Black Lives Matter Movement

• Find resources, background information, and discussion guidance on the history and context of the Black Lives Matter movement with this teacher’s guide for I Am Alfonso Jones by Tony Medina.

• Use this teaching guide to facilitate discussions of racial disparity in the criminal justice system with The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander.

• Pair this video book trailer with these discussion questions for When They Call You a Terrorist: A Black Lives Matter Memoir by Patrisse Khan-Cullors and Asha Bandele to consider the lived experience of activists in the Black Lives Matter Movement.

Discussing Police Brutality

• Listen to this Meet-the-Author Recording from All American Boys with Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely and begin the difficult conversations about the world we live in and what we must do to make it a better place.

• Reflect on the concerns and emotions that can arise when someone in your community is harmed by those whose job it is to protect with this audio excerpt for One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia.

• Consider author Nic Stone’s inspiration for Dear Martin in this Meet-the-Author Recording and her realization that “there’s gonna come a point when my little [black] boys are seen as threats before they are seen as children.”

• Access this author interview with Dr. Marietta Collins on Something Happened in Our Town for effective ways to facilitate discussions about police shootings with children.

Social Justice Activism

• Find inspiration to persevere with this audio excerpt from Let the Children March by Monica Clark-Robinson and Frank Morrison.

• Use this author interview with Mahogany L. Browne on Woke: A Young Poet’s Call to Justice to listen, pause, and discuss how our voices can be used in activism for justice.

• Access this teaching guide for Voice of Freedom: Fannie Lou Hamer: Spirit of the Civil Rights Movement by Carole Boston Weatherford and Ekua Holmes. Spark discussion about how just one voice and continuous efforts can lead to a larger movement.