Resources for Chapter 12 – Black Activism in the 21st Century
Opening Hook
Documents
Document 12.1 – Black Lives Matter
Document 12.2 – Colin Kaepernick and Athletic Protests
Document 12.3 – The Equal Justice Initiative
Document 12.4 – Alicia Keys’s “A Perfect Way to Die”
Document 12.5 – John Lewis’s Last Editorial
Document 12.6 – “The Hill We Climb” by Amanda Gorman
Check for Understanding
Additional Resources
Websites
Color of Change – https://colorofchange.org
This website offers reports, toolkits, and campaign resources that teachers can integrate into existing curricula to teach about modern racial justice advocacy and systemic change.
John and Lillian Miles Lewis Foundation – https://johnandlillianmileslewisfoundation.org
If teachers or students want to learn more about John Lewis, this is an excellent resource. It celebrates Lewis’ activism and offers resources for activists and change makers.
Documentaries
All In: The Fight for Democracy, Amazon Prime Video, 2020. https://www.amazon.com/All-Fight-Democracy-Stacey-Abrams/dp/B08FRQQKD5
Teachers could screen this film or offer it as independent study as it introduces another 21st-century Black activist: Stacey Abrams. It tells the story of the long history of voter suppression in the US and details the contemporary fight to protect voting rights.
John Lewis: Good Trouble, Magnolia Pictures, 2020.
This film, available for purchase in DVD form or rental on Amazon Prime, celebrates the work of civil rights icon John Lewis. Teachers and students alike would enjoy seeing how Lewis fought for justice his entire personal and professional career.
Crash Course Black American History, #51, Black Lives Matter https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_OU4EcWQ6I
Clint Smith examines the Black Lives Matter movement, exploring major events that contributed to its rise, including the deaths of Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, Eric Garner, and George Floyd, and analyzing how Black organizers strategically utilized social media to build widespread support for the movement.
Books
Call Us What We Carry: Poems, Amanda Gorman, 2021.
Call Us What We Carry is Amanda Gorman’s debut poetry collection, which harnesses the collective grief of the global pandemic and the national reckoning with racial injustice. The collection explores themes of identity, historical trauma, and healing through inventive styles, including concrete and erasure poems.
We Refuse: A Forceful History of Black Resistance, Kellie Carter Jackson, 2024.
Teachers could assign We Refuse to challenge the students’ binary understanding of resistance, showing that Black activism has historically utilized a full spectrum of resistance beyond nonviolence—including flight, labor strikes, and armed self-defense. This book provides a robust framework for analyzing figures and events often marginalized in standard Civil Rights narratives, allowing students to critically discuss the efficacy and morality of various resistance strategies.
Carry on: Reflections for a New Generation, John Lewis, 2021.
This inspirational book invites young people to reflect on John Lewis’s concept of “good trouble” and consider their own role in social change. Students can explore Lewis’s wisdom about civic engagement and moral courage as they form their own views about addressing ongoing injustice.
Glossary
- Black Lives Matter
- A decentralized movement founded in 2013 to combat violence and systemic racism toward Black people.
- commemoration
- The act of remembering and honoring a person, event, or achievement through ceremonies or monuments.
- constructive
- Serving a useful purpose; helpful and positive in approach or attitude.
- federal holiday
- A public holiday officially recognized by the US government.
- hashtag
- A word or phrase preceded by # used on social media to identify messages on a specific topic.
- inauguration
- The formal ceremony marking the beginning of a person’s term in office, especially the president.
- Juneteenth
- A holiday on June 19th commemorating the emancipation of enslaved people in Texas in 1865, recognized as a federal holiday in 2021.
- laureate
- A person who is honored with an award for outstanding creative or intellectual achievement.
- movement
- A group of people working together to advance their shared political, social, or artistic ideas.
- observance
- The practice of celebrating or commemorating a day or event, particularly a holiday.
- racial terror
- Systematic use of violence and intimidation to maintain white supremacy and control Black populations.
- social media
- Digital platforms and technologies that enable people to create and share content and participate in social networking.
- Voting Rights Act
- The 1965 federal law that prohibited racial discrimination in voting, particularly targeting practices that disenfranchised Black Americans.