Resistance, Resiliency and Joy (1941-2013)

Historical context

People and communities facing oppression and injustice have shown resistance, resilience, and joy, and it's important to uplift those stories when teaching about a painful past.

This set highlights the experiences of various communities, including Chinese immigrants who passed through Angel Island, Japanese Americans interned during WWII, Black Americans facing segregation, and Indigenous people seeking to preserve languages. This document provides additional context and resources.

Culturally relevant pedagogy considerations

Joy is a complex emotion and in the context of history and injustice, it is even more so. Culturally Relevant Pedagogy is learner-centered and teachers should start with the experiences and stories of students in their learning community.

Building off of the connections and experiences learners bring to the classroom, we can see that taking action can take on many forms. Looking at how people expressed their sadness, frustration, and anger through art can provide a great way to think about contemporary art. Just as we look at how people express uncomfortable emotion,s we can see how joy and just being is also a form of action.

Using the primary sources in the set as a starting point and helping students connect to their own forms of action and expression provides a rich learning experience that has relevancy.

This set was compiled by Angela Bianco, fourth-grade teacher in White Bear Lake.