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Defying Censors
People’s History IS in the Classroom
Despite the right’s aggressive censorship campaign, nearly 9,000 teachers signed up to access people’s history lessons in 2025. This brings our full registration at the Zinn Education Project to close to 177,000 teachers, with representation from every state.
An American Historical Association study of teaching U.S. history in secondary schools found that more than a quarter of the teachers surveyed use Zinn Education Project resources. That percentage is comparable to other organizations with budgets in the tens of millions of dollars, while ours is less than a million. Our wide reach is thanks to word of mouth, support from individual donors, and the dedication of countless educators who teach people’s history to their students.
Through our lessons, young people learn to read the news with a critical eye, to assess current events with the lens of history, and to recognize red-baiting and fear-mongering tactics.
In 2025, we:
Developed and offered new lessons on the Constitution and the Founding Documents in preparation for the “America 250” commemorations in 2026.
Spoke out on the importance of teaching about Palestine, in contrast to the silence from most major education organizations.
Organized our 5th annual national day of action to protest the attacks on teaching truthfully — with dozens of groups, including the National Education Association, the American Library Association, Red Wine & Blue, Authors Against Book Bans, and more.
Offered monthly Teach the Black Freedom Struggle online classes with leading scholars, including Eve L. Ewing, Mia Bay, Clint Smith, Jeanne Theoharis, Jarvis Givens, Imani Perry, Mary Phillips, Justene Hill Edwards, Joshua Clark Davis, and Jesse Hagopian.
Hosted 58 new Teaching for Black Lives study groups, bringing our total to more than 448 groups in 44 states and three Canadian provinces.
Met with the second fellowship cohort of people’s history teacher leaders named for education activists C. J. Prentiss and Michael Charney.
To support the Zinn Education Project, the publisher is offering a hardback copy of Stitching Freedom by Gary Tyler with Ellen Bravo for donors of $200 or more.
Add a note when you make a donation that you would like to receive a copy of this new book.
The publisher of Stitching Freedom also donated copies for teachers.
In fact, thanks to donations by publishers, authors, and individuals, we distributed more than 2,700 free people’s history books to schools this year, including in states where authorities outlaw teaching history truthfully. One of those books, featured in the map above, was Erasing History: How Fascists Rewrite the Past to Control the Future by Jason Stanley.
With your support, we can challenge education censorship and book bans in 2026.
Add these events, hosted by the Zinn Education Project and our colleagues, to your 2026 calendar. Online unless noted otherwise.
2026 Black Lives Matter at School Curriculum Fair, January 24. Workshops include: “Archives in Class: Teaching with the Emergency Committee on the Transportation Crisis Records” and “Justice in Action: Equipping Students to Reimagine Democracy.”
I’ll Make Me a World: The 100-Year Journey of Black History Month with Jarvis Givens, February 2. Drawing on archival research, personal stories involving family and students, and especially the wisdom of Black educators, Givens recovers the legacy of Carter G. Woodson and many others who envisioned Black history as a liberatory force — knowledge that shapes who we are, how we resist, and what we dream.
The annualNative Knowledge 360° Teach-In, hosted by the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian in collaboration with Teaching for Change on March 14, is an online opportunity for educators to access classroom resources from NMAI’s Native Knowledge 360° education portal, the Zinn Education Project, and more.
Teach for Climate Justice: Study groups for educators (including one for early childhood educators) and a teach for climate justice retreat in Costa Rica.
