Heritage & Identity Recognitions

Learn about the history of Martin Luther King Jr. Day: The National Museum of African American History & Culture details the 15 year battle to make Martin Luther King, Jr. Day a holiday.

Accurately represent Dr. King’s commitment to social justice: Learning for Justice details the ways that teachers can avoid “a sanitized narrative” about Dr. King’s work, and accurately represent and teach his “more radical approach to justice” which requires antiracist action and not colorblind neutrality. 

Teach the complexity of Dr. King’s work:

• There’s Infinitely More to Martin Luther King Jr. Than ‘I Have a Dream’: “One of my students wrote, ‘We never hear about King’s other ideas because the people in power are afraid that we might try to take up some of King’s ideas and make it a reality’” (Zinn Education Project)

• Teaching A People’s History of the March on Washington:  “Textbook accounts [of the 1963 March on Washington] conceal more than they reveal about the Civil Rights Movement… [and a] depiction of King and his “dream of a colorblind society” also hides many of the larger demands of the movement that King fought for.  (Rethinking Schools)

Learn about the origin of International Holocaust Remembrance Day:  The Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp was liberated on January 27, 1945. The United Nations first recognized the International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust as January 27, 2005. 

Accurately represent the Holocaust’s victims:
The Holocaust Encyclopedia offers a series of articles and resources on Nazi racial ideology, exploring the full range of targeted groups, including Jews, Roma, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and homosexuals. (Please note that some images may be upsetting.) 

Teach the complexity of the Holocaust:

• Guidelines for Teaching About the Holocaust: “In any study of the Holocaust, the sheer number of victims challenges comprehension. Show that individual people—grandparents, parents, and children—are behind the statistics and emphasize the diversity of personal experiences within the larger historical narrative.” (United States Holocaust Memorial Museum)

• The Holocaust Lesson I Regret Teaching:  “[My mentor] pointed out that simulations were never appropriate in the context of Holocaust education… our students couldn't understand the boxcar scenario, nor should we traumatize them into thinking they could.  My job, [my mentor] told me, was "to lead my students safely in and safely out of this topic." (Chalkbeat)

Recognize Black History Month at your school: The Center for Racial Justice in Education provides a Black History Month resource guide with the purpose of “ensuring the ongoing integration of Black history and experiences… to uplift every student and reinforce that Black Lives Matter everyday.”

Storycorps curates Black voices of the past and present, bringing together “stories that center Black voices in conversations about Black history, identity, struggles, and joy.”

Reimagine February with Black Futures Month: In her essay, “How Long Till Black Future Month,” novelist N. K. Jemisen writes, “Everyone jokes that of course Black history gets celebrated only during the shortest month of the year. No one seems puzzled by the fact that there is no time correspondingly devoted to examining, celebrating, or imagining the black future.”

Black Futures Month, founded in 2025 by the Movement for Black Lives is dedicated to “a reimagining of life as we know it and a revolutionary transformation of the beliefs, norms, and systems that reject our humanity.”

​Recognize Lunar New Year celebrations:  The Lunar New Year is celebrated under various names across East Asia. In Chinese communities, it's known as the Spring Festival or Chinese New Year. Vietnamese people celebrate Tet Nguyen Dan, Koreans observe Seollal, Tibetans observe in Losar, and Mongolians mark Tsagaan Sar. In Thailand, the new year is Songkran; Balinese communities celebrate Nyepi, and Filipino-Chinese communities observe Tsinoy.

“Learning About Lunar New Year”, from WeTeachNYC and the New York City Department of Education provides sample lessons and activities for exploring Lunar New Year with grades K-8.

Learn about the history of Women’s History Month:  Britannica documents the myths and facts about Women’s History Month in the United States. International Women’s Day on March 8 has been celebrated for over 100 years - see the United Nations’ timeline.

Recognize Women’s History Month in your school and community: Access resources and lesson plans for Women’s History Month at the Anti-Defamation League.

Listen to Women’s Voices: In 2021, the New York Times asked women leaders, including Deb Haaland and Patrice Cullors, about the meaning of Women’s History Month at a moment of upheaval and transition. Angela Ceseña reflected, “This year’s Women’s History Month gives me hope during such challenging times.”

