Many of the characters in books written for students are white males. They don’t reflect everyone’s background. One girl became frustrated when she couldn’t connect to the characters. In response, she began to gather books about black girls and then give these books to schools. Now that she has exceeded her original goal and collected almost 4,000 books, the girl has started to consider how to impact schools in an even larger way. Listen to the story hear more about this remarkable campaign.
Story Length: 3:41
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February 26, 2016
4:22
The annual Academy Awards, Hollywood’s biggest and most glamorous event, will air this Sunday night. Amid the excitement, there is some controversy. For the second year in a row, there are no nominees of color in the acting categories. The lack of diversity in nominees could reflect a larger pattern in the industry since many of Hollywood’s most influential people, both in front of and behind the camera, are white. Listen to this story and debate with your students: Should there be more diversity at the Oscars?
Read MoreNovember 19, 2015
3:49
At the University of Missouri several racially charged events went unaddressed. Racist graffiti, open racial slurs and simmering racial tension were met with no response from the school’s administration. Out of frustration, many students protested. One graduate student went on a hunger strike and the football team refused to play until the President of the university resigned. The pressure by students forced the President, as well as the Chancellor, to step down. Listen to this story to hear more about the message this sends to the students on this campus.
Read MoreOctober 28, 2015
4:17
At a High School in Baltimore, racial tensions flared last year between African Americans and Latinos. Some students stayed home from school to avoid the fighting, and some were fearful of what would happen off of school grounds. A program called SPIRIT recently started that helps students deal with these racial tensions. Students are given the chance to talk about the challenges within the school and hear from other students. They talk about what needs fixing and propose solutions. Listen to this story to hear more about how this program helped students talk about race.
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