A group of tween girls chant into megaphones, marching in the San Francisco TransMarch. Holding clenched fists high, they wear brown berets and vests showcasing colorful badges like “Black Lives Matter” and “Radical Beauty.” Meet the Radical Monarchs, a group of young girls of color at the front lines of social justice.

Set in Oakland, a city with a deep history of social justice movements, WE ARE THE RADICAL MONARCHS documents the Radical Monarchs -- an alternative to the Scout movement for girls of color, aged 8-13. Its members earn badges for completing units on social justice including being an LGBTQ+ ally, the environment, and disability justice. The group was started by two, fierce, queer women of color, Anayvette Martinez and Marilyn Hollinquest as a way to address and center her daughter's experience as a young brown girl. Their work is anchored in the belief that adolescent girls of color need dedicated spaces and that the foundation for this innovative work must also be rooted in fierce inter-dependent sisterhood, self-love, and hope.

The film follows the first troop of Radical Monarchs for over three years, until they graduate, and documents the Co-Founders struggle to respond to the needs of communities across the US and grow the organization after the viral explosion of interest in the troop’s mission to create and inspire a new generation of social justice activists.

The expected outcome for this lesson plan is students will learn about the herstory of Radical Monarchs and can pull inspiration on how to strategize and cultivate hope in an ever pressing doom & gloom political climate.

A Note from Curriculum Creators Anayvette Martinez & Marilyn Hollinquest

In 2014 when we launched Radical Monarchs, we never imagined we’d spark a movement (or have a film crew follow us for 3 years to make a documentary)! As queer women of color, our herstories are often invisiblized or omitted so we are honored that this film has made it possible to archive our story and lift up the power of centering young girls of color in social justice activism work. In Radical Monarchs we believe that no issue or topic is too big to discuss with our Monarchs. Adults often underestimate the power ofyoung people. Radical Monarchs believe in creating a space where young people’s experiences are centered, no question is too big, and they are a part of creating actionable solutions to empower themselves and their communities. As Cofounders we felt compelled to create this lesson plan as a way to connect our vision to the kind of world we all deserve as seen by viewers of the documentary across classrooms, homes and community centers. The issues rooted in this film are: Social Justice, Feminism, LGBTQ, Allyship, Racism, Gentrification and Empowerment.

A Note to Teachers

Teachers, it is important for you to do a quick word association or brainstorm with your students to see what characteristics of people (age, gender, race, class, ability) your students consider when they hear the following descriptions: protestors, leaders, teachers. Call attention to any patterns you notice as they describe their ideas of what leaders look like and have a conversation where you wonder why? Please remind your students to keep track of what surprised them as they watched the film. Remind them to keep an open mind to all of the topics presented in the film, because many of the topics discussed in the film may be new or different.

Teachers it is also essential that you familiarize yourself with “Intersectionality” and “Intersectional Feminism”, coined by legal scholar Kimberlé Crenshaw. Below are some resources to help you understand this concept:

• Kimberlé Crenshaw: What is Intersectionality? (YouTube Video)
• Kimberlé Crenshaw at Ted + Animation (YouTube Video)
• The origin of the term 'intersectionality' (website)

Kimberle Crenshaw’s original 1991 article, “Mapping the Margins: Intersectionality, Identity Politics, and Violence against Women of Color” and podcast, “Intersectionality Matters!”

Subject Areas:

• Social Studies
• Ethnic Studies
• History
• Civics
• Political Science
• Social Emotional Learning (SEL)

Grade Levels: 6-12

Objectives:

In this lesson, students will:

• Assess and evaluate why the need for girls of color spaces are needed and powerful
• Identify and discuss the importance and impact of youth leadership
• Define Intersectional Feminism and name how the Radical Monarchs practice this concept
• Discuss the role fierce sisterhood and community building has in movement building
• Exhibit, engage, and hone active listening skills

Materials:

• Film clips and equipment to project/screen the film clips
• Chart Paper
• Markers
• Pens/Pencils
• Half sheets of lined paper

Time Needed:

Four 60-minute class periods to watch the film and complete the activities.

Meet the Radical Monarchs, a group of young girls of color at the front lines of social justice. Set in Oakland, a city with a deep history of social justice movements, the film documents the journey of the group as they earn badges for completing units including being an LGBTQ+ ally, preserving the environment, and disability justice. Started by two fierce, queer women of color, we follow them as they face the challenge to grow the organization, both pre and post the 2016 election.

This list of fiction and nonfiction books was compiled by kYmberly Keeton - the African American Community Archivist and Librarian at the Austin Public Library in Austin, Texas. These suggested readings provide a range of perspectives on issues raised by the POV documentary We Are the Radical Monarchs and allow for deeper engagement.

Thank you to those who contributed to this guide:
Linda Goldstein Knowlton, Anayvette Martinez, Marilyn Hollinquest, and the POV Engage Team

Byers, Grace. I am Enough. Harper Collins, 2018.
This gorgeous, lyrical ode to loving who you are, respecting others, and being kind to one another comes from Empire actor and activist Grace Byers and talented newcomer artist Keturah A.

