Ideas This Week
Ideas This Week is your hub for updates on all things Facing History—from announcements and featured press to expert interviews, impact stories, and essays on the ideas driving our work.
Remembering Sidney Poitier
In January, the nation stood still as we learned that renowned actor Sidney Poitier passed away at 94 years old. Poitier was both an actor and an activist—and despite a mixed array of perspectives over the years on the ways that he represented Black people in film—he undoubtedly played a leading role in African Americans’ fight for civil rights and more positive media representations from the silver screen to the streets.
![Sidney Poitier 1968 Portrait Photo](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-04/Sidney_Poitier_1968_Portrait_Photo.jpeg?h=9582604b&itok=SRzDQdJX)
5 New YA Books on Black History and Life
Some members of the Facing History staff are exploring these five new books published within the last year, and we invite you to explore them alongside us and share your reactions with us. These 5 titles cover essential topics from Black history with young audiences and address contemporary experiences of young Black people.
![Cover for the book: Ain't All Burned the Bright](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-04/aint_burned_all_the_bright_book_cover.jpeg?h=2ce16ca3&itok=EOMN4a3M)
Black Athletes and Civil Rights: 6 Upstanders to Introduce to Your Students
Beyond the 1988 Jamaican Bobsled Team immortalized in the film Cool Runnings, Black athletes have played more central roles at the Winter Olympics than many people might realize. As we cheer on the 2022 Black Olympians, Black History Month is a great time to look back on the impact that Black Olympians and other Black athletes have beyond the world of sports.
![Portrait photo of boxing champion Jack Johnson in b&w](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-04/Jack_Johnson_portrait_photo_b%26w.jpeg?h=b388cfb8&itok=faMo6l1d)
5 New Books on Black History
These titles cover themes in Black history that are closely connected to the themes of our educator resources including the significant roles of Black people in the construction of the U.S. and the implications of decisions to memorialize (or not memorialize) those events.
![Book cover images of The South and Black Hands, White House](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-04/south_black_hands_book_covers.jpeg?h=cabca9e9&itok=Jexh0Mbc)
Deep Dive into Black History: 12 Events + Resources for Educators
Below is a curated list of classroom resources and educator-relevant events available from Facing History’s peer and partner organizations across the education space this month and beyond.
![Black Soldier Reading on Truck photo in b&w](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-04/black_soldier_reading_on_truck_b%26w_photo.png?h=a6c55029&itok=LH_UL_Yi)
9 Leaders from Black History You Should Know
Learning about the larger systems and historical events that have played central roles in shaping Black history is vitally important, but it is also valuable to explore the individual lives, ideas, choices, and legacies of key figures in that unfolding story.
![Clara Luper Giving Speech Microphones Photo](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-04/Clara_Luper_speech_microphone_photo.png?h=047a4db4&itok=aXSNGzW9)
15 Classroom Resources on Black History and Life
What follows is an invitation to engage with important themes raised by Black History Month this February and throughout all of the months of the year.
![Shirley Chisholm B&W Portrait Photo](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-04/Shirley_Chisholm_b%26w_portrait_photo.png?h=a6c55029&itok=4x3iaEkx)
Why and How to Teach Brown Girl Dreaming
Facing History offers an overview and guide for Jacqueline Woodson's Brown Girl Dreaming, an ideal book to teach in the middle school classroom.
![The Book Cover of Brown Girl Dreaming.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-04/brown_girl_dreaming_cover_graphic.jpeg?h=d7fada95&itok=N_RjYI_j)
Contracting and Re-Contracting in the New Year
Elizabeth Carroll, New England Program Director at Facing History, explores the value of contracting and re-contracting in January each year.
![Photo of students smiling in class with a teacher](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-04/students_smiling_class_teacher_photo.png?h=a6c55029&itok=m-jGZ2IZ)
9 Resources for Teaching about MLK's Legacy
Here are 9 Facing History resources that can help you reflect on your own teaching practices, teach the history of the Civil Rights Movement, and explore contemporary issues around racial justice and democracy in the United States.
![Black and white photo of MLK and Mathew Ahmann in a Crowd](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-04/Civil_Rights_March_MLK_Mathew_Ahmann_crowd.jpeg?h=c652c7b1&itok=wD55zs-I)
Facing History on Martin Luther King Day: A message to our educators
Martin Luther King Day is a moment for reflection and service; for considering the life and legacy of an extraordinary individual; and for recommitting ourselves to the unfinished work he championed. At a time of extraordinary bigotry and violence, Dr. King challenged all Americans to confront our history of racial discrimination, to open our eyes to injustice, and to be intentional about building a better future.
![B&W photo of Martin Luther King Junior giving a speech](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-04/martin_luther_king_jr_speech_b%26w.jpeg?h=243ab64f&itok=KywjX2nD)
bell hooks Taught Us to Transgress
Like many people of my generation who cut their teeth on the critical insights of bell hooks, news of her passing in December unleashed a wave of reflection for me about the ways she’s impacted me as a person and public scholar. Beyond the many moments of resonance I experienced while reading her writings over the years, her impact on me is most powerfully encapsulated in an experience I had in 2008 when I met her.
![bell hooks standing on stage and speaking while holding a microphone.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-08/bellhooks.jpeg?itok=jpRETw0k)