Two current biopic movies, "Harriet" and "The Irishman," present the life stories of real people who have been involved with slavery and organized crime. These images contradict the virtuous image of America that is fundamental to our sense of national identity and patriotism. Could this contradiction lead to oppositional…

In this article, inspired by Toni Morrison's evocative description of places that are "never going away" and events that "will happen again," the author explores the historical legacies of racism, law enforcement, and educational inequality in Covington, Kentucky. The author argues that these legacies can best be understood by…

A critical reappraisal of the origin story of early care and education (ECE) in the United States, this article unsettles dominant narratives by investigating the carceral foundations and liberatory strategies that characterise the emergence and sociopolitical evolution of ECE. Integrating Foucauldian counter-historical genealogy and…

The real story of slavery's end involves one of the most significant social movements in the history of the United States and the heroic actions of the enslaved themselves. Revealing this history helps students begin to answer fundamental questions that urgently need to be addressed in classrooms across the country: How does major social change…

This essay explores the ways that museums educate adults, and reveals that, as cultural educators, museums have the ability to promote hegemonic stories through their displays. I discuss these ideas through my visits to two museums in Atlanta, Georgia, USA: the Atlanta History Centre and the Southern Museum of Civil War and Locomotive History.…

The idea of writing to the next generation about one's struggles to overcome poverty, discrimination, and repression dates back more than 200 years in American history and offers many perspectives on the American experience. Focusing on the literal and psychological journey to freedom in Twain's "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,"…

Colson Whitehead's acclaimed book, "The Underground Railroad," follows Cora, a runaway slave seeking the nearly impossible goal of freedom. The fictionalized account of a runaway slave girl resonates with a reading of Harriet Jacobs's true account in "Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl." One of the most influential works of…

Academic institutions engaged in partnerships with the Black Church, including small, independent, under-resourced churches as well as historically Black denominational churches, and other under-resourced faith-based organizations, are encouraged to consider collaborative educational opportunities around the issues of strategic financial…

In this paper we examine how the Abolition Movement's approach to non-violent resistance has been silenced in four American history textbooks. Despite extensive research that reveals an extensive network of groups dedicated to the peaceful abolishment of slavery little of this historical record is included in the textbooks. Instead, a skewed…

This qualitative case study examines how fifth graders and their teachers participated in critical literacy instruction grounded in systems thinking on the topic of slavery. Systems thinking seeks to discover relationships and patterns in diverse underlying systems; critical literacy examines everyday texts, focuses on social justice and change,…

This chapter details how slavery, segregation, and racism impacted the educational experiences of African Americans from the colonial era to the present. It argues that America has yet to be a truly post-slavery and post-segregation society, let alone a post-racial society.

This article examines the relationship between oral- and textual-literacy systems that existed during the antebellum period of United States history. I argue that African-American intellectual processes are more accurately understood as existing on a literacy continuum that reflects equality between oral literacy and textual literacy. A literacy…

History labs invite students to examine primary and secondary source documents related to an essential question. The sources used in a history lab should represent multiple perspectives so that students are aware of the varying accounts of and opinions about historic events. By being exposed to multiple perspectives, students also learn about…

The legacy of slavery and racism in America and the history of what John C. Calhoun and other Southern leaders of the 1800s called "our peculiar institution" has not gone unnoticed. Neither has the psychological damage that remains as baggage carried by the descendents of both the slave and the slave owner (Berry & Blassingame, 1982;…

The objective of this article is to analyse the process of institutionalisation of public elementary schooling associated with the political organisation of the constitutional monarchy and the legislation regarding citizen rights and prerogatives in Brazil, especially in the province of Minas Gerais, during the nineteenth century. During this…