Why MLK Encouraged 225,000 Chicago Kids to Cut Class in 1963
Learn about the 1963 Chicago Public School Boycott, when students demanded better schools for black neighborhoods and equal opportunity for all.
![Crowd fills LaSalle Street between City Hall and building housing Board of Education as hundreds of demonstrators marched in Chicago on Oct. 22, 1963 following a one-day boycott of public schools.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-05/Democracy_1963_AfricanAmericanIntegrationAntiSchoolBoycott1963IL_FH2169828.jpg?h=12de4a96&itok=CAfhRaQg)
We Wanted to Be Treated as Men
Elmore Nickleberry and Taylor Rogers, two former sanitation workers from Memphis, share their memories of the events leading up to the 1968 sanitation strike, as well as their participation in the strike itself.
![Photo of Martin Luther King, Jr. marching arm in arm with a crowd of men participating in the 1968 Memphis Sanitation Worker's Strike.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/8885_1preview.jpg?h=2dd09070&itok=h0YSS1ZO)
Please Ring the Bell for Us
This cartoon, by Francis Knott for the Dallas Morning News, was published on July 7, 1939. It accompanied an editorial that described admitting refugee children to the United States as an “act of simple humanity."
![Children labeled "refugees" try to get into a door marked "US" as they look to a man labeled "Congress" for help.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/13_PleaseRingBell_Medium_res.jpg?h=870af43d&itok=7G_kpstt)
Political Polarization in the United States
This Explainer defines the term political polarization and provides information on how it impacts US politics and society.
![Abstract red, white, and blue painting with thick brush strokes.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/PoliticalPolarization_full-res.jpg?h=5eef411c&itok=dyNgzenB)
Police at Battle of Cable Street
Demonstrators barricaded the streets in London's East End where Fascist leader Oswald Mosley and the Blackshirts had planned a march.
![Police destroy barricades blocking the street from a fascist march](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-07/Police_at_the_Battle_of_Cable_Street_FH2116833.jpg?h=01b11b5d&itok=Y1sk-tjZ)
Steve Biko Calls for Black Consciousness
Activist Steve Biko’s speech links white racism to the Black Consciousness movement, calling on black South Africans to create their own power to fight oppression.
![Steve Biko spearheaded the Black Consciousness Movement (BCM) in South Africa from the mid 1960s until his death while in police custody in 1977.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-05/Democracy_2018_SteveBiko_FH282029.jpg?h=39c2980c&itok=RY4sYtvP)
What Is Ethical?: The Case of Polaroid
Consider the case study of Polaroid, in which opposing sides (Polaroid Revolutionary Workers Movement and Polaroid) voice their reasoning of whether or not to divest from South Africa.
![Caroline Hunter wears a “No Bullshit, Boycott Polaroid” campaign button.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/2018_CarolineHunterBoycottPolaroid_FH282021.jpg?h=7784dd4d&itok=AQ66r1aS)
Healing and Justice Anticipation Guide
This handout asks students to engage with some of the dilemmas that Americans faced after the Civil War by taking positions on various statements.
![Ruins in Charleston, South Carolina](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-07/Civil_Rights_Ruinsfromthefire1861_Charleston_1865_FH21222.jpg?h=f3a37c6e&itok=jW37ikF4)
Healing and Justice Anticipation Guide (en español)
In Spanish, this handout helps students engage with some of the dilemmas that Americans faced after the Civil War.
![Ruins in Charleston, South Carolina](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-07/Civil_Rights_Ruinsfromthefire1861_Charleston_1865_FH21222.jpg?h=f3a37c6e&itok=jW37ikF4)
Creating a Plan for Reconstruction
This handout serves as a guide for students as they make a plan for Reconstruction that balances the goals of healing and justice.
![Centerfold prints show Columbia considering why she should pardon Confederate troops who are begging for forgiveness when an African American Union soldier with an amputated leg does not have the right to vote.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-07/1865_PardonFranchiseColumbiaShallItrustthesemenandnotthisman_FH2125825.jpg?h=5d059bf2&itok=rLpFJ0P6)