Tying History and Social Justice together with Lit

[moonlight]

What are your favourite books you would read for World Lit and American Lit that discuss social justice issues?

 

Thanks

[Liza Q]

Frederick Douglass, then Booker T Washington, then WEB DuBois, then Malcolm X. I'm sure there are other writers and memoirs but I have found these to be a good amount to add to a year of US history.

 

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[Sneezyone]

There are sooooo many great choices out there. Here's a really comprehensive series of lists.

 

https://www.goodreads.com/list/tag/social-justice

 

 

Edited February 17, 2017 by Sneezyone

[katilac]

I'm going to be obnoxious and add OTHER things to your list, lol.

 

Folk and protest songs are a great add-on to social justice reading! And many of them are just damn fine music. The 1950s and 1960s are famous for them, but there are certainly plenty in other eras. 

 

To make a list, just google "protest songs" or "topic protest songs" or "era protest songs." 

[EKS]

I don't know if this is what you're looking for, but I always wanted to incorporate this into one of our courses.

[ikslo]

Child of Dandelions

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2791008-child-of-dandelions?from_search=true

[EndOfOrdinary]

I have found the message of marginalized historical figures comes out stronger in movies. This is not to eliminate books. However, you might consider these documentaries specifically about lost social justice heroes. Many are not mentioned in history books because they have stepped outside social norms.

 

Brother Outsider: Life of Bayard Rustin; Bidder 70 (about Tim DeChristopher); Iron Jawed Angels (sufferage); Out of the Past (LGBTQ)

 

Books: Blessed Unrest; Letters to A Young Activist; Civil Disobedience; Anything by Vandana Shiva (one of the most amazing women in the world! I am partial to "EcoFeminism"); Story of an Hour by Kate Chopin OR The Awakening by Kate Chopin; Hot Red Salsa: Bilingual Poems on Being Latino in the United States; Indigenous People's History of the United States; House on Mango Street; We've Got A Job (Children's March of 1963); Sisters of the Revolution; True Story of a Part Time Indian; Don't Let Me Be Lonely OR Citizen by Claudia Rankine; Eyes Wide Open; Just Mercy; Class Lives; We Should All Be Feminists.....I have dozens more. My son lead his first major protest when he was 9.

 

I have a kid who has had a legal team of advisors to keep him from being arrested for his socisl justice and environmental work. These keep us going many days. Many are brutal. They hurt, but that is the point. Others have you wanting to lead a rebellion, but that is also the point.

[historymatters]

On the stream about folk music, I'd suggest the "negro spirituals" of the mid-19th cen. Their aords have symbolism beyond the Biblical allusion and spiritual strength they provided, as many carried dbl meanings about about the Underground Railroad, specifically.

 

Also, "Battle Hymn of the Republic" was written as a "pro-Union" cause song during the War.

[moonlight]

Thank you everyone!! Putting a list together to include more than just books!