Chambers, Veronica. Shirley Chisholm is a Verb. Dial Book
A timely picture book biography about Shirley Chisholm, the first Black woman in Congress, who sought the Democratic nomination to be the president of the United States.
Shirley Chisholm famously said, "If they don't give you a seat at the table, bring a folding chair." This dynamic biography illuminates how Chisholm was a doer, an active and vocal participant in our nation's democracy, and a force to be reckoned with. Now young readers will learn about her early years, her time in Congress, her presidential bid and how her actions left a lasting legacy that continues to inspire, uplift, and instruct.

Harrison, Vashti. Little Leaders: Bold Women in Black History. Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, 2017.
Featuring 40 trailblazing black women in the world's history, this book educates and inspires as it relates true stories of women who broke boundaries and exceeded all expectations. Debut author/illustrator Vashti Harrison pairs captivating text with stunning illustrations as she tells the stories of both iconic and lesser-known female figures of black history, including: Nurse Mary Seacole, Politician Diane Abbott, Mathematician Katherine Johnson, and Singer Shirley Bassey. Among these biographies, readers will find heroes, role models and everyday women who did extraordinary things.

Nagara, Innosanto. A is for Activist. Seven Stories Press, 2012.
This bestselling ABC book is written and illustrated for the next generation of progressives: families who want their kids to grow up in a space that is unapologetic about activism, environmental justice, civil rights, LGBTQ rights, and everything else that activists believe in and fight for. A continuous bestseller for Triangle Square, we heard from booksellers around the country who clamored for a large format edition that would appeal to children over the age of 5. This engaging book carries huge messages as it inspires hope for the future, and calls children and parents to action.

Nagara, Innosanto. Counting on Community. Triangle Square Publishers, 2015.
A counting book for young learners. Counting up from one stuffed piñata to ten hefty hens–and always counting on each other–children are encouraged to recognize the value of their community, the joys inherent in healthy eco-friendly activities, and the agency they posses to make change. A broad and inspiring vision of diversity is told through stories in words and pictures. And of course, there is a duck to find on every page!

Nagara, Innosanto. M is for Movement. Penguin, Random House, 2016.
Here is the story of a child born at the dawn of a social movement.
At first the protests were in small villages and at universities. But then they spread. People drew sustenance from other social movements in other countries. And then the unthinkable happened.
The protagonist in this fictionalized children’s memoir is a witness and a participant, fearful sometimes, brave sometimes too, and when things change, this child who is now an adult is as surprised as anyone.

Sanders, Rob. Pride: The Story of Harvey Milk and the Rainbow Flag. Random House, 2018.
In this deeply moving and empowering true story, young readers will trace the life of the Gay Pride Flag, from its beginnings in 1978 with social activist Harvey Milk and designer Gilbert Baker to its spanning of the globe and its role in today’s world. Award-winning author Rob Sanders’s stirring text, and acclaimed illustrator Steven Salerno’s evocative images, combine to tell this remarkable – and undertold – story. A story of love, hope, equality, and pride.

Schatz, Kate. Rad American Women A-Z: Rebels, Trailblazers, and Visionaries who Shaped Our History…and Our Future! City Lights/Sister Spit Press, 2015.
Like all A-Z books, this one illustrates the alphabet—but instead of “A is for Apple”, A is for Angela—as in Angela Davis, the iconic political activist. B is for Billie Jean King, who shattered the glass ceiling of sports; C is for Carol Burnett, who defied assumptions about women in comedy; D is for Dolores Huerta, who organized farmworkers; and E is for Ella Baker, who mentored Dr. Martin Luther King and helped shape the Civil Rights Movement. And the list of great women continues, spanning several centuries, multiple professions, and 26 diverse individuals. There are artists and abolitionists, scientists and suffragettes, rock stars and rabble-rousers, and agents of change of all kinds. The book includes an introduction that discusses what it means to be “rad” and “radical,” an afterword with 26 suggestions for how you can be “rad,” and a Resource Guide with ideas for further learning and reading.

"It is a contribution to truth, an array of facts, the perusal of which it is hoped will stimulate this great American Republic to demand that justice be done though the heavens fall."

Ida B. Wells, Oct. 26, 1892

Part two of And She Could Be Next peels back the curtain on one of the most insidious threats to American democracy: voter suppression. In this concluding episode, the spotlight turns toward the growing and tireless coalition work of multiethnic and multiracial organizers powering the grassroots campaigns of the women of color candidates featured in episode one. In their mission to expand democratic participation to communities of color, immigrant communities, disengaged voters, young people, and low-income communities, viewers witness firsthand how their efforts are met with systematic attempts to upend progress by stripping communities of their votes and voices.

In this lesson, students will learn about varied historic and contemporary voter suppression tactics used to exclude, silence, and intimidate potential voters in predominantly BIPOC communities. Students will research laws and policies, such as voter ID laws, proof of citizenship requirements, and voter registration policies, and analyze how these regulations expand or impede democractic participation to all. This lesson is intended to build on concepts introduced in lesson one but can also be a standalone lesson. The lesson also provides ample opportunity for interdisciplinary collaboration across subject matter curricula for educators who want to develop grade-level unit plans across content areas (e.g., history, ELA, mathematics, government).

A Note from Curriculum Creator, Stacia Cedillo

We are taught in America that justice is inherent in the failsafe architecture of our democratic institutions. We are taught that our three branches of government — designed to operate in perfect balance by those we entrust to lead — form infallible pillars of accountability, fairness, objectivity, and oversight. We are taught that we have a fundamental and inalienable right to seek justice through a court system that ensures fair trials and due process. But what we aren’t taught about justice, we learn through other means. And what we learn from the “array of facts” about voting in America is that our institutions, and the people who lead them, are not always neutral arbiters of justice and democracy, as we are taught.

