What I've Learned Along the Way
After 25 years of distinguished service to our organization, Dr. Karen Murphy, Facing History’s Director of International Strategy, will join our partner organization High Resolves as CEO of an initiative called The Human Responsibility Accelerator. In this article, we invited Karen to share a bit of what she has learned in more than two decades at Facing History.
![Photo of Dr. Karen Murphy teaching](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-04/karen_murphy_teaching_hands_raised.jpeg?h=06ac0d8c&itok=0XtPSmhB)
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)
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)
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)
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)
Getting to Know the 10 Questions
Students begin thinking about civic engagement in terms of their own passions and identities as they are introduced to the 10 Questions Framework.
![High school students participate in class.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/2017_DrewBirdVisualStoryteller_FH152738.jpg?h=f2fcf546&itok=WOzD1gqb)
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)
13 Teaching Ideas on Human Rights
During Universal Human Rights Month, in December, we invite you to use any of these Teaching Ideas grounded in social-emotional learning (SEL) that provide ample social and historical context while being concise and easy to integrate into your classroom conversations.
![Paper cut outs of face profiles in different skin tones.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-04/graphical_diversity_paper_faces_1894061167.jpeg?h=3a5dff94&itok=qAstbdWw)
The Union As It Was
Students examine documents that shed light on life in the South under the policies of Presidential Reconstruction in 1865 and 1866.
![Photo shows a group of six African American men and women posed picking cotton in a field.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-07/Civil_Rights_Picking_Cotton_Savannah_1867_FH2177912.jpg?h=2b78d577&itok=DpnqiD0k)
Radical Reconstruction and the Birth of Civil Rights
Students learn about the responses to Johnson’s policies by Republicans in Congress and examine the fourteenth amendment that overturned Presidential Reconstruction.
![Photo of page 1 of the 14th amendment of the US Constitution](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-07/Civil_Rights_1868_14th_Amendment_of_the_United_States_Constitution_%20FH21203.jpg?h=4359e9ca&itok=4j99BHvV)
Expanding Democracy
Students reflect on the revolutionary changes that occurred because of the landmark legislation and amendments passed during the Reconstruction era.
![A studio portrait shows African American members of the General Assembly from 1887 to 1888](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-07/Civil_Rights_1887_Members_of_the_Virginia_GA_FH21416.jpg?h=4b21dcd5&itok=ZtAL-w-Y)