Teach the Black Freedom Struggle: The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks

Author Jeanne Theoharis will discuss Rosa Parks’ activism prior to the Montgomery Bus Boycott, her trip to the Highlander Folk School, and the decades she dedicated to challenging racism in the North.

This session will include clips from the new documentary The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks, based on the book of the same name by Theoharis.

Jeanne Theoharis is a distinguished professor at Brooklyn College. She is the author or co-author of nine books and numerous articles on the Civil Rights and Black Power movements and the politics of race and education. Her books include the award-winning titles The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks and A More Beautiful and Terrible History: The Uses and Misuses of Civil Rights History.

Theoharis will be in conversation with Rethinking Schools editor and high school teacher Jesse Hagopian.

This class is hosted by the Zinn Education Project as part of the Teach the Black Freedom Struggle series of online classes with people’s historians. The Feb. 6 class is co-sponsored by AFT Share My Lesson.

These online classes with people’s historians are held at least once a month (generally on Mondays) at 4:00 pm PT / 7:00 pm ET for 90 minutes. In each session, the historian is interviewed by a teacher and breakout rooms allow participants to meet each other in small groups, discuss the content, and share teaching ideas. We designed the sessions for teachers and other school staff. Parents, students, and others are also welcome to participate.