This journey of un-learning what we are taught about American democracy can be a difficult journey for many of us, including those like myself, who view schools and education as potential sites for radical transformation. I cringe when I think back to my first year teaching, recalling all the ways I uncritically taught American mythologies of equality, democracy, and justice to my eighth-grade students. My un-learning process has involved years of political engagement with grassroots activists, ongoing reflection of my own complicity in white supremacy as a white Latina, and a deep commitment to studying historic texts written by those who knew, long before I, that democracy and justice have never been a guarantee to everyone in America. One such scholar-historian is the great Ida B. Wells, quoted above, whose foundational reporting on lynching continues to shape my understanding of the perpetual presence of anti-Black intimidation and violence in this country. As a critical pedagogue, I believe that it is these encounters with truths-never-learned — moments of conscientização, to use Paolo Freire’s term — that are the beginnings of the necessary journey to re-imagine and re-work schools to be sites of emancipation, liberation, and justice.

A Note to Teachers

For many, discussion of the 2016 U.S. Presidential election can activate trauma, anxiety, and anger. The anti-immigrant, racist, misogynistic, and violent language that characterized that election carried over to the 2018 primary elections that are featured in this film. Take care to pay attention to students in your classroom whose identities, families, and communities are the intended target of this hateful rhetoric.

Subject Areas

• Civics
• Government
• U.S. History
• Language Arts
• Political Science

Grade Levels: [8-13+]

Objectives:

In this lesson, students will:

• Understand and analyze how specific U.S. laws, policies, and regulations enable targeted voter suppression and voter disenfranchisement.
• Discuss ways that policies can be improved to advance fairness in U.S. elections.
• Research local voting rights advocacy groups and grassroots organizations.

Materials:

• Film clips
• Notebook
• Writing utensil
• Chart paper, dry erase board, or document camera
• Internet access, or pre-prepared packets with up-to-date information on:
  • Your state’s voter registration laws
  • U.S. voter suppression laws

Time Needed:

Two to three 50- to 60-minute class periods.

And She Could Be Next follows the grassroots campaigns of six women of color running for political office during the contentious 2018 United States midterm elections. Produced by female filmmakers of color, the documentary offers a behind-the-scenes glimpse of these women leaders whose personal motivations, political coalitions, and ground-level activism steamroll the expectations of their opponents and of the broader public — defying traditional notions of what it means to be a U.S. politician in the process. Part one of the two-part film provides a framework for a critical analysis of how race, gender, and class operate in electoral politics in the United States by focusing on how shifting demographics are perceived as a threat to contemporary and historic “democratic” power structures.

In this lesson, the idea of “The New American Majority” is explored through the analysis of the gendered and racialized dimensions of the narratives, identities, and historical inheritances of the six profiled candidates: Stacey Abrams, Bushra Amiwala, María Elena Durazo, Veronica Escobar, Lucy McBath, and Rashida Tlaib. Students break down the characteristics of grassroots organizing and intersectionality, and discuss how these concepts are central to the electoral politics of “The New American Majority.” Students will research the racial and gender demographics of their local, state, and federal elected officials and conduct an analysis of how the demographics of their representatives compare to their community.

A Note from Curriculum Creator, Stacia Cedillo

“Viva La Causa” - this was the political motto of the National Farm Workers Association (NFWA), the labor union founded in 1962 and led by César Chávez, Dolores Huerta, and Gilbert Padilla. The NFWA’s causa — it’s fight for living wages, healthcare, and food safety — was a struggle waged via a number of weary paths, including the pursuit of political representation. Electoral politics was just one dimension of la causa, and it is a route that many, including the women in this film, continue to pursue today.

Diverse, worker-led campaigns to elect public servants are a critical part of democracy, but not the only part; as those who fought for la causa knew well, representation does not guarantee liberation. The women in this film, and the women who made this film, understand that it is not simply the act of running for office and winning that will free us. These women, like the NFWA leaders that inspire my pedagogical standpoint, understand that the mechanisms of white supremacy, patriarchy, and capitalism will continue to oppress us all if we do not teach others how they work to do so. I follow these leaders in advancing political education rooted in emancipation through critical pedagogy, with the belief that this is a necessary precondition towards the larger project of decolonizing imperial, capitalist structures of “democracy.”

A Note to Teachers

For many, discussion of the 2016 U.S. Presidential election can activate trauma, anxiety, and anger. The anti-immigrant, racist, misogynistic, and violent language that characterized that election carried over to the 2018 primary elections that are featured in this film. Take care to pay attention to students in your classroom whose identities, families, and communities are the intended target of this hateful rhetoric.

