Learning Pathway: Racial Justice and Black Lives Matter

Building Democracy For All is designed so that teachers and students can follow different learning pathways as they explore the material in the book. Rather than proceeding sequentially through the standards, the learning pathways invite a thematic approach. Other learning pathways include: Student Rights, Influential Women, Election 2024, 2022, & 2020, Media Literacy, and Current Events.

 A Worthy Piece of Work: The Untold Story of Madeline Morgan and the Fight for Black History in Schools. Michael Hines, Beacon Press, 2024. Read a review of the book here.

You will find more racial justice and Black Lives Matter resources in the AP African American Studies section of our resourcesforhistoryteachers wiki.

Black Lives Matter Choice Board

(click here to make your own copy of the choice board)

Black History Month Choice Board

(click here to make your own copy of the choice board)

History of the Black Press in the U.S. Choice Board

(click here to make your own copy of the choice board)

Exploring Black History with ChatGPT: 
A Critical Media Literacy Digital Choice Board

Racial Justice and Black Lives Matter Content & Activities by Chapter

Topic 1: The Philosophical Foundations of the United States Political System

• Spartacus and Slavery in the Roman World, Toussaint L’Ouverture, and Black American Slave Revolts

Topic 2: The Development of United States Government

• Thomas Jefferson’s Draft Constitution & Thurgood Marshall’s Bicentennial Speech
• Did the Three-Fifths Compromise Make the Constitution a Pro-Slavery Document?: 
• W.E.B. Du Bois, the Niagara Movement, and the History of NAACP

Topic 3: Institutions of United States Government

• Shirley Chisholm, African American Politician and Presidential Candidate
• The Black Panther Party

Topic 4: The Rights and Responsibilities of Citizens

• The 14th Amendment
• Secret Ballots, Poll Taxes, Literacy Tests, and Voter Restriction Laws
• Benjamin Banneker and George Washington Carver
• Ruby Bridges and Youth Activism
• Multiple Movements for Civil Rights
• Joseph Cinque, John Quincy Adams, and the Amistad Case
• Claudette Colvin, the Browder v. Gayle case and the Struggle to Desegregate Public Transportation
• Martin Luther King, Jr. and Civil Disobedience
• A. Philip Randolph and the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters

Topic 5: The Constitution, Amendments, and Supreme Court Decisions

• The Missouri Compromise, the Dred Scott Case, and the 54th Volunteer Regiment During the Civil War
• Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad
• The 1964 Civil Rights Law and Voting Rights Act of 1965
• Kneeling and Flag Protests
  • • WIKI PAGE: Integration of Professional Sports

Topic 6: The Structure of Massachusetts State and Local Government

• Elizabeth Freeman (Mum Bett) and The Abolition of Slavery in Massachusetts
• Should the U.S. Government Pay Slavery Reparations for Black Americans?

Topic 7: Freedom of the Press and News/Media Literacy

• Two Pioneering Women Cartoonists: Jackie Ormes and Dale Messick

Additional Resources

• Black History Month Google Drive Library of Resources
• Erasing the Black Freedom Struggle: How State Standards Fail to Teach the Truth about Reconstruction. Zinn Education Project (2022).
• Ten Black Scientists that Science Teachers Should Know About (PBS Education)

Critical Media Literacy Connection: Explore Black History with ChatGPT

The "Exploring Black History with ChatGPT" choice board offers educators and students a way to develop their critical media literacy skills as they investigate text from ChatGPT and explore Black history in the United States (click here to make your own copy of the choice board to remix/use). Given ChatGPT’s potential for generating misinformation and biased information, these activities offer students a critical way to investigate how ChatGPT writes about Black lives and history, and potentially consider why this may be.