Teaching Voices of a People’s History of the United States in the 21st Century: Documents of Hope and Resistance and Why it Matters

Voices of a People’s History of the United States in the 21st Century, a new book from Seven Stories Press, brings to life social movements through speeches, essays, poems, and calls to action from Black Lives Matter, #MeToo, Indigenous struggles, immigrant rights activists, the environmental movement, disability justice organizers, and frontline workers during the global pandemic. The book’s editors, Anthony Arnove and Haley Pessin and contributor Jesse Hagopian discuss why this book is an important teaching resource in the classroom.

Panelists

Anthony Arnove

Anthony Arnove is the editor of several books, including, with Howard Zinn, Voices of a People’s History of the United States, Terrorism and War, and Voices of a People's History of the United States in the 21st Century. He wrote the introduction to the thirty-fifth anniversary edition of Zinn’s classic book A People’s History of the United States. Arnove cofounded the nonprofit education and arts organization Voices of a People’s History of the United States; wrote, directed, and produced the documentary and directed stage and television versions of The People Speak. Arnove is on the editorial boards of Haymarket Books and Tempestmag.org and is the director of Roam Agency, where he represents authors including Arundhati Roy and Noam Chomsky.

Haley Pessin

Haley Pessin is a socialist activist living in Queens, New York. They have participated in struggles against police brutality and mass incarceration, in solidarity with Palestine, in defense of abortion rights and reproductive justice, and as a legal service worker and union delegate for 1199SEIU (Service Employees International Union). Pessin has spoken at conferences in Switzerland, Australia, Ireland, Quebec, and throughout the United States on the struggle of Black liberation. Their writing has appeared in New Politics and at Tepestmag.org, where they currently serve on the editorial board.

Jesse Hagopian

Jesse Hagopian has been an educator for over twenty years and taught for over a decade Seattle’s Garfield High School–the site of the historic boycott of the MAP test. Jesse is an editor for the social justice periodical Rethinking Schools, is the co-editor of the books, Black Lives Matter at School, Teaching for Black Lives, Teacher Unions and Social Justice, and is the editor of the book, More Than a Score: The New Uprising Against High-Stakes Testing. Jesse serves as the Director of the Black Education Matters Student Activist Award, is an organizer with the Black Lives Matter at School movement, and is founding member of Social Equity Educators (SEE).