Learn about International Transgender Day of Visibility:  Founded in 2009 by activist Rachel Crandall, the Transgender Day of Visibility (TDOV) was created to honor the achievements and contributions of transgender people, and raise awareness of the work that still needs to be done to achieve justice for the trans community. Read President Biden’s 2023 Proclamation on TDOV.

Recognize International Transgender Day of Visibility at your school:GLSEN’s TDOV resources, including downloads, book lists, and guides, are designed for all members of school communities to take actions to help create trans-inclusive school environments. 

Listen to trans voices: Celebrating Changemakers by HRC: Stories from the Transgender and Gender Non-Conforming Community shares experiences and stories from the trans community, celebrating progress and combating transphobia, stigma and anti-trans violence.

Learn about the history of AAPI Heritage Month:  May marks Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, which celebrates the histories of Americans hailing from across the Asian continent and from the Pacific islands of Melanesia, Micronesia and Polynesia. Learn why we celebrate AAPI heritage this month in an article from NPR. 

Recognize AAPI Heritage Month in your school and community:  The Very Asian Foundation shines a light on Asian experiences and stories through advocacy and celebration. Inspired by a group of St. Louis students who asked for more AAPI books, The May Book Project brings curated book lists to expand representation and celebration of the AAPI experience in classrooms.

Listen to AAPI Voices:  As a part of Education Week’s Voices from the Field project, three AAPI Academic Leaders at independent schools reflect on the intersections of their work, and their identity. Hear from a department chair, a middle school director, and a class dean. ​

​Learn about the history of Jewish American Heritage Month:  Established in 2006, by President George W. Bush, Jewish American Heritage Month recognizes the rich history and contributions of Jewish Americans to the nation's social, cultural, and scientific landscape.

Recognize Jewish American Heritage Month in your school:  The National Endowment for the Humanities shares resources, primary sources, and teaching materials that explore topics including George Washington’s 1790 Letter to the Hebrew Congregation in Newport; Jewish artists, musicians, and performers; and the history of Jewish immigration to the United States.

Listen to Jewish American voices:  Kirsten Fermaglich is a professor in the Department of History in the College of Social Science at Michigan State University. She writes, “As we have witnessed an upsurge in American antisemitism for the past several years, from Charlottesville to Pittsburgh to Colleysville, Texas, studying American Jewish history feels more important than ever.”

Learn about the history of Pride:  Pride began as a political commemoration of the 1969 Stonewall riots and protests–spurred and led by Black and Latinx trans women–in New York City and evolved into a month-long affirmation and celebration of LGBTQIA+ identity. 

Recognize LGBTQIA+ Pride in your school and community:  Access lesson plans about the history of Pride and LGBTQIA+ history and activism in the U.S. from the Human Rights Campaign’s Welcoming Schools initiative. 

Listen to LGBTQIA+ Voices: Teach for America alum Dwayne J Bensing reflects on his experiences as an out gay middle school science and social studies teacher. Now Legal Director of Delaware’s ACLU chapter, Bensen writes, “I brought my full, authentic self into the classroom. I believe my students benefited. I take pride in that.” ​

​Learn about the history of Juneteenth:  At the Zinn Education Project, Christopher Wilson, Experience Design Director at Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History, writes “Very often, Juneteenth is presented as a story of ‘news’ of the Emancipation Proclamation ‘traveling slowly’ to the Deep South and Texas, but it was really a story of power traveling slowly, and of freedom being seized.”

Recognize Juneteenth at your school:  The National Museum of African American History and Culture provides a framework and resources for teaching elementary-aged children about the context, meaning, and celebration of Juneteenth.

One voice:  In this photo essay, Elroy "EJ" Johnson, a middle school history teacher in Dallas, documents Juneteenth celebrations and depicts “both Black joy and Black resistance in neighborhoods that have a long history to the Black community in Dallas.”

Learn about the history of Disability Pride Month:  
Disability Pride Month marks the anniversary of the signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act on July 26, 1990. This timeline from the National Center for Learning Disabilities marks the key events that predate its passage and mark its evolution.

Recognize Disability Pride Month in Your School and Community: 
Explore lesson plans about ability, history, equity, and inclusion from Disability Equality in Education, a “cross-disability organization led by disabled people who are experts in the fields of inclusive disability education and advocacy.”

