Seven Social Movements that Changed America

SEVEN SOCIAL MOVEMENTS THAT CHANGED AMERICA by Linda Gordon is a penetrating look at events and happenings during the twentieth century. Gordon, an author and historian who has won numerous prizes for her biography of Dorthea Lange, reflects on several movements that still reverberate today. For example, one is the early work on old age pensions, eventually included in the Social Security Act of 1935, and highlighting the elderly as an activist political force. Other chapters discuss the efforts to unionize farm workers, promote civil rights in the 1950s and 1960s, and the subsequent women’s liberation movement. A more distressing example is the influence of the Ku Klux Klan (developed even further in Gordon’s 2017 text The Second Coming of the KKK) – and echoed, sadly, in the “very fine people on both sides” comments about the white nationalists protesting in Charlottesville. Gordon writes, “I am telling these stories [the seven social movements] in a way designed to reveal their commonalities as well as their distinctiveness.” Her tone is rather academic, and she argues that “‘followers’ often exerted vital but less often-recognized leadership.” Whether she is exploring early settlement houses and the fight against poverty, or efforts to establish job programs in the 1930s, her text offers researchers and scholars a thoughtful analysis and many details of value. At least a fourth of the book lists references and footnotes.

Young and Restless By Mattie Kahn

YOUNG AND RESTLESS by Mattie Kahn is subtitled “the Girls who Sparked America's Revolutions.” This title offers a unique look at lesser-known American girls like Mabel Ping-Hua Lee, the first woman to receive a PhD from Columbia and campaigner for women's suffrage. Students may recognize those, like Linda Brown and Claudette Colvin, who are associated with civil rights struggles. More contemporary examples include Alice de Rivera who broke the barrier at all-male Stuyvesant High School in New York or Naomi Wadler who (like X González, Jaclyn Corin, Samantha Fuetes, and Delaney Tarr) led protests for gun reform after the shootings at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. YOUNG AND RESTLESS appears on the Next Big Idea Book Club list for June 2023 and was heralded by both Vogue and Glamour as one of the Best Books so far of 2023. Students will likely be surprised and inspired by many of the stories. Notes and a bibliography make up roughly forty percent of the text, providing ample options for follow-up research efforts. In the past, we have also offered projects on health advocacy by teens and on Malala or older international activists.

They Called Me a Lioness

THEY CALLED ME A LIONESS by Ahed Tamimi and Dena Takruri describes “A Palestinian Girl's Fight for Freedom.” From Nabi Saleh in the occupied West Bank, Tamimi is a student activist compared at times to Malala Yousafzai and Takuri is an award-winning journalist who has worked at HuffPost Live and Al Jazeera Arabic. Together, these women craft a story of resistance to Israeli soldiers which will certainly get our students’ attention. The introduction begins with Tamimi in an Israeli jail, thinking, “I’m only sixteen years old and in my senior year of high school. … I’m supposed to be studying right now, not sitting here under house arrest. I’m supposed to graduate in a few months, not be locked up in prison.” They have a firm position and write vividly about “Israel’s campaign to ethnically cleanse the land of its native Palestinian population” beginning in 1948, about the 1967 war, and about “growing up under a foreign military occupation.” Tamimi shares horrific stories of her aunt’s death and her father’s imprisonment and torture. Although difficult to read at times,THEY CALLED ME A LIONESS received a starred review from Kirkus. Sadly, the sacrifice and turmoil in this area still needs to be brought to the world’s attention. An older work worth investigating is Fast Times in Palestine by Pamela J. Olson.

