Social Justice

The Change Agent: (High Beginner - High Intermediate ESOL) A biannual electronic magazine for adult educators and learners published by the New England Literacy Resource Center (NELRC) at World Education, with curated submissions from adult learners across the U.S. (MA adult educators have free access to this site with login massachusetts / changeagent).Social justice themes run throughout most issues of the Change Agent! 

Start with the curated collection from multiple issues: Facing Racism: Lesson Packet from the Change Agent

Of particular interest are these issues:

• Supporting Our Communities and Advocating for Safety on the Job (Issue #51, Nov 2021)

• Stand Up and Be Counted (Issue #50, Mar 2020)

• When We Fight We Win (Issue #44, Mar 2017)

• Talking about Race (Issue #42, Mar 2016)

• Prisons and Justice? (Issue #40, Mar 2015)

Huffington Post: Existing While Black: Journalists interviewed an assortment of black people about their personal experiences with racism while shopping, driving, talking, moving, walking, etc. as black people in America.  Their stories are showcased in this interactive report. 

Listenwise Audio Story Collections: (Intermediate - Advanced ESOL) A library of audio podcast excerpts with associated supports on topics of interest.  Highlighted collection focuses on stories about addressing injustice. 

• Seeking Justice: This collection of stories span multiple countries, decades, and causes, but the common threads tying them together are the shared struggles and the importance of advocacy by and on behalf of people suffering injustice of any kind. 

National Association of Black Storytellers: (Intermediate - Advanced ESOL) A collection of resources including recorded stories by African-American storytellers. 

• Children of the Movement (Thomas Saxon): story of the church bombing and killing of 4 young girls in Birmingham, Alabama, which became a catalyst for the U.S. civil rights movement

• Grandma: A Recipe for Life! (Denise Chapman-Acosta): story of an African-American elder who lived to 110 and served her community in many ways

• TAHIRA Performs the Ballad of Harry Moore: Musical rendition of Langston Hughes poem "The Ballad of Harry Moore" which honors civil rights activist Harry Moore and his wife in 1951. 

• I Love My People (Oba William King): Anthem with positive rhythm and lyric for community development, building self-esteem, unity and hope. 

Newsela: (Low Intermediate - Advanced ESOL) Sets of thematically connected texts on a wide range of topics related to social justice.  

• Black Lives Matter: This text set highlights issues related to racial inequality and discrimination in the United States, protests and policy changes related to the Black Lives Matter movement, as well as progress made by civil rights leaders from previous generations. 

• Race in America:  This text set explore the current racial justice movement and historical connections to the goals of the civil rights movement, evaluate the structural factors that are resulting in COVID-19 disparities in communities of color, and discuss the divided opinions about immigration policies in the U.S. 

• New Civil Rights Era: This text set focuses on the connections between today’s racial justice movement and the Civil Rights Movement, and implications within the political arena. 

• Project-Based Learning Unit - Investigations of Justice:  This text set explores a variety of issues related to justice in the United States, providing background knowledge and investigating contemporary issues about immigration, race, constitutional rights, elections, and environmental issues.

Pulitzer Center: (Advanced ESOL) The Pulitzer Center raises awareness of underreported global issues through direct support for quality journalism across all media platforms and a unique program of education and public outreach. Of particular interest in the area of Social Justice are their Issues on:

• Children and Youth

• Criminal Justice

• Drug Crises

• Food

• LGBTQIA Rights

• Racial Justice

Stories from the Stage: (Intermediate - Advanced ESOL) An award-winning WORLD Channel original series featuring live storytelling broadcast weekly on public television on a range of topics with a diverse array of storytellers.

• For the Greater Good: By working together, through big and small actions, people can change the world. 

• Above and Beyond: High expectations lead to powerful results in these stories. 

Quizlet Be The Change Social Justice Library: (Intermediate - Advanced ESOL) An interactive and engaging collection of texts, lessons, and vocabulary sets to start or continue social justice units in your classes. 

Stanford SPARQ Toolkit:  (Intermediate - Advanced ESOL):  A behavior science "do tank" of Stanford University which develops digital toolkits to support educational initiatives for positive cultural change. 

