & book bans today.

Instead of addressing the injustice and impact of racism in the past & present, GOP politicians are placing gag orders on teaching about it.

Time to defend right to #TeachTruth and #FreedomtoLearn ⬇️
www.zinnedproject.org/campaigns/te...

Howard was prosecuted under ordinance prohibiting publication of “intemperate matter tending to provoke a breach of the peace or any matter prejudicial to good morals.”

Prosecutor said “. . . showing a man in chains is prejudicial to good order.”

Howard was sentenced to a prison road gang.

TBT 1959: Black Organizer Beaten and Jailed for Sign Showing Man in Chains - ACLU of Northern California Asbury Howard, a black leader and organizer who headed an effort to register black voters in Alabama, was convicted in January 1959 for having a poster made from a newspaper cartoon. Asbury Howard, a ...

See sign ⬆️ "Free Asbury Howard’s son."

Howard was arrested & beaten in Alabama in 1959 for printing political cartoon (with man praying for voting rights) to display in Bessemer Voters League office.

His son was jailed for defending him. #Terrorism

www.aclunorcal.org/news/tbt-195...

April 18, 1959: Students Petition and March for Integrated Schools 26,000 high school and college students came to Washington, D.C. to demand the end of segregated schools.

#tdih 1959, 26,000 high school and college students came from all over U.S. to D.C. to demand 1954 Brown v. Board implementation.

Speakers included Daisy Bates, Harry Belafonte, A. Philip Randolph, Jackie Robinson, Rev. Martin L. King, & Roy Wilkins. 🧵
www.zinnedproject.org/news/tdih/sc...

Zinn Education Project on Instagram: "We’re having a great time at the @oah_history conference talking with educators about why they choose ZEP. Watch this teaching testimonial from professor Joy Elli... 5 likes, 0 comments - zinneducationproject on April 17, 2026: "We’re having a great time at the @oah_history conference talking with educators about why they choose ZEP. Watch this teaching testimonia...

We’re having a great time at the @oah.org conference talking with educators about why they choose ZEP. Watch this teaching testimonial from professor Joy Ellison — and if you’re at the conference, come see us at booth 106!

www.instagram.com/p/DXPmDHmyuUF/

I am registering to access the Whose Terrorism lesson. — Dyersburg, Tennessee For your interactive lessons on redlining and housing discrimination. — Palmdale, California I was searching for a lesson on the Draft Riots of 1863 when I came upon the Zinn Ed Project. — Wichita, Kansas So that students may have a wider range of learning materials and experiences that can enable inquiry-based projects and activities that foster curiosity in the world. — Los Angeles, California

“So that students have a wider range of learning materials and experiences that can enable inquiry-based projects and activities that foster curiosity in the world.” — Los Angeles, California

Donate so we can support more teachers with free people’s history lessons: www.zinnedproject.org/donate/

I found ZEP after a Google search for “Vietnam War lesson ideas.” — Marion, Iowa I want to use a Reconstruction lesson for a U.S. history class. — Trinity, Alabama I work with youth in climate justice and am interested in expanding my skills and activities. — Coos Bay, Oregon My students are being duped by nationalistic propaganda and I have a moral responsibility to combat that. — Colorado Springs, Colorado

Despite & in response to the EO's censoring teaching honestly, teachers are bravely signing up in greater numbers to access people’s history lessons.

They recognize that young people need to learn from history so that they can see clearly the root causes of the crises today & shape a just future.

To download the Seeds of Violence lesson on Palestine and Israel. — Buffalo, New York I needed a good lesson on the U.S.-Mexico War and thought the ZEP lesson was great. — Rexburg, Idaho Looking for class activities to teach about environmental racism and human rights. — Macon, Georgia I absolutely love that this exists! The lesson plans here are full of true history, radical analysis, and critical thought. This is the kinda stuff everyone should be learning! — Milwaukee, Wisconsin

#FridayReport: This week 183 teachers signed up at ZEP for people’s history lessons from Trinity, AL; Los Angeles and Palmdale, CA; Colorado Springs, CO; Macon, GA; Rexburg, ID; Marion, IA; Wichita, KS; Buffalo, NY; Coos Bay, OR; Dyersburg, TN; Milwaukee, WI, & many more. Some reasons why. ⬇️ 🧵

April 17, 1965: Largest Anti-War Protest One of the largest anti-war protest was held in Washington, D.C.

“Don't stand by while human life is destroyed.”

#tdih 1965: largest anti-war protest in D.C. up till then.

Number of marchers close to number of U.S. soldiers in Vietnam.

Organizers prepared an exam: “How much do you know about the war?”

Check it out. ⬇️
www.zinnedproject.org/news/tdih/la...

