Jesse Hagopian

I learned so much reading “The Sum of Us” and I’m very excited for this conversation. Thanks to the hundreds of teacher who have registered to learn more from the great Heather McGhee. There’s still space left to register if you want to participate.

Here’s the info on the talk:

On Monday, February 5, 2024, policy advocate Heather McGhee will discuss The Sum of Us: How Racism Hurts Everyone, the young readers’ edition of her bestselling book and the podcast companion series.

Heather McGhee is distinguished lecturer of urban studies at CUNY School of Labor and Urban Studies. In addition to testifying before Congress, drafting legislation, and developing strategies for organizations and campaigns, McGhee is chair of the board of Color of Change.

McGhee will be in conversation with Jesse Hagopian and Cierra Kaler-Jones.

Everyday Solidarity: In*******al Organizing Stories from The Sum of Us - Zinn Education Project On February 5, 2024, policy advocate Heather McGhee will discuss her book The Sum of Us: How Racism Hurts Everyone. This session is part of the Zinn Education Project’s Teach the Black Freedom Struggle online people’s history series.

Excited for the Black Lives Matter at School Week of Action events that will be taking place in Seattle!! You can register to participate, donate, and learn more at: https://linktr.ee/BLMatSchoolSeattle

You can learn about the national BLM at School movement at: www.BlackLivesMatterAtSchool.com

All out for this BLM at School week of action organizing meeting.

Get your February Week of Action plans finalized before the end of the year! Join us this Saturday, December 16 at 1pm ET/10am PT to do some more planning alongside each other, both new and experienced folks and everyone in between. This month’s topic? Outreach and Safety.
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Let’s make this the biggest Week of Action yet. It’s going to (and should) take all of us 💪🏿💪🏾💪🏽💪🏼💪🏻
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Registration link: bit.ly/woaorg2

Israel’s war on Gaza is also a war on children–and just like the attempts to ban discussion of race and gender in U.S. classrooms, Israel aims to censor historical truths.

Israel’s War on Gaza Is Also a War on History and Education

Today is the International Day of Solidarity with Palestine. I wrote this piece about Israel’s attacks on Palestinian schools and education—and how they criminalize teaching the truth to get away with genocide.

“In addition to targeting schools for destruction, Israel is actively pursuing the destruction of historical knowledge and education. That’s because it is difficult to perpetuate ethnic cleansing—while simultaneously purporting to be a democracy—without also controlling the population’s collective memory and whitewashing the brutality from the historical record.”

and free Palestine Pedagogy. on Gaza and on history!

Israel’s War on Gaza Is Also a War on History Just like the attempts to ban discussion of race and gender in U.S. classrooms, Israel aims to censor historical truths.

Please share with students—your design could be the next logo for BLM at School!

Deadline extended.....2024 logo pending
Teaching Artists Guild ATA NYC Black Lives Matter at School Week of Action Black Lives Matter at School- Milwaukee Black Lives Matter Week of Action - Philly

Excited for this one!

Join us this evening for a very special conversation about the history of the struggle for Black history that you never learned in school.

The Fight for Black History in Schools - Zinn Education Project On Monday, November 13, 2023, historian Michael Hines will discuss his book A Worthy Piece of Work: The Untold Story of Madeline Morgan and the Fight for Black History in Schools. This session is part of the Zinn Education Project’s Teach the Black Freedom Struggle online people’s history series...

My dear friend Dave Zirin made it plain in this video about why he, as a Jewish American, went and got arrested at the U.S. capitol protesting for a ceasefire on Gaza and for a free Palestine. Please take a minute to watch and share.

I’m Jewish. I want a ceasefire in Gaza. | Edge of Sports On Oct 18, hundreds of Jewish activists were arrested after staging a sit-in at the US Capitol to demand a ceasefire in Gaza. Dave Zirin, who joined the sit-...

It’s .

Last year over 1,477 books were banned!

The racists & fascists are banning books like Toni Morrison’s “The Bluest Eye,” Kobabe’s “Gender Queer,” and “Anne Frank’s Diary.”

What’s your favorite banned book? Which one do you like to teach?

Banned Books Week | October 1 – 7, 2023 Banned Books Week: Monday Program Snapshot Banned Books Week is here! No matter where you are, there’s sure to be a way to participate, from in-person events to virtual events. Let’s take a look at what’s … Read More

Today!!!

I’m incredibly honored to be joining in conversation with these educators who have lost their job in the struggle for an honest education about race and sexuality.