• RaceWorks: Interactive lesson(s), based on a series of short videos and activities featuring research about how people "do" race and how to undo racism, developing skills to promote racial equity. 

StoryCorps: (High beginner - Intermediate ESOL) An archive of StoryCorps interviews, including animated excerpts for many, that help "build connections between people and create a more just and compassionate world."  Collections  Recommended stories focused on social justice include:

• Assaulted for Wearing Nail Polish as a Black Woman?! (Mary Ellen Noone) animated: memories of a grandmother's experiences in the early 1900's

• She Met and Forgave her Son's Killer (Mary Johnson & Oshea Israel) animated: inspiring story of forgiveness, love, and relationship transformation between a mother and her son's killer

• You're My Line (Asma Jama & Dawn Sahr) animated: healing dialog between a hate crime victim and the sister of the perpetrator

• "I Still Wake Up Screaming": Memories from One of the Only Known Survivors of a Lynching (Patsy Rembert & Winfred Rembert)

• "The Kissing Case"(James Thompson, Dwight Thompson & Brenda Graham) recall of a historic case where 2 black boys were accused of raping a white girl

Ted-Ed: Lessons Worth Sharing: (Intermediate - Advanced ESOL) Ted-Ed lessons, developed by teachers, include selected excerpts of full-length TED Talks, with accompanying discussion and comprehension checks, and may be animated. Recommended lessons in the area of Social Justice:

• "Other": A Brief History of American Xenophobia (Densho) animated

• The Electrifying Speeches of Sojourner Truth (Daina Ramey Berry) animated

• The Breathtaking Courage of Harriet Tubman (Janell Hobson) animated

• The Courageous Life of Ida B. Wells (Cristina Greer) animated 

• Ugly History: Japanese American Incarceration Camps (Densho)

• Why is it so hard to escape poverty? (Ann-Helen Bay) animated

• The Problem with the U.S. Bail System (Camilo Ramirez) animated

TED Talks: (Intermediate - Advanced ESOL) TED is a global community, welcoming people from every discipline and culture who seek a deeper understanding of the world, dedicated to the sharing of powerful ideas to change attitudes, lives and, ultimately, the world. Recommended TED Talks on the theme of social justice include:

Racial Justice: 

• Baratunde Thurston: How to Deconstruct Racism, One Headline at a Time (Apr 2019)

• Paul Rucker: The Symbols of System Racism and How to Take Away Their Power (Apr 2018)

• Hasan Kwame Jeffries: Why We Must Confront the Painful Parts of US History (Feb 2020)

• Heather C. McGhee: Racism Has a Cost for Everyone (Dec 2019)

• Phillip Atiba Goff: How We Can Make Racism a Solvable Problem -- and Improve Policing (Apr 2019)

Criminal Justice Reform:

• Bryan Stevenson: We Need to Talk about an Injustice (Mar 2021)

• Raj Jayadev: Community Powered Criminal Justice Reform (Mar 2018)

• Eve Abrams: The Human Stories Behind Mass Incarceration (Nov 2017)

• Salil Dudani: How Jails Extort the Poor (Apr 2016)

Voice of Witness (Intermediate - Advanced ESOL):  Voice of Witness (VOW) is an oral history nonprofit that advances human rights by amplifying the voices of people impacted by--and fighting against--injustice. They have published a series of books and created an education program with accompanying lesson plans, oral history/storytelling project toolkits, resources for English language learners, and strategies and tools for art projects.  Sample narratives from their books include:

Solito, Solita: Crossing Borders with Youth Refugees from Central America:

• At 14, I walked through the desert to reach the US. My Story didn't end there (The Guardian)

• I Left El Salvador to Protect my Family. It Didn't Work (New York Times interactive)

How We Go Home: Voices from Indigenous North America 

• Video of book launch: Conversation with 4 indigenous women about contemporary struggles to protect Native lands and lives. 

Underground America: Narratives of Undocumented Lives

• Notes from The Undocumented "Underground" (NPR book review & excerpted story)

Six by Ten: Stories from Solitary

• Time After Time (Excerpted story by Brian Nelson)