On March 24, 2021, over 175 teachers of grades 3 - 8, school librarians, and other professionals attended the conference Dignity and Justice for All: Stories of Protest, Resistance, and Change. The keynote speaker, Dr. Debbie Reese, discussed An Indigenous People’s History of the United States by Dr. Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz, the book that she and Dr. Jean Mendoza adapted for young people. An authors’ panel included Jabari Asim, Ann Bausum, and Doreen Rappaport, and was moderated by Vicky Smith, Children’s Editor at Kirkus Reviews.
Throughout the conference, sessions focused on questions such as how can literature help students better understand historical and contemporary struggles for freedom and equality? How have people from marginalized groups made their voices heard in social and political movements? How can stories of civic action empower young people to exercise their rights and take on responsibilities for working toward a better world?
Access resources from the conference:
This program was hosted by the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation and presented by the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum.
The Kennedy Library's education and public programs related to civil rights and social justice are sponsored in part by AT&T.
