For Black History Month, Voice of Witness put together a list of 10 key resources for deepening understanding of Black history and racial justice. The list includes a mix of organizations, resources, and nonfiction books (including oral history!), in no particular order:
1. Book: The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson
2. Film: I Am Not Your Negro, directed by Raoul Peck
3. Book: Women, Race, & Class by Angela Davis
4. Organizations: Black Lives Matter and Black Lives Matter at School
5. Museum: National Museum of African American History and Culture
6. Book: Sister Outsider by Audrey Lorde
7. Organization: Zinn Education Project
8. Book: Free All Along: The Robert Penn Warren Civil Rights Interviews, edited by Stephen Drury Smith and Catherine Ellis
9. Film: Brave New Films’ Youth in Action film series for Black Lives Matter Week
10. Book: High Rise Stories: Voices from Chicago Public Housing, edited by Audrey Petty
Black History Month is an excellent opportunity for educators to celebrate black leaders and their stories, as well as to dive deeper into issues such as the prison industrial complex and criminal sentencing, environmental racism, housing policy, and educational rights. Along with High Rise Stories, we also recommend exploring the Voice of Witness oral history books Surviving Justice, Voices from the Storm, and Inside this Place, Not Of It, as well as their respective free lesson plans for educators.