Subject Areas

• Civics
• Government
• U.S. History
• English/Language Arts (ELA)
• Political Science
• Social-emotional learning (SEL)
• Film Studies

Grade Levels: 8-13+

Objectives:

In this lesson, students will:

• ELA; Civics: Analyze how individual motivations, identity traits, and historical contexts inform political action and engagement.
• Government; Political Science: Examine how electoral politics operate at the grassroots level, including the important role of underrepresented community actors.
• U.S. History: Trace throughlines of U.S. inequalities (specifically, political representation and access to voting) and explain how they continue to materialize through the historical legacies of slavery, Reconstruction, Jim Crow, the Civil Rights Movement, the Women’s Rights Movement, and 9/11.
• SEL: Take the perspective and empathize with others, including those from diverse backgrounds and cultures.
• Film Studies: Understand and explore how the genre of documentary film is used to construct political and social critiques of a society.

Materials:

• Film link and film clips
• Notebook
• Writing utensil
• Chart paper, dry erase board, or document camera
• Internet access or pre-prepared packets of information that includes:
  • Racial and gender demographic information of city, state, and U.S. population
  • Racial and gender demographic information of current elected local, state, and federal office holders

Time Needed:

Four to five 50- to 60-minute class periods.

With the 2018 midterm elections underway, five women representing Latinx, Muslim, and Black communities across America fight to get their initiatives heard by voters. And She Could Be Next documents these women on the campaign trail across their home states of Georgia, Texas, Michigan, California, and Illinois as they overcome obstacles and celebrate victories along the way.

Abrams, Stacey. Lead From the Outside: How to Build Your Future and Make Real Change. New York: Picador, 2019.
Offers guidance for people who live outside of traditionally powerful social groups to pursue leadership and success by recognizing their own passion and pursuing it with the special perspective, tools, and strengths that come from being on the outside.

Anzaldúa, Gloria. Borderlands/La Frontera: The New Mestiza. 4th ed. San Francisco: Aunt Lute, 2012.
Rooted in Gloria Anzaldúa’s experience as a Chicana, a lesbian, an activist, and a writer, the essays and poems in this volume profoundly challenged, and continue to challenge, how we think about identity. Borderlands/La Frontera remaps our understanding of what a “border” is, presenting it not as a simple divide between here and there, us and them, but as a psychic, social, and cultural terrain that we inhabit, and that inhabits all of us.

Black, Kate and June Diane Raphael. Represent: The Woman’s Guide to Running for Office & Changing the World. New York: Workman, 2019.
A comprehensive, lively, interactive woman's guide to running for office that comes with a sense of humor and of style. Practical, how-to text is combined with elements of a workbook/planner to inspire potential female candidates, whether they're running for office on the local, state, or national level (from school board to senator).

Brazile, Donna, Yolanda Caraway, Leah Daughtry, and Minyon Moore with Veronica Chambers. For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Politics.New York: Picador, 2019.
A look at American history through the eyes of four women who have lived and worked behind the scenes in American politics for over thirty years--Donna Brazile, Yolanda Caraway, Leah Daughtry, and Minyon Moore--a group of women who call themselves the Colored Girls. Like many people who have spent their careers in public service, they view their lives in four-year waves of campaigns and elections. The Colored Girls have worked on the presidential campaigns of Jesse Jackson, Walter Mondale, Michael Dukakis, Bill Clinton, Al Gore, Barack Obama, and Hillary Rodham Clinton. In between elections, they worked at the top of the corporate world, in unions, in churches, in their own businesses, and with people outside the Oval Office who have shaped our country's history, including Howard Dean, Reverend Herbert Daughtry, Coretta Scott King, Betty Shabazz, and Terry McAuliffe. [This book] is a contemporary history of America told through the voices of women of color whose lives and contributions have heretofore been unknown. It's a portrait of four women who are always focused on the larger goal of, as they put it, "hurrying history" so that every American--regardless of race, gender, or religious background--can have a seat at the table. The Colored Girls. Their lives are part of our history. Their voices point to our future."

Brown, Nadia E. and Gershoon, Sarah Allen. Distinct Identities: Minority Women in U.S. Politics. New York, NY: Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group, 2016.
Minority women in the United States draw from their unique personal experiences, born of their identities, to impact American politics. Whether as political elites or as average citizens, minority women demonstrate that they have a unique voice that more often than not centers on their visions of justice, equality, and fairness.

Carruthers, Charlene. Unapologetic: A Black, Queer, and Feminist Mandate for Radical Movements. Beacon, 2019.
Drawing on Black intellectual and grassroots organizing traditions, including the Haitian Revolution, the US civil rights movement, and LGBTQ rights and feminist movements, Unapologetic challenges all of us engaged in the social justice struggle to make the movement for Black liberation more radical, more queer, and more feminist. This book provides a vision for how social justice movements can become sharper and more effective through principled struggle, healing justice, and leadership development.

Chisholm, Shirley. Unbought and Unbossed: Expanded 40th Anniversary Edition. Take Root Media, 2010.
Unbought and Unbossed is Shirley Chisholm’s account of her remarkable rise from young girl in Brooklyn to America’s first African-American Congresswoman. She shares how she took on an entrenched system, gave a public voice to millions, and sets the stage for her trailblazing bid to be the first woman and first African-American President of the United States. By daring to be herself, Shirley Chisholm shows us how she forever changed the status quo.