Listen to the Voices of People With Disabilities:  
Journalist Cathy Reay writes, “Even with the effort some of us put into telling the world about it, year on year Disability Pride Month tends to pass by largely unnoticed by those outside our community… But when the global disabled community is made up of more than one billion people, why wouldn’t people take it seriously? And why aren't more people talking about it?” ​

Learn about the history
Hispanic vs. Latino vs. Latinx: A Brief History of How These Words Originated--“What we call ourselves is as complicated as our history in the United States… And while the language we use is important, perhaps what matters most is whether or not these words are helping us fight for everyone in our communities.”

Recognize in your school community
5 Teacher Resources for Hispanic American Heritage Month--Facing History provides documentaries, multimedia resources, and webinars “designed to help educators bring the richness of Latinx life and history into focus in the classroom.” 

Afro-Latinidad: Who Gets to Claim It?--“When you don't have data that is able to be disaggregated to see the ways in which race, anti-Blackness, is having an effect on some Latino students differently from those who are white appearing, you're not able to measure and account for that problem and then address it.”

Listen to voices
UnidosUS Releases a 2021 Latinx LGBTQ+ Fact Sheet to Promote More Inclusive Educational Practices and Policies--Unidos US’s 2021 report on Latinx LBGTQ+ students documents the need for inclusive and supportive school communities that work against bullying and for wellbeing, safety, and belonging.

Consider a new approach to teaching LGBTQ+ history:  “I believe that it is especially crucial to consider an even more transformational change of the curriculum beyond inclusion of the themes of LGBTQ+ marginalization, oppression, resistance, and persistence. I want to encourage teachers to teach the history of queer joy. “

Bring LGBTQ+ history into your classroom:  Dive into lesson plans that center LGBTQ+ identity throughout the past 160 years of U.S. history, created by One Institute, the oldest active LGBTQ+ organization and archives in the country, and the UCLA History-Geography Project

Listen to LGBTQ+ voices:  Over twelve seasons of podcasts, “Making Gay History'' has explored the LGBTQ+ civil rights movements of the 20th and 21st centuries. Drawing from historian Eric Marcus's rich audio archive, it presents "intimate, personal portraits of both known and long-forgotten champions, heroes, and witnesses to history." 

To honor both LGBTQ+ history and Latinx heritage this month, explore intersectionality:  This resource from the GSA Network provides ideas and resources for schools and students to celebrate the diverse experiences and contributions of LGBTQ+ Latinx activists, artists, and families. 

Break down stereotypes and assumptions about Indigenous People’s Day:  Illuminative, a Native women-led national nonprofit, works to “build power for Native peoples by amplifying contemporary Native voices, stories, and issues to advance justice, equity, and self-determination.” Their guides about Indigenous representation, and appropriate practices for conversations about Indigenous identity at school are invaluable for educators. 

Listen to Indigenous voices:  Standing Rock Sioux novelist and essayist Susan Power writes in her essay, “Native in the Twenty-first Century”:  “We’re standing up for Turtle Island and the waters, we’re standing up for the future we refuse to gamble away as if it doesn’t matter, as if it should be someone else’s story, someone else’s problem… They’ve been educating us for years, for several lost generations, but we’re up-ending that one-sided desk, that one-sided conversation that can only tell stories in a single direction.” 

Acknowledge and amplify Indigenous knowledge:  One Schoolhouse educator Amanda Rosas discusses decolonizing teaching and affirming Indigenous knowledge systems without appropriating them. She urges educators to be both truthful and inclusive: "If we want our students to seek truth and justice, we must be willing to be co-leaders and participants in the search."

Explore the history of National Coming Out Day:  First celebrated in 1988, National Coming Out Day, centers queer identities and highlights the transformative political power of LGBTQ+ visibility: “The more we are able to share our stories and highlight our own experiences, the more it urges others to stand in their own truths as well."

Understand Coming Out today:  The process of coming out continues to evolve as generations shift. In this article from the Seattle Times, high school students and young adults “reflect on what it’s like to come out at a time of social change, but when it is still… dangerous to be openly queer in the majority of the world.” 

Listen to coming out narratives:  Read personal stories from The Reckoning, a digital publication dedicated to shifting narratives and amplifying voices of LGBTQ+ Black male-identified people: “[Coming out] was a clear choice for me: I could continue to shrink myself into a version that people found acceptable, or I could stand in my truth and deal with the consequences of choosing honesty over lies, truth over fear.”