Register at link below: https://rethinkingschools.org/event/censored-teachers-speak-out-stories-from-the-fight-to-teach-truth/

About the Event:

Across the country, educators face extreme backlash for teaching the truth and creating inclusive classrooms. As of June 2022, the Washington Post identified at least 160 educators who lost their jobs or resigned because they taught about race or LGBTQ+ issues — and there are undoubtedly scores more who have been pushed out of the classroom that have gone unreported. Mainstream media often misses crucial aspects of the larger story: the historical context that led to this dangerous wave of legislation, the student-led organizing and educator resistance, the parents who defend teachers, and how teachers are forced to find their own legal and financial support in the wake of termination. Hear directly from teachers facing termination and censorship and offer solidarity and support.

Censored Teachers Speak Out: Stories from the Fight to Teach Truth About the Event Across the country, educators face extreme backlash for teaching the truth and creating inclusive classrooms. As of June 2022, the Washington Post identified at least 160 educators […]

🔥The strike against the big three auto makers by the UAW (United Auto Workers) is so damn exciting!! The declaration by the UAW in this video is incredibly inspiring.

They are declaring a strike, not just for their memebers, but for the whole working class against billionaires—and they consciously see themselves in the tradition of the sit down strikes of the 1930s that ignited a major strike wave and ushered in an era of radical politics.

If we ever have a hope of turning the tide against richest 1% who horde their wealth at the expense of the rest of us, the labor movement has to learn to strike for economic and social justice. What an amazing development for the possibility that our side is discovering its strength and teach the working class the secret that the corporations don’t want us to know: they need us—to create the products, to sell the products, to deliver the products, to educate the next generation of workers, and more—but we don’t need them.

Watch this video. Share it with people you know. Study the 1930s Flint Sit-down strike. Support the StandUpStrike.

This massive strike by thre auto workers is not just an act of bravery, it is also a great school to learn about the power of working people.

What is the Stand Up Strike? The Stand Up Strike is our generation’s answer to the movement that built our union, the Sit-Down Strikes of 1937.Then as now, we face massive inequality acr...

Thanks for recommending Black Lives Matter at School!

The legends together.

Jesse Ed Davis and Taj Mahal (David Gahr photo) ....

🔥Start the school year off right: Don’t miss ’s “year of purpose” kickoff event with the great Robin D. G. Kelly!

Register today at this link:

https://opencollective.com/blacklivesmatteratschool/events/year-of-purpose-kick-off-with-robin-d-g-kelley-f18bbbe6

🔥I’m excited to be in conversation with Bettina Love () about her new powerful book and the struggle for education reparations!

Tickets available at:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/dr-bettina-love-on-tour-tickets-410714537237

I'm thrilled to announcing the 2023 Black Education Matters Student Activist Award (BEMSAA) winners: Marta Sisay and Joyin Akinola!

These two exceptional young people have done extraordinary work in the struggle against structural racism in education. The BEMSAA provides a $1,000 award, public recognition, and connection to a community of other young changemakers.

Announcing The 2023 Black Education Matters Award Winners—Meet The Young Changemakers Challenging Educational Injustice! We are excited to announce the 2023 Black Education Matters Award winners: Marta Sisay and Joyin Akinola. These two exceptional young people have done extraordinary work in the struggle against str…

My brother, my dad Gerald Lenoir and I are making a documentary film about our recent trip to the Mississippi plantation where our family was enslaved and our quest for connection with our ancestors. We plan to go back to put in gravestones for our enslaved ancestors.
We hope that in telling our story, many will experience the healing that we did and learn the history of slavery--and the resistance to it--that powerful forces are trying to ban from schools.

If you are able to support this effort, consider donating to our GoFundMe campaign. Many Thanks!!

“Where I Got My Name: A Story of Struggle and Self Discovery”–Help Us Tell the Story of Our Enslaved Ancestors I just got back from taking my sons on a life-changing journey to Mississippi and Louisiana where we went to the sites of the plantations on which our family members were enslaved. There we began m…

My good people,

Happy Juneteenth!

I just got back from a life-changing journey to Mississippi and Louisiana with my dad and brother where we went to the sites of the plantations on which our family members were enslaved. I wrote about the experience in a piece that is the lead story at The Nation today if you want to learn more about it (please share it with others if you are moved to do so): https://www.thenation.com/article/society/juneteenth-emancipating-history-mississippi-slavery/

While we were in Mississippi we began making a documentary film about our experience—but we need your help to finish the project!

We have a GoFundMe page open now for anyone who would like to support us to finish the documentary telling the story of our enslaved ancestors--including helping us to travel back to Mississippi and Louisiana to bring headstones to the gravesites where our ancestors are buried.

We already have a short 13-minute documentary on our family's history made before we embarked on our journey that will give you a window into our project. While this story is of immeasurable significance to our family, it is also vital for everyone to learn how the history of slavery shapes our society today.

Thanks for considering supporting our project!