Crenshaw, Kimberlé. “Mapping the Margins: Intersectionality, Identity Politics, and Violence against Women of Color.” Stanford Law Review, 43, no. 6 (1991): 1241-1299.
“Although racism and sexism readily intersect in the lives of real people, they seldom do in feminist and antiracist practices. And so, when the practices expound identity as woman or person of color as an either/or proposition, they relegate the identity of women of color to a location that resists telling. My objective in this article is to advance the telling of that location by exploring the race and gender dimensions of violence against women of color. Contemporary feminist and antiracist discourses have failed to consider intersectional identities such as women of color. Focusing on two dimensions of male violence against women--battering and rape--I consider how the experiences of women of color are frequently the product of intersecting patterns of racism and sexism, and how these experiences tend not to be represented within the discourses of either feminism or antiracism. Because of their intersectional identity as both women and of color within discourses that are shaped to respond to one or the other, women of color are marginalized within both. I explore the various ways in which race and gender intersect in shaping structural, political, and representational aspects of violence against women of color. The chapter ends with a reflective comment.”

Farmer, Ashley D.Remaking Black Power: How Black Women Transformed an Era. UNC Press, 2017.
In this comprehensive history, Ashley D. Farmer examines black women’s political, social, and cultural engagement with Black Power ideals and organizations. Complicating the assumption that sexism relegated black women to the margins of the movement, Farmer demonstrates how female activists fought for more inclusive understandings of Black Power and social justice by developing new ideas about black womanhood.

Glaude, Eddie S., Jr. Democracy in Black: How Race Still Enslaves the American Soul. New York: Crown, 2016, 2017.
Part manifesto, part history, part memoir, [Democracy in Black] argues that we live in a country founded on a “value gap”—with white lives valued more than others—that still distorts our politics today. Whether discussing why all Americans have racial habits that reinforce inequality, why black politics based on the civil-rights era have reached a dead end, or why only remaking democracy from the ground up can bring real change, Glaude crystallizes the untenable position of black America–and offers thoughts on a better way forward.

Harris, Tamara Winfrey. The Sisters Are Alright: Changing the Broken Narrative of Black Women in America. Oakland: Berrett-Koehler, 2015.
When African women arrived on American shores, the three-headed hydra—servile Mammy, angry Sapphire, and lascivious Jezebel—followed close behind. In the ’60s, the Matriarch, the willfully unmarried baby machine leeching off the state, joined them. These stereotypes persist to this day through newspaper headlines, Sunday sermons, social media memes, cable punditry, government policies, and hit song lyrics. Emancipation may have happened more than 150 years ago, but America still won’t let a sister be free from this coven of caricatures. Tamara Winfrey Harris delves into marriage, motherhood, health, sexuality, beauty, and more, taking sharp aim at pervasive stereotypes about black women. She counters warped prejudices with the straight-up truth about being a black woman in America. “We have facets like diamonds,” she writes. “The trouble is the people who refuse to see us sparkling.”

López, Ian Haney. Dog Whistle Politics: How Coded Racial Appeals Have Reinvented Racism and Wrecked the Middle Class. New York: Oxford U Press, 2014.
Describes how conservatives in government are using race-baiting to coax the middle class with promises of curbing crime, stopping undocumented immigration and even halting Islamic infiltration into voting for right-wing policies that ultimately hurt them and favor the rich.

Muñoz, Cecilia. More Than Ready: Be Strong and Be You, and Other Lessons for Women of Color on the Rise. New York: Seal, 2020.
Women of color are experiencing an unprecedented wave of 'firsts'--whether it's the first in a family to attend college, the first to serve as CEO of a Fortune 500 company, or the first to serve in Congress for a red state, women of color have reached new heights of influence. Cecilia Muñoz was a first, too, and she knows the difficulties of making her way without exemplars to follow. The first Latinx to direct national domestic policy issues, More than Enough draws lessons from the challenges she faced and the victories she achieved as a woman of color in the White House. She shares her experiences in the Obama administration as an offering of inspiration to others--Latinas and other women of color--who are no longer willing to be invisible, or left behind. She provides tactical techniques for getting ahead as a person of color in a white-dominated arena, such as: Keep your elbows sharp: Hold your ground when others seek to devalue your contribution: Defend kindness: Elevate empathy in the workplace and beyond Leverage failure: Turn losses into gains by embracing the benefits of the experience. Full of invaluable lessons about working through fear, overcoming racial injustices, and facing down detractors, Muñoz provides the thoughtful insight and tactical tools women of color need to reach unprecedented levels of power and success--without compromising who they are.

Moraga, Cherríe and Gloria Anzaldúa, eds. This Bridge Called My Back: Writings by Radical Women of Color. 4th ed. New York: State University of New York Press, 1981.
Through personal essays, criticism, interviews, testimonials, poetry, and visual art, the collection explores, as coeditor Cherríe Moraga writes, "the complex confluence of identities--race, class, gender, and sexuality--systemic to women of color oppression and liberation." Reissued here, nearly thirty-five years after its inception, the fourth edition contains an extensive new introduction by Moraga, along with a previously unpublished statement by Gloria Anzaldúa.

Obama, Michelle. Becoming. New York: Crown, 2018.
In her memoir, a work of deep reflection and mesmerizing storytelling, Michelle Obama invites readers into her world, chronicling the experiences that have shaped her—from her childhood on the South Side of Chicago to her years as an executive balancing the demands of motherhood and work, to her time spent at the world’s most famous address. With unerring honesty and lively wit, she describes her triumphs and her disappointments, both public and private, telling her full story as she has lived it—in her own words and on her own terms.