Reflect on the history and context of Native American Heritage Month:  November was first designated as Native American Heritage month in 1990, and Native American Heritage Day is observed this year on November 24. In this blog post, Native Hope, an organization that “exists to address the injustice done to Native Americans… to bring healing and inspire hope” writes to describe what Thanksgiving can mean to Native Americans: “Thanksgiving and Native American Heritage Day give us the opportunity to reflect on our collective history and to celebrate the beauty, strength, and resilience of the Native tribes of North America."

Rethink your approach to teaching about Native and Indigenous peoples:  First Nations, an American Indian nonprofit, provides schools and educators with “4 Reasons to Rethink Your November.” Resources from the Native Knowledge 360° Education Initiative, a project of the National Museum of American Indian, can help you and your school in “transforming teaching and learning about Native Americans.” Their site provides extensive educational resources and professional development to ensure that your teaching about Native and Indigenous people is accurate, inclusive, and affirming. 

Listen to Native voices:  Novelist Tommy Orange (Cheyenne and Arapaho) profiles independent high school student Jeffrey Martinez (Sicangu and Oglala Lakota):  “For many teenagers, leaving home for college is an escape. For Jeffrey, it seems like a solemn duty… Somehow the seven Lakota valuesapplied to Jeffrey Martinez are an equation that equals escape, not from home but from a system made and not made for people like Jeffrey.”

Explore the origins of the Transgender Day of Remembrance and Resilience:  The first Transgender Day of Remembrance was held in 1999 as a vigil to commemorate the murder of Rita Hester, a Black trans woman in Boston, MA and to remember all trans lives lost to violence. In 2014, the Trans Day of Resilience art project was founded “for and by trans people of color” in partnership with The Audre Lorde Project (New York City, NY), BreakOUT (New Orleans, LA), and Forward Together (Oakland, CA). Both commemorations seek to call attention to the violence that affects trans people, and to remember and honor the diversity, strength, and resistance of the trans community.

Learn the facts about trans students’ experiences:  The Transgender Day of Remembrance / Resilience is preceded by Transgender Awareness Week from November 13 - 19. This infographic on Transgender Youth in Schools identifies the challenges and supports that affect trans students’ experiences. If your school chooses to hold a vigil on November 20, In Memoriam lists for 2017 through 2022 (from GLAAD) and for 2023 (from Human Rights Campaign) can be found online.

Listen to trans students’ voices:  Trans youth on GLSEN’s National Student Council talk about the support they need from educators and allies when schools observe the Transgender Day of Remembrance / Resilience: “We have to talk about the death and suffering of trans people to develop a comprehensive and widespread understanding of why it’s happening, who is causing it, and what resources need to be compiled to prevent it.”

Explore the International Day of Persons with Disabilities.  Proclaimed by the United Nations, the International Day of Persons with Disabilities promotes the rights and well-being of persons with disabilities every year on December 3.. The day raises awareness of the political, economic, social and cultural aspects on how disability affects people around the world. The theme of this year’s observance is “United in action to rescue and achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for, with and by persons with disabilities.”

Recognize International Day of Persons with Disabilities in your school.  This paper from Inclusive Schools is for educators looking to improve and expand inclusive educational practices in their schools. The resources from Understood can help you build a stronger, more equitable, more inclusive workplace. 

Seek out voices and resources.“The principal said I couldn’t go to school because I was a fire hazard.” Judy Heumann, regarded as one of the founders of the disability rights movement in the United States, passed away in March 2023. Her activism was instrumental in passing Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973–the crucial federal legislation that entitles equal access to education for all students. Heumann’s 2018 TED talk describes the activism that led to the law’s passage.
Making December Inclusive 

​As we approach the end of the calendar, schools often have traditions and celebrations that focus on winter holidays. To ensure that all students feel included in your school’s practices, here are a few links that can spur conversations among educators and in the classroom:

• Rethinking Winter Holidays | Learning for Justice

• Winter Holidays: December Dilemma or Teaching Opportunity? | ADL

• A Racial Justice Guide to the Winter Holiday Season | Center for Racial Justice in Education

• How to responsibly and respectfully represent holidays and traditions within the art room | Anti-Racist Art Teachers

• Anti-Bias Education and Holidays: Making Thoughtful Decisions | NAEYC