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“Because we know that attacks on knowledge are fueling threats to freedom, and that repression in one place fuels its spread elsewhere, we call for global resistance to all efforts to destroy the vital tools that help us to imagine and create more equitable and inclusive futures for us all.”  —African American Policy Forum

School policies that include harsh punishments, automatic out-of-class time and police involvement for discipline contribute to pushing young people out of classrooms and into the criminal legal system. These punitive practices disproportionately affect Black and other children of color, students with disabilities, young people experiencing poverty and children from communities that have been historically marginalized. Urgent change is needed to end school pushout and dismantle this school-to-prison pipeline.

This week, a photograph of a math assignment asking fifth graders to set prices for enslaved people went viral. Assignments like this are clearly harmful. But students can learn about slavery in ways that recover the lives and histories of enslaved people or dehumanize them; celebrate their resistance or erase their agency; recognize how slavery shaped our nation or ignore it completely. Educators can teach this hard history—and teach it well—in any discipline, to students of almost any age. Here are a few examples of how.

The struggle for equality and justice for all women is not relegated to history; it is the lived experience of women today in the United States and around the world. Our newest resource page, published in recognition of Women’s History Month, offers a variety of articles, texts and other resources to help discuss and uplift both the history of and the ongoing struggle for women’s equality.

Celebrate Women’s History Month by making a commitment to discuss, teach and learn about women’s rights and history, past and present, all year long.