Shakur, Assata. Assata: An Autobiography. Chicago: Chicago Review, Lawrence Hill, 1988.
This intensely personal and political autobiography belies the fearsome image of JoAnne Chesimard long projected by the media and the state. With wit and candor, Assata Shakur recounts the experiences that led her to a life of activism and portrays the strengths, weaknesses, and eventual demise of Black and White revolutionary groups at the hand of government officials. The result is a signal contribution to the literature about growing up Black in America that has already taken its place alongside The Autobiography of Malcolm X and the works of Maya Angelou.

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And She Could Be Next follows the grassroots campaigns of six women of color running for political office during the contentious 2018 United States midterm elections. Produced by female filmmakers of color, the documentary offers a behind-the-scenes glimpse of these women leaders whose personal motivations, political coalitions, and ground-level activism steamroll the expectations of their opponents and of the broader public — defying traditional notions of what it means to be a U.S. politician in the process. Part one of the two-part film provides a framework for a critical analysis of how race, gender, and class operate in electoral politics in the United States by focusing on how shifting demographics are perceived as a threat to contemporary and historic “democratic” power structures.

Gay, Roxane. Not That Bad: Dispatches from Rape Culture. Harper Perennial, 2018.

In this valuable and revealing anthology, cultural critic and bestselling author Roxane Gay collects original and previously published pieces that address what it means to live in a world where women have to measure the harassment, violence, and aggression they face, and where they are “routinely second-guessed, blown off, discredited, denigrated, besmirched, belittled, patronized, mocked, shamed, gaslit, insulted, bullied” for speaking out. Contributions include essays from established and up-and-coming writers, performers, and critics, including actors Ally Sheedy and Gabrielle Union and writers Amy Jo Burns, Lyz Lenz, and Claire Schwartz.

Harding, Kate. Asking For It: the Alarming Rise of Rape Culture—and What We Can Do About It. Da Capo Lifelong Books, 2015.

Every seven minutes, someone in America commits a rape. And whether that's a football star, beloved celebrity, elected official, member of the clergy, or just an average Joe (or Joanna), there's probably a community eager to make excuses for that person. In Asking for It, Kate Harding combines in-depth research with a frank, no-holds-barred voice to make the case that twenty-first-century America supports rapists more effectively than it supports victims.

Katz, Jackson. The Macho Paradox: Why Some Men Hurt Women and How All Men Can Help. Sourcebooks Inc, 2019.

Revised and updated to include current studies, politics, and discussions, The Macho Paradox by pioneering anti-violence educator Jackson Katz is the first book to show how violence against women is a male issue as well as a female one — and how we can come together to stop it. The Macho Paradox incorporates the voices and experiences of women and men who have confronted the problem from all angles, the discussions surrounding currents events in politics and pop-culture, and where the violence is ignored or encouraged in our upbringing.

Krakauer, Jon. Missoula: Rape and the Justice System in a College Town. Doubleday, 2015.

In these pages, acclaimed journalist Jon Krakauer investigates a spate of campus rapes that occurred in Missoula over a four-year period. Taking the town as a case study for a crime that is sadly prevalent throughout the nation, Krakauer documents the experiences of five victims: their fear and self-doubt in the aftermath; the skepticism directed at them by police, prosecutors, and the public; their bravery in pushing forward and what it cost them.

Luther, Jessica. Unsportsmanlike Conduct: College Football and the Politics of Rape. Edge Of Sports: Akashic Books, 2016.

This book is about a different kind of playbook: the one coaches, teams, universities, police, communities, the media, and fans seem to follow whenever a college football player is accused of sexual assault. It's a deep dive into how different institutions--the NCAA, athletic departments, universities, the media--run the same plays over and over again when these stories break. If everyone runs his play well, scrutiny dies down quickly, no institution ever has to change how it operates, and the evaporation of these cases into nothingness looks natural. In short, this playbook is why nothing ever changes.

Stryker, Kitty. Ask: Building Consent Culture. Thorntree Press, 2017.

In Ask, Kitty Stryker assembles a retinue of writers, journalists, and activists to examine how a cultural politic centered on consent can empower us outside the bedroom, whether it’s at the doctor’s office, interacting with law enforcement, or calling out financial abuse within radical communities. More than a collection of essays, Ask is a testimony and guide on the role that negated consent plays in our lives, examining how we can take those first steps to reclaim it from institutionalized power.

Traister, Rebecca. Good and Mad: The Revolutionary Power of Women’s Anger. Simon & Schuster, 2018.

With eloquence and fervor, Rebecca Traister tracks the history of female anger as political fuel—from suffragettes marching on the White House to office workers vacating their buildings after Clarence Thomas was confirmed to the Supreme Court. Here Traister explores women’s anger at both men and other women; anger between ideological allies and foes; the varied ways anger is perceived based on its owner; as well as the history of caricaturing and delegitimizing female anger; and the way women’s collective fury has become transformative political fuel—as is most certainly occurring today.

Chemaly, Soraya.Rage Becomes Her: The Power of Women's Anger. Atria Books, 2018.

As women, we’ve been urged for so long to bottle up our anger, letting it corrode our bodies and minds in ways we don’t even realize. Yet there are so, so many legitimate reasons for us to feel angry, ranging from blatant, horrifying acts of misogyny to the subtle drip, drip drip of daily sexism that reinforces the absurdly damaging gender norms of our society. In Rage Becomes Her, Soraya Chemaly argues that our anger is not only justified, it is also an active part of the solution. We are so often encouraged to resist our rage or punished for justifiably expressing it, yet how many remarkable achievements would never have gotten off the ground without the kernel of anger that fueled them?

