World Teach

Here are seven excellent essays about race and democracy.  Ted Genoways, the author of This Blessed Earth, tweeted these stories to show the "widespread reassessment of American History" that he argues is happening now.  The Great Land Robbery: The shameful story of how 1 million black families have been ripped from their farms Kicked Off the Land: Why so many black families are losing their property , By Lizzie Presser Race, History, and Memories of a Virginia Girlhood , Drew Gilpin Faust    The Fight to Redefine Racism: In “How to Be an Antiracist, ” Ibram X. Kendi argues that we should think of “racist” not as a pejorative but as a simple, widely encompassing term of description, By Kelefa Sanneh  Can Stacey Abrams Save American Democracy ? By Alexis Okeowo  Stacey Abrams’s Fight for a Fair Vote: As the 2020 elections approach, Abrams is leading the battle against voter suppression, By Jelani Cobb  A Lost Work by Langston Hughes Examines the Harsh ...

Medium, the online magazine , has a fascinating section called "Afro-Asian Visions: New Perspectives on Decolonisation, the Cold War, and Asian-African Connections."  It includes dozens of essays from a non-western perspective, many of which should be ideal for the world history classroom. In one essay, for example, called " Africans in World War Two Asia: Encounters Across Continents, " the author, Oliver Coates, notes that over 46,000 East Africans fought in World War II.  Although the East Africans faced "open racism" which included pay discrimination, dietary regimes, and leave restrictions,  they learned a lot about new cultures like language, religion, and food. In another essay called "‘ China and the Devil Slaves’: challenging Afro-Asian solidarities in Tanzania," author George Roberts, shows how Tanzania fell under the influence of China after decolonization adopting a Mao brand of socialism that "romanticized the peasantry." ...

Here is a Hypedoc (Webquest) about the spread of Buddhism along the Silk Road between the 2nd and 12th centuries. It's based on a terrific website simply called " A History of the Silk Road.  It has tabs for Buddhism, important people, travelers (including Ibn Battuta and Marco Polo), inventions (such as paper and gunpowder), Pax Mongolica, and even the Belt and Road Initiative. Another resource for the hyperdoc was the Sackler Museum's digital exhibit of the Sogdians  (who the museum called "Influencers on the Silk Road.")  The Sogdians were central Asian nomads known for their trade and agriculture during their golden age between the 4th and 8th centuries. The variety of religion was a big feature of Sogdian culture. In an essay called " Believers, Proselytizers, and Translators , the authors review the development of Zoroastrianism, which started in Iran. My hyperdoc takes students into the Sackler Exhibit and asks them questions about Zoroastrianism a...