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Eleanor Roosevelt: Censorship, Past & Present Panel Discussion

by hreusaMay 8, 2025Leave a comment

When: June 12, 6 – 7 pm

Location: Rockefeller Hall at Vassar College, 124 Raymond Ave, Poughkeepsie, NY 12604

Tickets: $35 General Admission

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Join us for a dynamic panel discussion on the legacy of Eleanor Roosevelt’s fight for free expression and how censorship continues to shape our world today. Featuring Blanche Wiesen Cook (Roosevelt biographer), Yana Gorokhovskaia (Freedom House), Lee Rowland (NCAC), Daniel Shank Cruz (PEN America), and Miriam Cohen (Evalyn Clark Professor Emerita of History), this conversation will explore the past and present of intellectual freedom, global censorship trends, and what Roosevelt’s legacy can teach us in this moment.

This panel supports our 2nd Annual Bravery in Literature “Banned Book Awards” Ceremony on October 11th. All ticket proceeds benefit our October event which honors authors whose books are challenged or banned. Find out more at ervk.org/banned-books.

Episodes 54 & 55 with Dr. Rick Halperin & Julie Rinker are available on Human Rights Education Now!

by hreusaMay 7, 2025June 3, 2025Leave a comment

We are pleased to announce the availability of our latest installment of podcast episodes in Human Rights Education NOW! Episodes 54 & 55 feature conversations with Dr. Rick Halperin & Julie Rinker.

Dr. Rick Halperin, Director of the Embrey Human Rights Program at SMU, has spent over five decades immersed in human rights activism and education. With a Ph.D. in Southern History from Auburn University, he taught history in 1985 and human rights in 1990. Rick has led numerous human rights trips, worked as a monitor across the globe, and served on several high-profile boards, including Amnesty International USA—where he chaired the board three times—and organizations fighting the death penalty and supporting torture survivors.

Julie Rinker is a doctoral student in Special Education at the Cal State LA/UCLA Joint Doctoral Program. Her research bridges literacy and human rights, focusing on dyslexia intervention and teacher mentorship. An art quilter and activist, she protests the death penalty using her textile work, often seen at the Texas Huntsville Unit and the U.S. Capitol. In the Summer of 2022, Julie was the first Edmonds Teaching Fellow for Human Rights Educators USA.

Episode 54 – Dr. Rick Halperin & Julie Rinker

Dr. Rick Halperin and Julie Rinker reflect on their deeply personal and professional journeys into human rights education. Julie shares how her literacy work in public schools naturally evolved into human rights education through socially relevant texts. Rick discusses how his academic studies, visits to Holocaust sites, and the death of Jan Palach in Prague shaped his lifelong commitment to human rights. Their shared experiences underscore the transformative power of education, memory, and advocacy. Julie credits Rick’s teaching and activism with inspiring her own work, including impactful visits to historical sites. They also explore Rick’s decades-long involvement with Amnesty International, including its expanding mission and current challenges. Despite shifts in focus—such as the diminishing emphasis on death penalty abolition—both emphasize the enduring importance of centering human dignity, with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights serving as a guiding foundation.

Topics Discussed:

Origins of their human rights commitment and educational approaches
Julie’s literacy and dyslexia work tied to social justice themes
Rick’s scholarly development through genocide studies and historical tragedies
The influence of site visits (e.g., Holocaust memorials) on worldview and activism
Amnesty International’s shifting focus and internal challenges
Why upholding human dignity remains central to all human rights efforts
Reflections on teaching, mentorship, and the future of abolition activism

🎧 Listen now on your favorite podcast platform or HERE
📖 Learn more HERE

Full topic listing available for PDF download HERE

Episode 55 – Dr. Rick Halperin & Julie Rinker

In Episode 55, Dr. Rick Halperin and Julie Rinker continue their conversation on the intersection of human rights education (HRE), literacy, and activism. Julie discusses how her doctoral work uses HRE to support students with reading disabilities, merging social justice with practical interventions for literacy challenges. The episode delves into the harsh realities and evolving methods of capital punishment in the U.S., with both guests emphasizing the importance of public education to inspire change and action. Rick shares firsthand experiences as a human rights monitor in conflict zones like Gaza and Central America, while both highlight the influence of personal role models in shaping their advocacy. The episode closes with powerful quotes and concrete recommendations: make HRE a mandatory part of U.S. education from early childhood through higher education and ensure all teachers are equipped to help struggling readers through a human rights lens.

Topics Discussed

Using human right education to support students with reading disabilities
Challenges and decline in use of the death penalty
Concerns over execution methods, including nitrogen gas
Importance of rehabilitation and transformation in incarceration
Rick’s monitoring work in Gaza, Central America, and Northern Ireland
Harsh realities of daily life in Gaza
Role models: Fran Bowman (Julie), Charles Hamilton Houston (Rick)
Inspirational quotes on dignity, literacy, and hope
Calls to make human rights education mandatory from K–12 through university
Advocacy for equipping all teachers to support struggling readers through a human rights lens

🎧 Listen now on your favorite podcast platform or HERE
📖 Learn more HERE

Full topic listing available for PDF download HERE

Thank you for supporting the Human Rights Education NOW! podcast!

Pre-K–12 Books for May Heritage Months

by hreusaMay 6, 2025Leave a comment

The Black Lives Matter at School guiding principle for May of Black Villages invites us to consider how extended families, collective villages, and intergenerational relationships play a role in community care and justice.

These books celebrating Asian American and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander, Jewish, and Haitian heritage (May heritage months) focus on community strength and revolution, with lessons that teach us true history and help us to imagine into the future. Booklist

Our Jewish Identity and History list includes stories of cultural traditions, people of note, and collective resistance to oppression. Booklist

Find ideas for teaching about Haiti at the Teach Pluralism blog and Teaching for Change. Booklist

To defend children’s right to read and learn, join us on June 7 for the 5th annual Teach Truth Day of Action.

