Today’s News, Tomorrow’s History is an ongoing series with Listenwise. This series connects Facing History’s themes with today’s current events using public radio to guide and facilitate discussions around the social issues of our time. We will take a look at the 2020 US census and how the questions about citizenship might affect the return rate.

Today’s News, Tomorrow’s History is an ongoing series with Listenwise. This series connects Facing History’s themes with today’s current events using public radio to guide and facilitate discussions around the social issues of our time. In honor of the UN International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade on March 25, we will take a look at how students learn about slavery in the United States.

Charlotte Lowell, a Facing History senior at Andover High School in Andover, Massachusetts is using her voice after the Parkland school shooting. The 17 year old led a student sit-in at her school to discuss gun violence and how the country is currently addressing the issue. Now she’s getting ready to participate in the March For Our Lives this Saturday. She even spoke about her activism on the nationally syndicated NPR show, On Point. As a student leader of the Boston branch, she’s been busy organizing with adult activists, student organizers, and other community workers to get as many people as they can involved. Here’s what she had to say about her new role as a student activist.

This Saturday, students from across the nation will join the March For Our Lives in Washington DC while others gather at regional marches to demand their schools are safe places to learn. This includes protesting for changes in gun control laws. The march comes after the national walk out from schools one month after the Parkland, Florida shooting. At Facing History, we continue to be impressed by the display of civic engagement from these young people. Our hope is that all students feel empowered to find their voice and use their voice in a way that brings positive change to their communities, no matter what the issue is.

Yesterday we watched as thousands of students across the nation banded together in solidarity one month after the Parkland, Florida school shooting that left 17 dead. As part of National Walkout Day, they flooded the streets with messages for elected officials: enough is enough. Something needs to change.

When young people learn about the movements that changed the course of history, it can sometimes be hard for them see themselves. But there's a rich history of student activism they can relate to. Now, in the wake of the student-led Parkland protest, it's a good time to give them a glimpse into the role that young people can play in creating positive social change. 

As the 90th Oscars ceremony premieres this Sunday evening, the #MeToo movement will be present yet again, with the recent scandal breaking around host, Ryan Seacrest. But there's a long history of women's activism, especially black women's activism, that has been simmering slowly and steadily. Like the legacy of Recy Taylor, who died in December of last year at the age of 98. Taylor’s determination to seek justice for her rapists in Jim Crow-era Alabama set the stage for the Civil Rights Movement and in many ways, today’s modern #MeToo movement.

Today’s News, Tomorrow’s History is an ongoing series with Listenwise. This series connects Facing History’s themes with today’s current events using public radio to guide and facilitate discussions around the social issues of our time. We will take a look at the story of a teacher with Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals.

Understanding violence is a difficult task, especially for students. Whether it’s mass violence in history or the violence of today—like the recent mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida where 17 people were murdered by a former student. Both adults and young people are left to grapple with why these events happen and how to process them.

Today’s News, Tomorrow’s History is an ongoing series with Listenwise. This series connects Facing History’s themes with today’s current events using public radio to guide and facilitate discussions around the social issues of our time. We will take a look at the protests over the Chinese National Anthem in Hong Kong.