Exploring Voting Rights in DC, the Haudenosaunee Influence on U.S. Democracy, and 2020 in History Books

 

Tiffany Mitchell Patterson opened the session, welcoming newcomers, and noting:

It is so important to be in community with each other. I hope everyone can use this time to find inspiration and motivation for the upcoming weeks

She engaged everyone in a spirited round of people’s history Kahoot. The last question acknowledged the vital role of everyone in the working group:

Which group of people work the hardest and contribute the most to a just future for this country? (a) Politicians (b) Corporate executives (c) City planners (d) Classroom teachers.

DCAESJMar22.png

Highlights Since Last Session

Participants shared, via Padlet, a highlight or challenge from their classes — or their own learning, since we last met. Here are some examples:

I really want to support my students of Asian descent who may be feeling as I feel for them in the recent attacks. [This was echoed by everyone in the group.]

In 9/10 ELA classes, we're reading a couple of vignettes from The House on Mango Street. Students wrote their own "Those Who Don't" vignettes, starting with a "I am _____ , but I am not _____ ." statement. For "The House on Mango Street" vignette, we've been discussing the "American Dream" and gentrification.

Working on lessons to help students reimagine what they think of when they think of justice.

Reading a great new book, The Sum of Us by Heather McGhee [interview on Democracy Now!].

Excited to start our unit on Reformers — looking at how change agents of the past effect and influence changer makers today.

Been listening to the incredible podcast Seizing Freedom by Dr. Kidada Williams and dreaming up how I or others might use it in a classroom.

I am finishing a unit on activism and getting ready to move into our “issue to action” unit. We are going to look at different parts of our school and make recommendations for improvement to suggestions for what next year could incorporate with what is looking like a hybrid type schedule.

Focusing on voting rights and the filibuster for an 8th grade history class.

Students as Truthtellers About 2020 

Zinn Education Project staff member Ursula Wolfe-Rocca facilitated a dialogue about a reading from Teaching for Black Lives, “Claiming and Teaching the 1963 March on Washington” by Bill Fletcher Jr. Ursula noted that:

The way in which I wanted us to think about this text today is not in terms of thinking deeply about the March on Washington. In the future, people will be writing about this moment, and we must embrace and resist problematic writing about it in our futures.

Fletcher says that teaching [the March] requires “counteracting sanitized textbooks and demythologizing [the March].” One thing I thought we might think a little bit about today is how our curriculum can help inoculate our students against the sanitizing and mythologizing textbooks of the future, particularly about the time we are in now. We are living through a historic moment right now. We know and students know.

The group used a Padlet to reflect and gather thoughts on Bill Fletcher’s analysis of how the March on Washington is problematically represented in textbooks.

fletcher_63.JPG

Here are some of the insights shared by participants on the Padlet:

I REALLY appreciate the layers of complexity named, here. For example, how not all organizers were aligned in every way or aspect of their identities, how there were conversations and layers of this moment in history that have been erased and "sanitized" to the detriment of our interconnected struggles, to the detriment of actually building solidarity. Makes our work seem so much more contextualized when we stop mythologizing the past and remember that we are all humans, doing this work together.

The entirety of Dr. Martin Luther King's Aug. 28, 1963, address at the March on Washington should be read.

The idea for the march did not appear out of nowhere & that the actual march was the result of long-term work. I think this is an important concept when we think about organizing wins then and now- that there is almost always a whole lot of work behind any change or big actions.

I listened to the Throughline Podcast about Bayard Rustin and learned so much more about him and who he was. I also think about his relationship with Ella Baker and the powerhouse organizers that those two were. It is important to talk about the skills used to organize and not just the event.

Wolfe-Rocca then shared three questions to apply Fletcher’s insights to our own moment before the group moved into breakout rooms. 

fletcher_63_now.JPG

This led to rich discussions in the breakout rooms and a number of teachers saying they will engage their students in this same reading and reflection.

Ursula closed by recommending two other lessons (both in Rethinking Schools) that help students study the history that they are living in, “Who’s to Blame? A People’s Tribunal on the Coronavirus Pandemic Teaching Activity” by DCAESJ study group co-founder Caneisha Mills and “Our Stories: Students Curate the Museum of Corona History” by Rabiya Kassam-Clay.

 

Lessons Choices

Participants chose between one of the following two sessions led by teacher participants. In each session, there was a brief introduction to and modelling of the lesson, with time for questions and feedback.

The Haudenosaunee Influence on US Democracy

Middle school teacher Zo Clement shared their lesson about the Haudenosaunee Confederacy (the true name of the Iroquois). Student learn about their democracy and the impacts of the Haudenosaunee model and its leaders on the founding of the United States government. This lesson also highlights the contrast between the story we are usually told — that the Greeks and Romans invented democracy — versus the evidence from multiple primary sources that the “Founding Fathers” largely modeled their plan after this East Coast Indigenous government.

The Haudenosaunee Influence on American Democracy

Classwork for the Haudenosaunee Impact on American Democracy

Participants loved the lesson. Some comments in the closing evaluation were:

  • I appreciated so much Zo's lesson. I am currently teaching graduate students and plan to introduce these ideas in our continuing conversations about colonialism +patriarchy+intersecionality.

  • Excellent way to approach democracy & have students think about origins of democracy and possibilities of democratic community now.

  • It was great to hear different ways of breaking down U.S. exceptionalism, and also hear about the differences between governing styles.

Voting Rights for D.C.

Middle school teacher Amy Trenkle shared her mixer lesson to introduce students to the people, organizations, and issues regarding the long, ongoing struggle for voting rights in D.C. 

Here is the lesson with a link to the online access version of the mixer roles.

Participants noted:

  • It was excellent, and presented in a way so that other people could use it easily

  • I think this is a great mixer to do with my preservice Ts to learn how to do mixers virtually and about the question of statehood.

  • I would use the lesson within our study of voting right history. It brings us forward to today and how the fight for voting rights is not over.

  • This lesson is very thoughtful and I like how it can be differentiated for different levels of readers, so it's accessible for all our students!

 

Closing

Tiffany Mitchell Patterson closed the session, noting:

This space is full of power and solidarity, and we are building off of each other. Being in this space encourages us to keep going. Thank you everyone for your time and ideas!

In their evaluations, teachers noted:

This group is my lifeline!!!!

I always leave these meetings feeling warm.

We're able to cover a lot of meaningful topics/discussions during our time.

I loved Ursula's part and then having a lesson to jump into afterwards.

 
Other StoriesDeborah MenkartProfessional Development