Fire and Flood - plus One Green Thing

Alarmed by the recent spate of wildfires in the West and massive floods throughout Kentucky? We have FIRE AND FLOOD by Eugene Linden on our shelves. This non-fiction work deals with the impact of our failure to confront the ongoing climate crisis. Linden is an award-winning journalist and writer of numerous books on science, nature, and the environment. He subtitles his latest “a people's history of climate change, from 1979 to the present.” In it, he divides the text so as to recount events and missed opportunities from the 1980s, 1990s, and first two decades of this century. The final chapter (“A Narrow Path to a Livable Future”) argues that “stronger measures than far-off dates for carbon neutrality are needed to avert calamity” and advocates for the use of universal climate tariffs that would be imposed if a nation did not meet its emission targets. Linden comments extensively on economic incentives (“business as usual has enormously powerful momentum in our society”) and disincentives for corporate action. Imagine his reaction to a recent – and shocking – New York Times investigation by David Gelles (who reviewed more than 10,000 pages of documents and emails in preparing the article, “How Republicans Are ‘Weaponizing’ Public Office Against Climate Action”). FIRE AND FLOOD received starred reviews from Library Journal (“should be on every person’s bookshelf”) and Publishers Weekly (an “urgent look at the causes and progression of climate change”). An important quote is one from F. Sherwood Rowland (from his speech accepting the Nobel Prize in chemistry in 1995) with which Linden opens his book: “What is the use of having developed a science well enough to make predictions, if, in the end, all we’re willing to do is stand around and wait for them to come true?”

If you are seeking to “Discover Your Hidden Power to Help Save the Planet,” Heather White has written ONE GREEN THING as a guide. White is a lawyer who has been involved for decades in the energy and environmental sectors and founded the nonprofit OneGreenThing.org. The website, like her new book, encourages readers to take the Service Superpower Assessment, thereby identifying the particular skill(s) which each individual can contribute. Examples include the adventurer, the influencer, the spark, and the wonk. White talks about follow-up actions (e.g., promoting inter-generational conversations or menu planning to reduce food waste or limiting fast fashion purchases) and offers inspiring cameos on climate activists. Each chapter features a series of takeaways, checklists, and “green touchpoints;” plus, there is a section of notes, an index, and links for more resources provided in an appendix. White’s user-friendly text will likely appeal to students and its many journal prompts could offer an opportunity for introspection in advisories as well as Science, Business, or even Health classes.

NOTE: added links about heat increase from Axios and a Risk Factor Analysis from First Street Foundation

The Kaepernick Effect and Miracles on the Hardwood

I have not written about sports in a while, so here goes:  THE KAEPERNICK EFFECT by Dave Zirin is subtitled “Taking a Knee, Changing the World” and clearly encompasses social justice issues as well as sports. Zirin, a prolific author and the host of Sirius XM’s Edge of Sports Radio, describes the impact and ensuing conversations at high schools, colleges, and the pro level of “hundreds if not thousands of young athletes who took a knee during the national anthem in protest of racism and police brutality.” Zirin quotes Kaepernick as saying: “I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses Black people and people of color. To me, this is bigger than football and it would be selfish on my part to look the other way.” Zirin explores why other athletes followed that action and the impact it had on their lives. This is a high interest topic for our students and they will definitely relate to many of the examples and motivations that Zirin outlines. One particularly poignant comment: “Coaches enforce and reinforce this ethos, with a top-down structure that prizes winning over all else and sees any semblance of free thought as a 'distraction' from the ultimate goal.  This is true at every level of sports … but in high school, where the pressure to fit in is paramount, it is particularly pervasive.” THE KAEPERNICK EFFECT received starred reviews from both Library Journal and Publishers Weekly. 

If basketball is your sport, then take a look at MIRACLES ON THE HARDWOOD by John Gasaway, an analyst with ESPN. He explores in great detail “The Hope-and-a-Prayer Story of a Winning Tradition in Catholic College Basketball.” It is truly amazing the number of readily recognized Catholic colleges with strong basketball programs – places like Georgetown, Villanova, Marquette, Gonzaga, Loyola Chicago, just to name a few. Not only are there memorable coaches from the past and present, there are also plentiful players across the decades like Bob Cousy (Holy Cross in the 40s), Bill Russell (San Francisco in the 50s) or Patrick Ewing (Georgetown, 1980s), plus nationally recognized icons like today’s Sister Jean! Gasaway includes them all from the 1930s forward leading to many details which will appeal the most to ardent fans. For more anecdotes from MIRACLES ON THE HARDWOOD, see the review in The Wall Street Journal.