Social Justice Resources

How to do better

I believe that we have a role as educators to teach about race, social justice, equity and similar topics. This education should take place in the home and in every classroom. It can take on a variety of formats from teaching kindness and understanding to teaching culture and history to looking at, listening to, and creating artwork that provides a format for conversation. At every age we need to have open conversations to help bring an understanding of the value of every person’s life.

I have started to compile a list of resources to help support educators. I will continue to add to this blog post as my research leads me to more resources. I invite you to return to this blogpost in the future. And, if you have resources please share them with me at meartsed@gmail.com so I can include them or you can post them in the comment section below.

At the end of this post there is a link to a facebook page that belongs to the British cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason. He and his 6 siblings performed “a tribute to the families and communities who are affected by racism and racist violence.” Their message is one that arts educators understand: “music is a form of expression and a testament to hope and love.”

BOOKS

• Young Children
  • Patricia Polacco books
    • Pink and Say
    • Chicken Sunday
    • Holes in the Sky
  • Ashley Bryan books
    • Beautiful Blackbird
    • Freedom Over Me
    • Infinite Hope
  • Let’s Talk About Race by Julius Lester
  • Through My Eyes by Ruby Bridges
  • Books by Ezra Jack Keats
  • Books by Leo and Diane Dillon
  • Books by Jerry and Andrea Davis Pinkney
• Middle Grades
  • A Good Kind of Trouble by Lisa Moore Ramée
  • Ghost Boys by Jewell Parker Rhodes
  • New Kid by Jerry Craft
  • Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy by Gary D. Schmidt
• Young Adult
  • Dear Martin by Nic Stone
  • All American Boys by Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely
  • I am Alfonso Jones by Tony Medina
• Books to Teach White Children and Teens How to Undo Racism and White Supremacy – a long list of books available
• the conscious kid – website of books

EDUCATIONAL BLOGS, ARTICLES, and OTHER RESOURCES

• Several books on racial and social justice by Robin DiAngelo including White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard For White People To Talk About Racism by Robin DiAngelo, Beacon Press 2018. Resources at the same link.
• How you can be an ally in the fight for racial justice written by Deray Mckesson on the TED-ED blog.
• Amplifying Artists and Musicians of Color (a list of 24) by Jaime Patterson from the Institute for Arts Integration and STEAM blog
• Why White Students Need Multicultural and Social Justice Education by Sheldon Eakins from the Cult of Pedagogy Blog
• The Art of Education
  • How to Help Students Process, Reflect, and Enact Change by Raymond Yang
  • A Guide for Working with Students Creating Controversial Artwork by Raymond Yang
  • How To Discuss Social Issues in the Art Room Without Bias by Abby Schukei
  • Teach Your Students to Use Art as a Tool for Social Advocacy by Lee Ten Hoeve
  • 5 Black Female Artists You (and Your Students!) Should Know by Megan Dehner
  • How to Better Support Your Marginalized Students by Nick Gehl
  • Lessons
    • Using Color Theory to Deconstruct Race: Part I by Matt Christenson
    • Using Color Theory to Deconstruct Race: Part II by Matt Christenson
• Talking About Race National Museum of African American History and Culture
• Harriet Tubman, an Unsung Naturalist, Used Owl Calls as a Signal on the Underground Railroad, article on the Audubon website
• The Theresa Vaughn Project, Leonard Schneider website, “Unification.. ie helping people to get along better. This might be possible if we can get to a better place / page culturally and musically.”

TED ED EDUCATOR RESOURCES

• The importance of affirming student identity presented by Educator Jeewan Chanicka
• How can you be an ally in the fight for racial justice by Deray Mckesson from Ideas.TED.com
• How students of color sharing their truths impacted one educator presented by Educator Jini Forcucci

EDUCATION WEBSITES

• Social Justice Standards from the Teaching Tolerance website
• Resources that Teach For America has curated to share for ‘wellness and navigating racism, violence, and civil unrest.’

OTHER RESOURCES

• CNN/Sesame Street racism town hall archive from June 6
• Very large collection of resources in a google doc being updated periodically titled Scaffolded Anti-Racist Resources
• Embrace Race – a website whose goal is: Let’s Raise a Generation of Children Who Are Thoughtful, Informed and Brave About Race
• Until We Are All Free – a website with tons of art and culture resources
• NPR’s animated shorts recorded lives and stories – Story Corps
• Equal Justice Initiative – Founded in 1989 by Bryan Stevenson, they do work in Education, Racial Justice and Criminal Justice Reform
• A VT Middle School teacher created this padlet with resources for Teaching About Race and Creating an Anti-Racist Climate 
• First Aid Arts – Providing training and support to individuals and organizations who want to offer effective arts-based care to survivors of natural disasters, human trafficking, forced migration, domestic violence, homelessness and other types of trauma.
• California for the Arts anti-racism resources

Sheku Kanneh-Mason’s facebook page archived livestream.

Maine Public

Lessons for grades 3-5 students

In addition to ‘schooling away from school’ teachers from across Maine have created videos focused on the learning for students in grades 3-5. This was a response to families who have little or no access to the internet. 2018 Maine Teacher of the Year, Sedomocha School music educator and Maine Arts Leadership Initiative Teacher Leader Kaitlin Young has a lesson included in the series. More videos will be posted in the near future.

The Learning Space is broadcast Mondays through Fridays at Maine Public Television.

12:00 p.m. – New episodes 12:30 – Rebroadcast episodes

Maine Public, the Maine Department of Education, and Educate Maine have joined forces to create original, educational programming for students in grades 3 through 5. Dedicated teachers from across Maine have developed original video lessons, pulling content from their own lesson plans and sources to provide exceptional learning opportunities for Maine students.

This project would not be possible without the help from these valued partners:

• MSMA: Maine School Management Association
• MCLA: Maine Curriculum Leaders Association
• MSTOYA: Maine State Teachers of the Year Association
• NBCTs of Maine: National Board Certified Teachers of Maine
• MEA: Maine Education Association
• MPA: Maine Principals Association
• MADSEC: Maine Administration of Services for Children with Disabilities