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)
COP26, Environmental Justice, and Human Rights
The 26th U.N. Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) that took place in Glasgow, Scotland from October to November 2021 was, in many ways, a historic event. However, even though the COP remains a crucial space for international cooperation in the fight against climate disaster, there is notable consternation over the unique burdens that various policies may place on poorer nations and those most vulnerable to adverse climate events.
![Photo of Earth and African continent from space](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-04/photo_earth_from_space.jpeg?h=a8d93925&itok=dhi2SXIm)
A Contested History
Students consider how US history books, films, and other works of popular culture have misrepresented the history of the Reconstruction era.
![A portrait of W.E.B. Du Bois, head-and-shoulders, facing slightly right.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/3a53178u.jpg?h=87584735&itok=bgkKYE0Q)
Defining Freedom
Students examine how freed people in the United States sought to define freedom after Emancipation.
![A black and white image of African American schoolchildren in Liberty County, circa 1890.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/Copy_of_m-11013.png?h=d1cb525d&itok=BZqbljCV)
The Political Struggle, 1865–1866
Students learn about President Andrew Johnson and the Congressional Republican's conflicting visions of how to rebuild the nation after the Civil War.
![A photograph of Andrew Johnson.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/03751u.jpg?h=8c44f663&itok=SOBBoTvF)
Interracial Democracy
Through a video-based activity, students explore how Radical Reconstruction changed the nature of voting rights and democracy in the South.
![People voting.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/FreedmenVotingInNewOrleans1867.jpeg?h=4bc92e92&itok=w2ULaH3x)
Violence and Backlash
By examining periods of violence during the Reconstruction era, students learn about the potential backlash to political and social change.
![Portraits superimposed on an image of the American flag](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/Reconstruction_2022_FH2174814.png?h=8e4088dc&itok=zv81hdEs)
Legacies of Reconstruction
Through a video-based activity, students examine America’s struggle for a stronger democracy during Reconstruction and today.
![Dr. Martin Luther King leads thousands of civil rights demonstrators out on the last leg of their Selma to Montgomery 50-mile hike.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/1965_SelmaMontgomeryMarchLeadersandCrowd_FH227.jpg?h=b82ee7a4&itok=0U1Hgtmh)
The World the War Made
Students explore the ways that Emancipation and Radical Reconstruction altered the lives of many Americans.
![Survivors of slavery observe Juneteenth in hats, canes, and bonnets inAustin, TX](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/Civic_Engagement_1900_Emancipation_Day_Celebration_FH21310.jpg?h=cb77d5da&itok=zICD1mG2)
African Americans and the History of "Human Rights"
As a United Nations panel of experts is set up to investigate systemic racism and human rights abuses against Black people around the world, we explore a series of African American leaders who have invoked the language of “human rights” to underscore the urgency of their situation here in the U.S.
![Olympians on the podium, bowing their heads and raising a fist with a black glove.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-04/Fist_raised_Olympics_1968public_domain.jpeg?h=96687ce6&itok=yaBd2oCU)
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)