Gay, Roxane. Hunger: A Memoir of (My) Body. HarperCollins, 2017.

Roxane Gay has written with intimacy and sensitivity about food and bodies, using her own emotional and psychological struggles as a means of exploring our shared anxieties over pleasure, consumption, appearance, and health. As a woman who describes her own body as “wildly undisciplined,” Roxane understands the tension between desire and denial, between self-comfort and self-care. In Hunger, she casts an insightful and critical eye on her childhood, teens, and twenties—including the devastating act of violence that acted as a turning point in her young life—and brings readers into the present and the realities, pains, and joys of her daily life.

Sebold, Alice. Lucky. Scribner, 1999.

In a memoir hailed for its searing candor, as well as its wit, Alice Sebold reveals how her life was transformed when, as an eighteen-year-old college freshman, she was brutally raped and beaten in a park near campus. What ultimately propels this chronicle of sexual assault and its aftermath is Sebold’s indomitable spirit, as she fights to secure her rapist’s arrest and conviction and comes to terms with a relationship to the world that has forever changed.

This lesson plan was created in 2018 to guide teachers through focused examinations of community responses to the Ebola Outbreak in Sierra Leone that the film Survivors documents. In our current moment, the nature of teaching and learning have drastically shifted to accommodate the necessity of social distancing and slowing the spread of COVID-19. We hope this lesson plan will serve as a resource to spark conversations about the novel coronavirus by using the successful response to the 2014 Ebola outbreak as a springboard for thought and reflection. We invite you to adapt this resource to best fit the current moment as is appropriate for your students and we hope you are well, staying healthy, and holding faith in our collective capacity to endure.

After all, what Survivors teaches us is that collectively, with kindness, patience, and solidarity in action, we can survive.

In a rehabilitation shelter in Ghana, two children are recovering from enslavement to fishermen. But their story takes an unexpected turn when their rescuer embarks on another mission and asks the children for help. Charting the unfolding drama, The Rescue List tells a moving story of friendship and courage—transcending tropes of victimhood and illustrating what it means to love and survive.

Bales, Kevin. Disposable People: New Slavery in the Global Economy. University of California Press, 2012.

Slavery is illegal throughout the world, yet more than twenty-seven million people are still trapped in one of history's oldest social institutions. Kevin Bales's disturbing story of slavery today reaches from brick kilns in Pakistan and brothels in Thailand to the offices of multinational corporations. His investigation of conditions in Mauritania, Brazil, Thailand, Pakistan, and India reveals the tragic emergence of a "new slavery," one intricately linked to the global economy. The new slaves are not a long-term investment as was true with older forms of slavery, explains Bales. Instead, they are cheap, require little care, and are disposable.

Konadu, Kwasi and Clifford C. Campbell. The Ghana Reader: History, Culture, Politics. Duke University Press, 2016.

Covering 500 years of Ghana's history, The Ghana Reader provides a multitude of historical, political, and cultural perspectives on this iconic African nation. Whether discussing the Asante kingdom and the Gold Coast's importance to European commerce and transatlantic slaving, Ghana's brief period under British colonial rule, or the emergence of its modern democracy, the volume's eighty selections emphasize Ghana's enormous symbolic and pragmatic value to global relations. They also demonstrate that the path to fully understanding Ghana requires acknowledging its ethnic and cultural diversity and listening to its population's varied voices.

Lawrance, Benjamin N. and Richard L. Roberts. Trafficking in Slavery’s Wake: Law and the Experience of Women and Children in Africa. Ohio University Press, 2012.

This important collection examines the ways trafficking in women and children has changed from the aftermath of the “end of slavery” in Africa from the late nineteenth century to the present.

The formal abolition of the slave trade and slavery did not end the demand for servile women and children. Contemporary forms of human trafficking are deeply interwoven with their historical precursors, and scholars and activists need to be informed about the long history of trafficking in order to better assess and confront its contemporary forms.

Okeowo, Alexis. A Moonless, Starless Sky: Ordinary Women and Men Fighting Extremism in Africa. Hachette Books, 2017.

In A Moonless, Starless Sky Okeowo weaves together four narratives that form a powerful tapestry of modern Africa: a young couple, kidnap victims of Joseph Kony's LRA; a Mauritanian waging a lonely campaign against modern-day slavery; a women's basketball team flourishing amid war-torn Somalia; and a vigilante who takes up arms against the extremist group Boko Haram. This debut book by one of America's most acclaimed young journalists illuminates the inner lives of ordinary people doing the extraordinary--lives that are too often hidden, underreported, or ignored by the rest of the world.

Polman, Linda. The Crisis Caravan: What's Wrong With Humanitarian Aid? Picador, 2011.

In her controversial, no-holds-barred exposé Linda Polman shows how a vast industry has grown up around humanitarian aid. The Crisis Caravan takes us to war zones around the globe, showing how aid operations and the humanitarian world have become a feature of military strategy. Impassioned, gripping, and even darkly absurd, journalist Linda Polman "gives some powerful examples of unconscionable assistance...a world where aid workers have become enablers of the atrocities they seek to relieve" (The Boston Globe).

