Ideas This Week
Ideas This Week is your hub for updates on all things Facing History—from announcements and featured press to expert interviews, impact stories, and essays on the ideas driving our work.
Why We Remember Kristallnacht (Night of Broken Glass) (UK)
Kristallnacht is a stark reminder of the violence that can occur when antisemitism is left unchallenged.
![Torn apart shelves and damage in the department store Uhlfelder in Munich during Kristallnacht.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-12/Bundesarchiv_Bild_119-2671-07%2C_Mu%CC%88nchen%2C_Kaufhaus_Uhlfelder%2C_Zersto%CC%88rungen.jpg?h=0429cc9e&itok=x4NOC_DW)
Turning Point: the Anniversary of Kristallnacht and Why We Remember
Kristallnacht (Night of Broken Glass) is a violent moment in history that demonstrates the consequences of both targeted hate and passivity from bystanders.
![Picture of Jewish Merchants Remove Traces Of The Pogrom Of The Night (Kristallnacht).](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-11/Le_Me%CC%81morial_aux_juifs_assassine%CC%81s_dEurope_%28Berlin%29_%282704805986%29.jpg?h=7627bb82&itok=2XwC0-22)
Responding to Antisemitism in the Classroom
Use these tools to help students understand the impact of antisemitism and stand up against hate.
![Picture of Star Of David.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-10/Star%20Gate.png?h=27090159&itok=C9iceYGb)
Common Ground Revisited
Learn about the play Common Ground Revisited, which explores various ways that key historical actors may have experienced the 1970s school desegregation in Boston and the different ways that contemporary Bostonians relate to these historical events.
![Busing Information Phone Bank; City of Boston Mayor's Office in September 1974.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-08/Busing_Information_Phone%20Bank_City_Boston_Mayors_Office_September_1974.jpeg?h=18da7b47&itok=et7KRWL8)
Remembering Grace Lee Boggs
The story of Chinese American activist and philosopher, Grace Lee Boggs, provides an inspiring example of the effectiveness of cross-racial organizing work between Black and Asian communities in pursuing racial justice by discovering shared stakes, committing to collective action, and nurturing ongoing resistance.
![Grace Lee Boggs.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/Grace_Lee_Boggs_2012.jpeg?h=4c5c077f&itok=4q_QLFmO)
5 New YA Books on Women's History
Facing History provides a list of five YA titles that have been released in the last year that make important themes in women’s history and contemporary life accessible to young readers.
![Patriotic Graphic with Banner that reads Good Girls Don't Make History](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-04/Good_girls_dont_make_history_graphic.jpeg?h=a3f48866&itok=PmROzEKj)
5 New Books on Women's History for 2022
Facing History shares five books that have been released in the last year that address important themes in women’s history.
![Book Cover of Woman: The American History of an Idea](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-04/woman_book_cover_image_red.jpeg?h=ca0659a5&itok=HGXdCSu2)
4 Resources on Refugee Crises in Global Context
Explore resources that offer additional points of entry that educators can use to situate the Ukrainian refugee crisis in broader global histories of displacement and highlight its connections to other refugee crises unfolding around the globe.
![The definition of refugee spotlighted on a page](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-04/refugee_typed_definition_spotlight_image.png?h=a6c55029&itok=aVin1aQI)
10 Virtual Exhibitions on Women's History
Facing History provides links to 10 virtual exhibitions that teachers can use to introduce students to women's history.
![Woman waving at her computer while on a virtual call](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-04/woman_waving_computer_video_photo.jpeg?h=140710cd&itok=9ZnAKPzd)
Competing Visions of Black Civic Participation
The approaches that Black leaders have embraced across space and time are numerous and have encompassed assimilationist and integrationist conceptions of social change, alongside contrasting approaches rooted in Black self-determination and nationalism.
![Photo of Martin Luther King and Malcolm X Talking](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-04/MartinLutherKing_MalcolmX_talking_photo.jpeg?h=1cd998b4&itok=24p0LYIf)
Remembering Sidney Poitier
In January, the nation stood still as we learned that renowned actor Sidney Poitier passed away at 94 years old. Poitier was both an actor and an activist—and despite a mixed array of perspectives over the years on the ways that he represented Black people in film—he undoubtedly played a leading role in African Americans’ fight for civil rights and more positive media representations from the silver screen to the streets.
![Sidney Poitier 1968 Portrait Photo](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-04/Sidney_Poitier_1968_Portrait_Photo.jpeg?h=9582604b&itok=SRzDQdJX)
5 New YA Books on Black History and Life
Some members of the Facing History staff are exploring these five new books published within the last year, and we invite you to explore them alongside us and share your reactions with us. These 5 titles cover essential topics from Black history with young audiences and address contemporary experiences of young Black people.
![Cover for the book: Ain't All Burned the Bright](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-04/aint_burned_all_the_bright_book_cover.jpeg?h=2ce16ca3&itok=EOMN4a3M)