Juneteenth Observances Promote ‘Absolute Equality’
The celebration of Juneteenth highlights the importance of honest history and the relevance of the past in the struggles of the present. This newly recognized federal holiday—which is the result of decades of advocacy—presents the opportunity to unpack its complex history and offers an example of the significance of understanding local history in every community across the United States. In our latest article, LFJ Senior Writer Coshandra Dillard centers the birthplace of Juneteenth and explores how learning more about the holiday can inform our next steps in creating a just society.
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Begin in Your Own Backyard
Local history has a profound effect on our communities. As a way to understand present-day circumstances, it’s up to everyone to learn and then teach young people about the hard history in their own backyards. Partnering with local museums, visiting local libraries and connecting with elders in the community are just a few of the ways people can engage with the history of wherever they live. Educating ourselves and others about this often-overlooked or obscured history can help us create a just society, sometimes simply by one street at a time. In this 2019 article, LFJ Senior Writer Coshandra Dillard shares the significance of learning about local history and the ways this knowledge can help us envision and establish equitable communities.
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Support LGBTQ Youth
In our work to promote diversity, equity and inclusiveness, we must emphatically encourage the ongoing need for educators and all community members to protect and support LGBTQ youth. While news about dehumanizing policies and resistance to LGBTQ education is disheartening, we know that this fight is necessary to ensure a healthy environment where all people can become active participants in our diverse democracy. We stand firm with all who are committed to supporting LGBTQ youth.
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Applications Are Now Live! LFJ Teaching Hard History Fall 2022 Cohorts
As participants in one of the Teaching Hard History Professional Learning Cohorts, educators will engage with the Learning for Justice Teaching Hard History: American Slavery (THH) framework and learn how to use it to enrich their K-5 or 6-12 lessons on American enslavement, build students’ civic engagement and critical thinking, and deepen their mindsets around inclusion and empathy. THH Cohorts provide educators the chance to deeply engage with THH, collaborate with LFJ staff and 25 other cohort members across the country, and gain insights and feedback on implementation—all at no cost. Submit your application today!
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Professional Development: Art and Activism
Co-hosted by experts from the National Gallery of Art, this LFJ webinar will offer new understandings of visual art in the United States and its role in helping us understand our history. You’ll learn how art has been integral to activism and the fight for social justice. Using works from the National Gallery of Art and K-12 students, Painting a Just Picture: Art and Activism provides an overview of project ideas and highlights strategies for engaging in arts instruction.
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Check Out What We’re Reading
“For those who can’t visit a museum in person this year, a handful of Black museums and historical institutions from across the country will participate in a virtual program by BLKFreedom.org to commemorate Juneteenth.” — The Washington Post
“For queer students, school is a place that can hurt and heal.” — Teen Vogue
“‘I don’t sit in the front of the class, not because it makes me an easy target for my teacher’s attention, but because it makes me an easy target for the gunman.’” — The New York Times
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Have a comment, question or idea for Learning for Justice? Drop us a line at [email protected].
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