We Are Facing History: Building on The Dream, Standing Up for Democracy

Ken Burns calls Jonathan Eig a "master storyteller." Eig is the author of six books, four of them New York Times best sellers.

His new book, King: A Life, has been hailed by The New York Times as the definitive biography of Martin Luther King Jr. and spent more than a month on The Times best-seller list.

Eig is a former staff writer for The Wall Street Journal. His books have been published in 20 languages. His biography of Muhammad Ali was named winner of the PEN/ESPN Award for Literary Sports Writing.

Eig has appeared on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, Fresh Air with Terry Gross, and in three Ken Burns documentaries. He served as a consulting producer on the film Muhammad Ali for PBS.

Adam Green is an Associate Professor in Departments of Race, Diaspora and Indigeneity, and History at the University of Chicago.  He received degrees from the University of Chicago and from Yale University.

He wrote Selling the Race: Culture and Community in Black Chicago, 1940-1955 (Univ. of Chicago Press: 2006) and co-edited Time Longer than Rope: Studies in African American Activism, 1850-1950 with Charles Payne (New York University Press: 2003). His current research addresses the Black struggle for happiness and its relationship to Black ethical ambition and human capability.

Adam has worked extensively on projects joining public history and social change, including the Chicago Torture Justice Memorial Project, commemorative activities related to the 1919 Race Riot in Chicago, the campaign to mark the site of the 1961 Rainbow Beach Wade-In, as faculty co-director of the Chicago Section of the Obama Presidency Oral History Project, and as a member of the City of Chicago’s Monuments Project. He is currently co-chairing the Council on University/Community Relations, examining the University of Chicago’s historical, contemporary, and future relations to surrounding South Side communities. 

Angela Sims is the principal of Ted Lenart Regional Gifted Center, a pre-K - 8 Chicago Public School located in the Chatham neighborhood of Chicago’s southside. Ms. Sims became principal in 2012, and in 2015 made Lenart a Facing History Partner School. As principal, Angela embodies Facing History values, striving to ensure that her school not only challenges students academically, but also meets students’ social/emotional needs, so that they can make critical and ethical decisions as they progress through college and into careers.

Angela is a proud graduate of Chicago Public Schools, and has worked for CPS as teacher and administrator for over 15 years. She discovered her love of teaching while serving as a substitute teacher during a break from her job as a clinical researcher. Angela decided to return to school to pursue her teaching degree, which allowed her the opportunity to share her love of Science with many middle school students on the south and west side of Chicago. An administrator who recognized her natural ability to lead and influence instruction encouraged Angela into school leadership; first as a coach and then as a resident principal.

Despite being a good student, Angela did not like school and often felt unchallenged and disinterested. Angela’s main goal as an educator is to create a different learning experience than her own that is both challenging and relevant to her students’ lives. She is a teacher at heart and loves discussing instruction. 

We are proud to present Angela Sims with the Facing History & Ourselves 2023 Chicago Upstander Award.