For Memorial Day Weekend, we feature an article by David Blight about the early origins of the holiday, led by African Americans in Charleston, South Carolina, after the Civil War; an article by Howard Zinn urging us to never embark on mass slaughter again; and the documentary and companion oral history collection, Memorial Day Massacre: Workers Die, Film Buried.
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**Please make sure that you include an image as well as the short writeup. If there is a link for further information, you can include this link. Blog examples: News and Updates (hreusa.org)
For Newsletter items, please send agenda items and story information to info@hreusa.org with “NEWSLETTER” in the subject line.
**Please send an image and your story write-up with a link by the 15th of each month to be included in the next newsletter. Newsletter examples.
If you would like HRE USA to co-sponsor an upcoming human rights event by sharing with our network, please submit this form.
The International Journal of Human Rights Education is an independent, double-blind, peer-reviewed, open-access, online journal dedicated to the examination of the theory, philosophy, research, and praxis central to the field of human rights education. This journal seeks to be a central location for critical thought in the field as it continues to expand.
This special issue of the International Journal of Human Rights Education, Queering Human Rights Education: Research, Praxis and Liberation for LGBTQIA2S+, presents research, reflection on practice, and reviews of new scholarship that highlight the experience of LGBTQIA2S+ students, educators, and activists through a human rights lens. The articles draw on diverse methodologies, perspectives, and intersecting identities to reimagine not just schools but all spaces of learning, from ballrooms to the internet, as sites for LGBTQ+ joy and liberation. The scholarship in this issue is “queer” not only in its focus on LGBTQ+ stakeholders in education but also in the way it challenges all that is considered normal and natural. It queers education, human rights, and human rights education by troubling power, questioning assumptions about sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, and sex characteristics (SOGIESC) and replacing binary thinking with more complex, situated, fluid ways of understanding. And in a world where the news about SOGIESC is mostly bad, the authors in this issue also hold on to the agency, desires, and creativity of the queer community while at the same time documenting the incredible challenges of this moment. This moment in queer rights calls for the kind of thinking and action at the core of this journal: clearly, queer rights are an international concern that need to be framed as human rights and secured through, among other means, education.
Special Issue Guest Edited by David Donahue, Maria Autrey Noriega, Lori Selke, and Mauro Sifuentes
>> 📖 Read the full issue at https://bit.ly/USF-IJHRE
Connect with IJHRE on social media
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Application Deadline: June 15, 2025
The Student Task Force (STF) is a Human Rights Watch (HRW) sponsored youth leadership-training program that brings together high school students and empowers them to advocate for the human rights of children. HRW STF staff and STF teachers partner to mentor students in leadership skills and activism, fostering confidence and maturity among students, enabling them to become effective voices for change and social justice within their communities. For more information on the Human Rights Watch Student Task Force, please visit www.hrwstf.org.
HRW STF is seeking a Youth Advocacy Assistant to provide advocacy assistance to the team. The selected candidate must be available for 16 or 27 hours per week for the academic year, August 4, 2025 – May 22, 2026. Afternoon and early evening availability is strongly preferred. The position is based in the Los Angeles office and reports to the STF Senior Manager.
The successful candidate will be encouraged to work from the office 2-3 days per week but can do some hours remotely throughout the week. We aim to be as flexible and supportive as possible in both the recruitment and onboarding of this position.
From Felisa Tibbitts, HREA Director:
Many of us are struggling with how to understand AI from the human rights lens – both the risks and opportunities.
I am delighted to share my essay on AI, Human Rights and Education, developed with Saah Agyemang-Badu and Sage Phillips. I will shortly announce the open access six-lesson module that has been developed on this topic in cooperation with PedagogyFutures.
Those of you who are interested in digital literacy from an ethics perspective may want to register for UNESCO’s upcoming Digital Learning Week, which will take place in Paris September 2-5. The deadline for proposals is May 26.
Applications are now open for the UN Immersion Programme 2025 by UNITAR – a unique 5-day field visit to the United Nations in Vienna! Scholarships are available.
Secure your spot for an exclusive training experience that includes expert lectures, workshops, and guided tours through UN offices. Join career development sessions and learn how to enhance your CV, cover letter, and LinkedIn profile with guidance from UN professionals.
Are you (or do you know) a high school student passionate about social justice, democracy, and creating positive social change? Girls Learn International is hosting a virtual Summer Activist Training Camp (SATC) designed to empower the next generation of activists. This free online program is open to high school and first-year college students of any gender who are eager to sharpen their advocacy skills. SATC runs on Tuesdays and Thursdays from July 8 to July 31, 2025. Applications are due June 25, 2024!
Thank you to everyone who joined us in celebrating the 35th anniversary of the CRC through our Training As Action Series!
The theme of the 2024-2025 virtual training series was: “Youth Power, Defending Human Rights: Learnings and Actions for the 35th Anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC).”
If you were unable to attend sessions, recordings are available at our YouTube channel and on our website!
Introduction to Human Rights Educators USA >> Session recording
Module 1: Youth Power, Defending Human Rights >> Session recording
Module 2: Know Your (Human) Rights: Education for Youth Empowerment >> Session recording
Module 3: Trust Kids! Dismantling Hierarchy in Human Rights Advocacy >> Session recording
Module 4: A Children’s Rights-Lens to Youth Human Rights Advocacy >> Session recording
Module 5: Digital Citizenship & Human Rights in the Age of Disinformation>> Session recording
Module 6: Challenging U.S.-Centric Models, Building International Youth Solidarity >> Session recording
Module 7: Big Actions, Big Feelings: Practical Empathy in Human Rights >> Session recording
Module 8: Theory of Change: Designing Youth Spaces/Places in Human Rights >> Session recording
Slides, resources, and notes from TAAS sessions are available on our website at
https://hreusa.org/projects/training-as-action-series/
Thank you to our TAAS 2024-25 Co-sponsors!
Black education was a fugitive project from its inception — outlawed and defined as a criminal act regarding the slave population in the southern states and, at times, too, an object of suspicion and violent resistance in the North. — Jarvis Givens, Fugitive Pedagogy
We just posted Legalize Black Education: The Long Fight for the Right to Learn by Jesse Hagopian. This lesson reveals a pattern: When Black people make significant educational gains — or score victories in their broader struggles for freedom — there is a corresponding white supremacist backlash that often includes legal restrictions and violence.
Students explore laws passed to curb Black education in the wake of major victories for the Black Freedom Struggle, highlighting the historical context and motivations behind these legislative efforts. They also discuss quotes about Black education.
Check out the lesson and let us know if you use it in your classroom. We’ll send you books in appreciation for your teaching story.
Handouts from the lesson are also available to use as mini-lessons for the Teach Truth Day of Action.
Democracy depends on informed citizens who have the knowledge and skills to engage in their government. Empower your student citizens with this collection that teaches civic knowledge and understanding through applied examples from U.S. history and skills such as analyzing civic engagement and engaging in civil discourse. Focusing on multiple perspectives and diverse stories, these resources enable all students to see themselves as civic actors and prepare them to engage in civic political life.
Interactive Lesson (20), Video (154), Media Gallery (29), Interactive (14) for Grades 3-5, 6-8, 9-12
HRE USA 