Repair: Students Design a Reparations Bill In this activity, students take on the role of activist-experts to improve upon a Congressional bill for reparations for Black people.

Reparations is not in most textbooks, yet it is vital to teach about the long history of the demands, roots of inequality today, and to explore reparative policies that recognize the magnitude of theft & harm.

Lesson ⬇️for grade 7+ to #TeachOutsideTextbook
www.zinnedproject.org/materials/st...

April 16, 1862: Compensated Emancipation Act The federal government compensated the “owners” of enslaved people for their “loss of property.” The people whose labor, skills, knowledge, and families were stolen for generations were not compensate...

#tdih 1862, DC Compensated Emancipation Act.

Was the compensation for the people who suffered torture & other human rights abuses & whose
labor,
knowledge,
skills,
& families
were stolen for generations?💔

NO.

Read ⬇️ 🧵#Reparations #DCEmancipationDay
www.zinnedproject.org/news/tdih/co...

‘If There Is No Struggle...’: Teaching a People’s History of the Abolition Movement In this lesson, students explore the challenges faced by abolitionists with a focus on the American Anti-Slavery Society.

Teach about people's history of abolition movement with @rethinkingschools.bsky.social lesson for grades 7+ ⬇️ by Bill Bigelow. (All lessons at ZEP are free thanks to your donations.)

More in RS book: "Teaching a People’s History of Abolition & the Civil War."
www.zinnedproject.org/materials/if...

Black and white photo of meeting in NY about Fugitive Slave Law. People seated at desk and standing behind them, outdoors. Women wearing bonnets.

Read detailed account of Pearl escape & aftermath including with abolition movement in archived article by Mary Kay Ricks in Post, here: www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/natio...

📷: 1850 Fugitive Slave Law Convention in Cazenovia, NY. Edmonson sisters, Frederick Douglass, Gerritt Smith, & more.

"Rep. Joshua Giddings of Ohio introduced resolution asking why . . . the Pearl fugitives were jailed for attempting to enjoy the freedom for which America's forefathers had died. . . . new congressperson Abraham Lincoln voted with 'moderates' to close debate." -- Mary Kay Ricks

Passenger on the Pearl: The True Story of Emily Edmonson's Flight from Slavery Book — Non-fiction. By Winifred Conkling. 2015. 176 pages. Young adult biography about Emily Edmonson who was one of 77 who attempted to escape slavery in Washington, D.C.

We recommend biography below, "Passenger on the Pearl," for young readers (middle school+) about teenager Emily Edmonson, one of 77 people who bravely attempted to escape slavery in Washington, D.C. on the Pearl schooner. #otd 1848 #TeachOutsideTextbook
www.zinnedproject.org/materials/pa...

The Black History of the White House Book — Non-fiction. By Clarence Lusane. 2010. 544 pages. The untold story of African Americans in the White House from the 18th century to the present, including the presidents who held people in bond...

One planner of the escape on the Pearl schooner was Paul Jennings who'd been formerly enslaved to President & Mrs. Madison.

Learn more in "The Black History of the White House" by @howard.edu professor Clarence Lusane via @citylightsbooks.bsky.social ⬇️
www.zinnedproject.org/materials/bl...

April 15, 1848: The Escape on the Pearl Schooner Seventy-seven enslaved people attempted to flee Washington, D.C. by sailing away on a schooner called The Pearl.

#tdih 1848 in Washington, D.C. 77 enslaved people (adults & children) made a brave, carefully planned escape on the Pearl schooner from slavery.

Tragically, they were apprehended and faced brutal consequences. 💔 #TeachOutsideTextbook #TeachTruth ⬇️🧵
www.zinnedproject.org/news/tdih/th...

Black Feminist Visionary Beverly Guy-Sheftall to Discuss New Book 'Black! Feminist! Free!' @ LA Ms. Mag HQ, April 23 A leading voice in Black feminist scholarship Beverly Guy-Sheftall joins professor Bonnie Thornton Dill on her new book, Black! Feminist! Free!

Beverly Guy-Sheftall joins professor and dean emerita Bonnie Thornton Dill for a public conversation on Guy-Sheftall's new book 'Black! Feminist! Free!' at the Ms. HQ later this month—join us!

“I heard about the Zinn Education Project last year when I was applying to teacher education programs. Finding out about the ZEP served as an affirmation of wanting to be in the classroom.”

Donate to inspire the next generation of teachers:
www.zinnedproject.org/donate/

Defend People's History Teachers with teachers holding signs

Why I registered for ZEP: “My students are being duped by nationalistic propaganda and I have a moral responsibility to combat that.” 🧵

Help more educators access free lessons to counter misinformation:
www.zinnedproject.org/donate/