Working Group Lessons 2020-21
Black-centered, anti-racist curriculum created by educators from around the US, in support of the George Floyd Uprisings for Black Lives this summer.
Introduction to our 2020-2021 working group
The Ida B. Wells Education Project began when 25 highly skilled educators from across the country came together in the Summer of 2020 to find ways to support the movement for Black lives from our classrooms. We believe that centering Black voices and teaching about Black history, culture and the long movement for Black liberation are essential to fighting racism today and empowering our students to understand and participate in the movements for justice and equality that surround us.
According to a study from the NMAAHC, only about 8-9% of total class time is dedicated to Black history in US History classrooms, nationwide. We intend to change that. We met weekly from June-August to build Black-centered curriculum that teaches about the long movement for Black liberation. We formed a Summer Humanities Institute, covering the following 3 units this summer:
Haiti, the Caribbean and Resistance to Slavery
Teaching the Harlem Renaissance: Beyond Reconstruction and Civil Rights
Assata Taught Me: Black Power and the criminal justice system
We read, discussed and collaborated to build high quality lessons and resources, centering these topics. We will be periodically posting these lessons below. Our lessons are student-driven, inquiry based and aligned with state and national standards for history and ELA grades 6-12. Each of these lessons can be introduced in a regular History or English Language Arts class.
For more information on our lesson guidelines and the Summer Working Group process, please see our Guide to Lesson Creation with the Ida B. Wells Education Project.
We will have more opportunities for anti-racist educators to create lessons with us soon! Be sure to sign up for updates and to stay involved!
2020-2021 Working Group Lesson 1
“Let these sacred words serve to rally us… we gon’ be alright”:
Analyzing Rhetoric in Haiti’s Declaration of Independence & Kendrick Lamar’s “Alright”
The Haitian Revolution was a momentous event in world history. Its triumph in 1804 marked the birth of the first free Black republic and the first successful revolt of enslaved Africans in the western world. Unfortunately, this exciting and empowering event is rarely discussed in depth in high school classes. In this lesson, students are encouraged to make connections between the Haitian Revolution and Black movements and art today, by analyzing and comparing rhetoric used in both the Haitian Declaration of Independence and the lyrics to the song “Alright” by Kendrick Lamar, the award-winning rap artist from Compton CA.
In this lesson, inspired by both Lamar’s song and Haiti’s defining declaration of resistance, students will learn about how the rhetoric in these two texts can be used to inspire audiences to resist, but also to cultivate hope during uncertain times. This lesson will highlight how the authors’ rhetorical choices can move their communities to stand up to systems of oppression and build hope rather than despair.
Full lesson plan featuring primary source documents and handouts available here.
Detailed multimedia slides presentation to guide this lesson, is available here.