Love,

-Jesse

https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-us-tell-the-story-of-our-enslaved-ancestors

Help Us Tell the Story of Our Enslaved Ancestors, organized by Gerald Lenoir A Documentary Film Project by Magnum Opus Films Help Us Tell The Stor… Gerald Lenoir needs your support for Help Us Tell the Story of Our Enslaved Ancestors

Join us Saturday, June 10 for the national day of action! We won’t let them ban teaching about systemic racism and Black history.

There are many national and local events—both in person and online.

Coordinated by , and , with many national endorsements!!

Teach Truth Day of Action June 10 - Zinn Education Project We invite educators, students, parents, and community members to rally across the country on June 10 to defend the right to teach truthfully about U.S. history and defend LGBTQ+ rights.

🔥I’m thrilled join in conversation with Dr. Kimberlé Crenshaw, co-founder and executive director of the African American Policy Forum, on Monday, June 12 as part of the 2023 Teach Truth Day of Action!

Dr. Crenshaw coined the term “Intersectionality,” is a founding scholar of critical race theory, and is a leader in the movement.

Her work has been deeply important to both my pedagogy and my activism.

I hope you will join us for this important conversation.

Dr. Kimberlé Crenshaw on Teaching Truthfully About U.S. History - Zinn Education Project On Monday, June 12, 2023, scholar Kimberlé Crenshaw will discuss the importance of teaching truthfully about U.S. history. This session is part of the Zinn Education Project’s Teach the Black Freedom Struggle online people’s history series and in coordination with the 2023 Teach Truth Day of Ac...

Today feels like one of the most significant of my life.

A couple years ago my dad Gerald Lenoir found which plantation our family was enslaved on.

Today my dad, brother Jamana, and I went to Morgantown, Mississippi to find the Lenoir Plantation—along with my dad’s friend John.

It was an unbelievable experience.

I can’t tell the whole story now, but I want to say that we went to where the Lenoir plantation was. My dad was able to connect with one of the white descendants of the people that founded Morgantown, and he came to meet us and help us identify where the plantation was and gave us the history of the town.

The most powerful part was that we were able to go to the grave site of our enslaved ancestors (it’s a longer story of how we got access to the fenced off land). Only one headstone remains.

We held a ceremony to our ancestors at the gravesite that included my dad reading his poem “Freedom Flowers” and me reading a letter I wrote to the ancestors. Maybe someday I’ll share that letter. Then we placed our words—along with lyrics from the great J.B. Lenoir—and some other offerings in a wooden box that we buried next to the grave. Next we collected some earth to place in vials that we can wear around our necks. We finished the ceremony with me playing harmonica.

It’s hard to even describe what it felt like, but I know I’m changed. It will take me some time to figure out what just happened.

All out for the national day of action on June 10!

Join us—everyone can be part of the movement to stop the attack on antiracist education, trans students, and truth!

Teach Truth Day of Action June 10 - Zinn Education Project We invite educators, students, parents, and community members to rally across the country on June 10 to defend the right to teach truthfully about U.S. history and defend LGBTQ+ rights.

Beginning Monday, May 8th through June 5th, 2023, nominations will be accepted for the Black Education Matters Student Activist award. The BEMSAA organizing committee encourages educators, parents, students, and community organizers to from the King County region of Washington State to nominate a deserving student for the award today!

The Black Education Matters Student Activist Award (BEMSAA) gives recognition, support, and a $1,000 award to student leaders in the King Country area who demonstrate exceptional leadership in struggles against racism—especially with an understanding of the intersections with sexism, homophobia, transphobia, Islamaphobia, class exploitation and other forms of oppression—within their school or community. Over the past several years, over 20 Seattle Public Schools students have been honored with the award.

Submissions Open for 2023 Black Education Matters Student Activist Award–Nominate A Student Today! Beginning Monday, May 8th through June 5th, 2023, nominations will be accepted for the Black Education Matters Student Activist award. The BEMSAA organizing committee encourages educators, parents,…

Legalize Black History Florida’s past is replete with lessons for building an anti-racist future. We can’t allow them to be purged from our classrooms.

They want to throw away the key. We want to unlock the lessons of the past to build a more just future.

Legalize Black History merch: https://www.redbubble.com/shop/ap/138173452

🔥🔥Today only!!!: 20% sale on all apparel for the final day of Black History Month!!

Show the world what you think of the anti-Black history laws that banned African American studies in Florida and are sweeping the country!

https://my-store-d4dfb4.creator-spring.com/

Basically, & the anti-history law pushers want (of Dilbert cartoon infamy) to teach Black history to our kids.

But we will never stop teaching against Scott’s claim that Black people are a “hate group”!

You can show which side your on by visiting the Legalize Black History store: https://my-store-d4dfb4.creator-spring.com