Teaching for Black Lives has been earning rave reviews since it was released just a few months ago, and today we’re honored to announce that Grammy award-winning artist Macklemore and 3-time NFL Pro Bowler Michael Bennett have teamed up to purchase and distribute copies to every middle and high school social studies and language arts teacher in Seattle Public Schools.
“This is the book I wish I had coming up in school but it never existed. Now we have the opportunity to educate thousands of youth about the Black history that was too often missing from my schooling — from the building of the White House, to the role of Black youth in social movements, to organizing for restorative justice today,” Bennett said.
Macklemore added, “With everything from history, to poetry, to visual art, these lessons will help educators affirm the lives of their Black students and create deeper dialogue in our schools about the struggles and contributions of Black people that all students need to learn.”
You can get your own copy of the book at www.teachingforblacklives.org.
Teaching for Black Lives is a collection of teaching activities, role plays, mixers, essays, poems, and art designed to help educators humanize Black people in the curriculum. The book demonstrates how teachers can connect curriculum to young people’s lives and explore how classrooms and schools can be set up either to reproduce racism or challenge it.
Teaching for Black Lives — edited by Dyan Watson, Jesse Hagopian, and Wayne Au — has received critical acclaim from educators, activists, and publications around the country.
Lily Eskelsen García, the president of the National Education Association, said of the book’s authors: “Their eloquence and passion force us to challenge our assumptions about other people and ourselves. To me, that’s the very best kind of reading.”
Teaching for Black Lives was named to Teaching for Change’s “Social Justice Book List” for 2018. The Seattle Times wrote that “Teaching For Black Lives presents ideas for empowering marginalized students” and The Washington Post said it is, “A handbook for all educators to fight racism.”
The book has also earned praise from Opal Tometi, Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, Linda Sarsour, Shaun King, Awo Okaikor Aryee-Price, David Stovall, Darnell M. Hunt, and many others.
“I am grateful for the generosity of Michael Bennett and Macklemore in helping to bring our book to the educators of Seattle,” said co-editor Hagopian. “This is a truly exciting moment in the struggle to empower students and break barriers of injustice to create equitable classrooms.”
Learn more at www.teachingforblacklives.org