Several years ago, we met a Ghanaian man who told us his story of being trafficked into modern slavery as a child. He described enduring six years enslaved to fishermen who forced him to work on fishing boats on Lake Volta in Ghana. Eventually, he managed to escape, return home, and start kindergarten at age 13. As an adult, he assembled a courageous grassroots team to rescue and reunite trafficked children with their families.

His story shocked us and the statistics staggered us. Today, there are more than 45 million people enslaved worldwide, including over 18,000 children enslaved on Lake Volta alone. Despite its prevalence, human trafficking and modern slavery remain a hidden issue. Traffickers operate in the shadows of society, preying on economically and socially disadvantaged populations around the world. In part, it is the invisibility of modern slavery that allows it to persist.

As our relationship with the rescue team developed, we felt that we had a unique opportunity to shine a light on this issue through their work.

From the beginning, we wanted to empower the children in our film by telling the story from their perspectives, but it was of critical importance to us that their recoveries be paramount. We decided to make the film observationally. Our film intimately follows Peter and Edem as they work to recover from their trauma, viscerally portraying our protagonists’ day-to-day lives in recovery, rather than focusing on their past. By bearing witness to their daily lives, we sought to provide the children with a forum to tell their own stories through their words and actions. We found that this process of following the action, and telling the story through slow disclosure, conveyed the children’s gaps in memory and knowledge of what happened to them, while also revealing the steadfast friendships that enabled them to survive - something we had not expected. Through this observational process of discovery, authentic themes emerged: friendship, belonging, and survival. These themes are human universals that we all identify with and experience. We believe that character-driven stories like these humanize issues of global importance, moving audiences through the power of this universal connection.

Our observational approach is guided by our backgrounds in ethnographic filmmaking and our commitment to cross-cultural understanding. As outsiders to this community, we endeavored to understand the complexity of this human rights issue from a culturally relative point of view and to reflect that in the film. It was not our intention to villainize anyone, but rather to reveal the circumstances that create an environment in which children are exploited. We worked as a small three person team, embedded in the community, and immersed in our participants’ daily lives. Collaboration, reciprocity, and trust lay at the heart of our process. This allowed us to build strong relationships with our participants and create a film grounded in respect and understanding. By taking this approach, we witnessed a moving story of friendship, courage, and belonging that transcends the trope of victimhood, and shows us what it truly means to love and survive. We hope that audiences connect with the individuals in our film on a personal level, and come away with a better understanding of the complexity of trafficking, as well as a sense of hope for the future.

- Alyssa Fedele & Zachary Fink, Directors, The Rescue List

"The Rescue List opened my mind to modern [day] slavery by sharing real traumas and tears from real kids."

Aibis (age 12)

For many, the concept of slavery is something that is relegated to another time or was a system practiced by former generations who were inexplicably cruel; however, The Rescue List demands that we grow our collective consciousness to include the realities of modern-day slavery and the global implications in today’s world.

This lesson offers an opportunity for students to critically consider the human rights implications of chattel slavery and of modern slavery by juxtaposing the experiences of the protagonists in The Rescue List with experiences of Frederick Douglass as shared in his Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass. Through a guided analysis of the childrens’ experiences with slavery and abolition in present-day Ghana and Douglass’s 18th century experiences of slavery and abolition, students will be asked to think critically about the lasting legacy and persistence of slavery in order to imagine actionable alternatives.

In this lesson, students conduct a Socratic seminar in preparation for creating a plan of action to bring attention to the plight of children, families, communities, and nations directly impacted by the legacy of slavery, both now and then. Tens of millions of people around the world, including children, are forced to work as slaves. What can be done to help them?

This plan of action is malleable and will depend upon grade level and specific areas of impact, need, and/or interest in the school communities using this curriculum. The structured conversation that grows out of the Socratic seminar will help students ground their questions and proposed solutions in their written plans of action.

Note:

This lesson was a collaboration created by Vivett Dukes and a group of 7th grade student volunteers in Jamaica, NY.

OBJECTIVES

In this lesson, students will:

• Learn about the real-life implications of modern slavery;
• Assess and evaluate the events leading up to, and following, the rescue from slavery of the three protagonists on Ghana’s Lake Volta;
• Identify, reflect upon, write about, and discuss their own biases/ignorance regarding both present-day and historic slavery;
• Examine current human rights laws in order to identify flaws in, and create suggestions towards, improving the enactment of global human rights practices;.
• Respond verbally and in writing to a variety of questions varying in complexity (ex. recall, basic reasoning, analysis, synthesis, and interpretation)
• Exhibit and hone active listening skills by practicing question-based, class-wide discussion

Grade Levels: 7th grade - 12th grade

Subject Areas

Civics / Government

Earth Science / Ecology

English Language Arts

Humanities

Global History / Global Studies

U.S. History

Social Studies

MATERIALS :

• Film clips and equipment to project/screen the film clips
• Notebook
• Writing utensil
• Scholastic UPFRONT magazine articles about chattel and modern-day slavery.
• Student-generated, text-based open-ended questions (Depth of Knowledge - DOK - Level 1 through Level 4)
• Various supplementary reading materials

ESTIMATED TIME NEEDED:

Two to four 45-minute class periods (with optional homework in between)

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