For the fifth year, the Zinn Education Project is fueling communities of anti-racist educators by sponsoring nearly 70 Teaching for Black Lives study groups across the United States, a group in Canada, and a group in Puerto Rico.

Across the country, right-wing legislatures have pushed laws and policies to criminalize teaching honestly about U.S. history and to restrict students’ ability to ask questions. Books have been banned and teachers fired. But despite this repression, educators everywhere continue to find ways to help their students think critically about the history of this country — and how they can play a role in making the world more just.

The Zinn Education Project (ZEP) is committed to supporting educators in this work. Since 2020, ZEP has hosted hundreds of Teaching for Black Lives study groups. Study groups receive a copy of Teaching for Black Lives and a Rethinking Schools magazine subscription for each participant, a year-long menu of workshops and seminars to choose from, and access to a network of social justice teachers across the United States.

This year’s study groups represent 31 states, including Utah for the first time. We also have 17 study groups led by alumni coordinators with new and alumni participants, building on work from past years. 

Meet a few of the 2024–2025 study groups below.

Georgetown, Delaware

Fourteen community coordinators and staff who work with young people as a part of Pathways to Success meet monthly via Zoom. Jinni Forcucci and Darren Rainey, co-coordinators, said, 

We’ve read the Introduction to the text, “When Black Lives Mattered,” “Two Sets of Notes,” “A Letter to Presidents Who Owned Slaves While They Were in Office,” and “A Talk to Teachers,” among a variety of articles in Section 1 and 2. 

All conversations have been incredibly rich. We decided to break the team into affinity groups, which worked better. The themes we noticed are a sincere commitment to continue learning and growing and the need for nuanced discourse rooted in a community of trust.

Lawrence, Kansas

Eleven educators and teacher union members in Lawrence, Kansas, meet virtually monthly. Brianna Jackson, elementary school counselor and group coordinator, said, 

Our initial conversation about the book was centered around our own personal biases and how we can be more intentional about centering Black students in our classrooms and buildings. From this first discussion, we revamped the district’s Racial and Social Justice Committee and created subcommittees to address the main things that kept coming up in discussion: inclusive policy/procedures, awareness in the curriculum, and staff/ student belonging.

For Black Lives Matter at School Week of Action, Jackson read Stand Up!: 10 Mighty Women Who Made a Change to her students. Read more.

Winnipeg, Manitoba

Nine educators from Seven Oaks School Division in Winnipeg, Manitoba, meet monthly to discuss the shared text. Fortunato Lim, divisional principal and group coordinator, said, 

The poetry, stories, perspectives, and videos shared have truly ignited meaningful conversations among our team. Staff members were able to select and share poems with their respective schools and colleagues, fostering engagement and connection. The flexibility of adapting these readings to suit various grade levels and align with our Canadian context has made it seamless for teachers to incorporate them into their classrooms. This adaptability ensures that the materials resonate with diverse student groups while remaining relevant and impactful in our local educational landscape.

Silver Spring, Maryland

Eleven teachers and teacher educators from Montgomery Blair High School meet monthly in-person. Members compiled their individual statements of what motivated them to form a Teaching for Black Lives study group: 

I’m continuing my anti-racist journey. 

I want to build stronger relationships with my colleagues to make effective change in our building.

I recognize the way I am able to connect with and reach some of my Black students because we relate culturally. 

I want to further build on that connection with my students, learn additional tools, and work with my colleagues to see these connections exist throughout the building. 

I want to broaden my experience with Black culture and to provide a better educational experience for my students.

The Silver Spring study group organized a school assembly for Black Lives Matter at School. Read more.

Carver, Massachusetts

Fifteen educators from Carver Public Schools meet monthly as “a supportive group as we continue our journey to building a more equitable and just school district.” Tammy Johnson, high school math teacher and group coordinator, said, 

We have found all the selections very enriching. Our recurring themes have centered around what students are learning in our current courses, what our existing curriculum looks like, and how we can incorporate accurate representations of Black culture into our curriculum. Much of the history is new information for many of our participants and the selections have inspired many to learn more about the history, specifically the dynamics on redlining and gentrification of neighborhoods.

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Ten educators meet monthly in-person “to purposefully slow down and do the deep thinking required to give our children the best experience in our schools.” Danielle Cooper-Williams, group coordinator and senior director for KIPP Philly Schools, said, 

We began to unpack our internalized oppression and maintain the status quo that can impact leaders of school buildings to make change. Some of the struggles within our region have been influenced by some of the macro decisions that are made within education broadly (emphasis on math and reading versus social studies.) So we began talking about what it looks like to resist and move the system in a new direction in small ways. 

After reading the introduction of Teaching for Black Lives, we discussed the fact that there are more assaults on Black minds and bodies since the book was published. Participants mention the impacts of Covid on students well-being, as well as the well-being of their families. We also discussed how media literacy has become even more important to students understanding and deciphering what they may consume online and being able to think critically about multiple points of view, propaganda, etc.

Nashville, Tennessee

For the second year, nine teachers educators from Nashville Teacher Residency meet monthly to “revise their curriculum with the central frameworks, research, theory, and pedagogical practices from Teaching for Black Lives.” Lindsey Hamilton, director and group coordinator, said, 

One chapter that sparked rich conversation was “Racial Justice Is Not a Choice.” Our organization trains, licenses, and develops teachers from diverse backgrounds to honor the dignity of every student. Our teacher candidates bring with them the trauma of high-stakes, standardized testing and often struggle to earn their full licensure due to barriers related to exams. So, the standardized testing and how it punishes students doesn’t stop in 12th-grade. Students are also being deprived of teachers who look like them because those very teachers struggle to pass an exam that was designed to keep them out of the classroom. 

As an organization of teacher educators, this chapter helped us to continue to grapple with the complexities of working within a system that is most closely aligned with the industrial testing complex. It allowed us to center the historical racist underpinnings of exams in our conversation about how to both prepare teachers to educate children and to prepare them to integrate testing into their pedagogy. This text also allowed us to consider how harmful it is for us to center the licensure exams the way we do, while also acknowledging the work we must do to get our teachers to pass those exams so they can become fully licensed.

San Marcos, Texas

Eleven educators from San Marcos’ elementary schools, high schools, and state university meet monthly. Members include elementary teachers, high school teachers, and Texas state university teacher educators. Skyller Walkes, Calaboose Museum engagement specialist and group coordinator, said, 

I hope to underscore the need for spaces of learning beyond the university and traditional school setting, like museums and cultural centers, to reconstruct the narrative around when and where Black history and anti-racism learning can/should happen. Texas’ anti-DEI legislation and book bans have significantly disrupted access and facilitated exposure to critical education. My overarching goal is to learn how to better facilitate the process to advocate and serve not only historically marginalized communities, whose histories are lesser known and celebrated but to also teach others who can be informed allies through holistic, diverse teachings and radically inclusive education.

In Spring 2025, the group also started reading Eve L. Ewing’s Original Sins to accompany the shared text.

Seattle, Washington

Nineteen educators from Explorer West Middle School meet monthly in-person. Mary Louise, group coordinator and program coordinator, said in her application, 

We want to move past our own barriers and fears; to also become more knowledgeable as we commit to teaching differently. We want our teachers to feel empowered and confident that their teachings empower and engage all students.

After hosting monthly meetings in the fall, Louise said, “Most of the content around teaching Reconstruction, narratives about enslavement have been inspiring. Teachers now want to bring in samples of current lessons they teach around slavery, examining their own practices and perspectives.”

Learn About the 2023–2024 study groups