Learn More and Sign Up

Zinn Education Project: Erasing History: How Fascists Rewrite the Past to Control the Future

by hreusaMay 6, 2025Leave a comment

We are delighted to host scholar Jason Stanley in conversation with Rethinking Schools editor Jesse Hagopian for an online class on Monday, May 12.

Here is why: In Erasing History: How Fascists Rewrite the Past to Control the Future, Jason Stanley exposes the ways authoritarian regimes manipulate historical narratives to maintain power.

Stanley demonstrates how attacks on education and historical memory support authoritarianism, undermining public understanding of past struggles for justice.

By showing how history is weaponized to advance political agendas, Stanley underscores the importance of preserving historical truth as a safeguard against authoritarian rule.

Stanley doesn’t just diagnose the problem — he also offers strategies to resist these attacks, from advocating for historical literacy to supporting educators under fire. As one of those resistance strategies, he points to the role of teachers using people’s history lessons from the Zinn Education Project.

This class is in preparation for the 5th annual Teach Truth Day of Action.

May 12, 4pm (PT)/7pm (ET), virtual

>> Register

Rethinking Schools: Teaching Palestine Book Launch Celebration

by hreusaMay 5, 2025Leave a comment

Join Teaching Palestine: Lessons, Stories, Voices co-editors to launch the new Rethinking Schools book. Palestine has long been one of the great silences in the official curriculum. Teaching Palestine: Lessons, Stories, Voices provides educators with powerful tools to uncover the history and current context of Palestine-Israel in the classroom — poetry, personal narratives, interviews, role plays, critical reading and writing activities, and more. Teaching Palestine offers a defense of Palestinian humanity centering Palestinian lives, uplifting and celebrating Palestinians’ struggle for justice, and critiquing racism and inequality.

The editors will be joined by musician and activist Macklemore.

Participants will need access to Zoom. Register for the Zoom link.

ASL Interpretation will be available.

The event is free. To make events like this available to more educators and activists, we would greatly appreciate your solidarity donation.

May 8, 2025, 4pm (PT)/6pm (CT)/7pm (ET), virtual

>> Register

Exploring Asian American Literature in Middle School

by hreusaMay 2, 2025May 2, 2025Leave a comment

This workshop will focus on providing middle school ELA teachers with an overview of Asian American literature including memoirs, novels, and short stories. Several AAPI authors will be highlighted, and ways to introduce these authors and their work in an age-appropriate way will be presented. Points of consideration on how to choose appropriate literature with respectful AAPI representation will be offered. Educators will leave with lesson activities based on these AAPI literature that they can use for their own classrooms and a list of AAPI authors.

May 6, 2025, 1:30pm (PT), virtual

>> Register

Black Teachers: A Pedagogy of Organized Resistance

by hreusaMay 2, 2025Leave a comment

On Monday, May 5, 2025, historians Jarvis Givens and Imani Perry, in conversation with Rethinking Schools editor Jesse Hagopian and Rethinking Schools executive director Cierra Kaler-Jones, will discuss the Black Teacher Archive, a digital portal centralizing materials created by professional organizations of African American educators, historically referred to as Colored Teachers Associations (CTAs).

May 5, 2025, 4pm (PT)/7pm (ET), virtual

>> Register

Call for Nominations: 2025 HRE Awards

by hreusaMay 1, 2025Leave a comment

Know a group or individual – youth or adult – who is making a real difference in human rights? Nominate them for one of the annual awards of Human Rights Educators USA!

The 2025 O’Brien Awards recognize an individual and an organizations that has made a significant contribution to human rights education in the United States.

Nomination deadline: October 1, 2025.

>> For further information and nomination forms see: https://hreusa.org/awards-and-grant-opportunities/edward-obrien-award

To encourage a new generation of human rights activists, the 2025 Youth in Action for Human Rights Awards recognize youth leaders, one individual and one group, whose work explicitly or implicitly reflects and promotes human rights values. Because young activists must nominate themselves for the awards, HRE USA urges adults familiar with their work to urge them to apply.

Nomination deadline: October 1, 2025.

For further information and nomination forms see:
>> English: hre-usa-youth-in-action-award.my.canva.site/en
>> Español: hre-usa-youth-in-action-award.my.canva.site/es

May 1st National Day of Action! Join the Movement

by hreusaApril 30, 2025Leave a comment

In the face of the unprecedented attacks on our public schools and our democratic institutions, workers, students, parents and community members across the country are planning to take coordinated action on May Day. If you care about public education, join in to make the fight for public schools front and center this May Day!

Join us to build a vision that works for the many instead of the billionaires and their corporations.

>> Learn more

Webinar on Fighting Apathy with Action

by hreusaApril 29, 2025Leave a comment

Join Re-Imagining Migration and Woven Teaching on Wednesday, April 30 for a dynamic webinar for educators! In a period of rapid change and upheaval, join us to receive resources for supporting students in taking action to uphold inclusive, democratic values. Help students overcome feelings of apathy and disengagement with strategies and resources from two organizations committed to educating young people about their human rights, their responsibility to each other, and fostering communities where everyone belongs.

Fighting Apathy With Action: Civic Education Today will be an interactive webinar for high school educators. Participants will receive free lessons and materials for teaching some of the most critical issues of the moment: protecting democracy, understanding stories of migration, building civic agency, and creating classroom environments where all students experience a sense of belonging. We will be sharing powerful examples of civic action to fight intolerance, including examples of civically engaged immigrant youth standing up in society and at school, demonstrating how belonging is built through meaningful participation.

Wednesday, April 30, 2025
4:00-5:30pm PT / 7:00-8:30pm ET
Register >