Choosing to Participate

This section focuses on how understanding the past can connect with the issues of today. Contemporary stories show how history is made every day by ordinary human beings. Students begin to understand that they also have the power to change the course of history through their own individual actions. They explore what it means to be a citizen in a democracy, to exercise ones rights and responsibilities in the service of a more humane and compassionate world.

Please note that the resources listed below do not include our library resources available to teachers in our network. Please visit our lending library for this list. Learn more about how to become a part of the network.

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A Toolbox for Preventing Genocide During April 2004, commemorations across the world marked the 10th anniversary of the Rwandan Genocide in which more than 800,000 Tutsis and some Hutus were slaughtered in a bloody 100-day rampage. The commemorations were marked by solemn pledges from diplomats and human rights activists to never allow another "Rwanda.	Facing Today	03/30/2008 - 10:28
Albie Sachs, Freedom Fighter Albie Sachs, Justice of the Constitutional Court in South Africa, describes his elation after surviving an attempt on his life when he was fighting for freedom in that country. Sachs speaks at a Facing History and Ourselves community event.	Video Clip	06/19/2008 - 11:11
Anthony Lewis Speaks about Free Speech Journalist Anthony Lewis discusses a Supreme Court decision about freedom of speech: journalists are protected from the threat of libel in reporting about events such as the civil rights movement.	Video Clip	07/01/2008 - 15:59
Bea Gotthelf, Civil Rights Activist, Recalls the Civil Rights Movement Bea Gotthelf, who was active in the civil rights movement in Mississippi, recalls an incident that illustrates how scary the times were.	Video Clip	07/16/2008 - 10:47
Choices in Little Rock Choices in Little Rock is a teaching unit that focuses on efforts to desegregate Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas, in 1957 - efforts that resulted in a crisis that historian Taylor Branch once described as "the most severe test of the Constitution since the Civil War.	Publication	03/09/2008 - 13:31
Choosing to Participate This book examines how Americans have chosen to participate in the democratic process. It is about people who have volunteered their time and resources over the course of history to improve some aspect of their society.	Publication	03/09/2008 - 13:28
Choosing to Participate Study Guide This study guide is designed to accompany the exhibit and to elaborate its key challenge: to think deeply about what democracy really means, and what it asks of each of us. Choosing to Participate focuses on four stories about the meaning of civic participation and the critical need to promote a just society: 1.	Publication	02/23/2008 - 19:13
Civic Education Making Connections: Civic Education explores the role of schools in preparing students for their role as democratic citizens in an increasingly diverse, global society.1 Introduction "Can education help others to think for themselves and make their own decisions?" Facing History student Jamarr Johnson asked this question in a speech he presented at a Facing History and Ourselves event.	Facing Today	04/22/2008 - 11:03
Confronting September 11 In the aftermath of September 11, 2001, many people began to explore the complex issues of identity and religion. Accepted democratic ideals have begun to collide with issues of national security, creating a tension between neighbors and nations.	Facing Today	02/24/2008 - 11:23
Confronting September 11: A Vision of the World In the aftermath of the September 11th atrocities many scholars have commented that states and nations have become less important. What do we need to live in a world where, as political scientist Benjamin Barber notes, "it could hardly escape even casual observers that global warming recognizes no sovereign territory, that AIDS carries no passport, that technology renders national borders meaningless, that the internet defies regulation, that oil and cocaine addiction circle the planet like twin plagues.	Facing Today	02/24/2008 - 12:17