UNEQUAL

Weaving contemporary actors with heralded legacies, this volume profiles Black Americans who represent the unfinished struggle to envision and realize freedom and equality for all.

“The history we learn about in school is a battleground,” offer Dyson and Favreau, responding to the contemporary climate of legislation attempting to reshape how U.S. history is taught. This collection represents the work of two notable experts who pull no punches in expressing that these current challenges entail a Whitewashing of history by people who “believe that some knowledge is so dangerous that it should be kept from you at all costs.” They present snapshots of post-Reconstruction history cemented by strong, transparent source notes. This reader includes chapters on, among other topics, struggles for housing, education, and economic empowerment and against environmental racism. Patterns emerge that weave together notable forerunners and themes from the past with contemporary campaigns and newsmakers: John Carlos and Tommie Smith with Colin Kaepernick, Fannie Lou Hamer with Stacey Abrams, Malcolm X with Michelle Alexander, and Ida B. Wells with Nikole Hannah Jones. The authors invite youth to see themselves in the unfinished business of making “genuine equality a reality for all Americans.” This accessible, riveting collection will inspire readers to claim responsibility for helping to ensure that the U.S. one day lives up to its most ethical professed ideals.

Grounded in evidence and optimistic: uplifts the social power of studying Black American freedom fighters.