This worksheet guides pupils to explore the online version of an exhibition at the Museum of the City of New York. “Activist New York” looks at the history of protest movements in the city from the 17th Century to today, fights for workers’ rights, civil rights, votes for women or free speech. The “Political and … Continue reading “Activist New York”
African American novelist Colson Whitehead has joined an exclusive club of only four authors who have won Pulitzer Prizes for literature for two different novels. After 2017’s prize for The Underground Railroad, Whitehead has been awarded the 2020 prize for The Nickel Boys, set in the Civil Rights era and based on the true story … Continue reading “Double Pulitzer for Colson Whitehead”
Music has great power to inspire us and lift our mood. Which we could all do with a bit of at the moment. We were trying to think of work to set pupils at home that was positive and good for the soul: what better than a little soul music? So here is the first … Continue reading “Feelgood Music”
A new film tells the true story of a battle against endemic racism in the American justice system. It’s based on a memoir by Bryan Stevenson, a lawyer in Alabama, and tells the story of his firm’s battle to prove the innocence of Walter McMillian, who was condemned to death for a murder he didn’t … Continue reading “Just Mercy”
What does it mean to be British, French or European? In the light of Brexit, journalist Alex Taylor will discuss this thorny question in a free talk at the British Council on Thursday 5 March. Taylor is proudly bi-national, bi-cultural and multilingual. A convinced European, he has been reporting on Europe, and Britain, in France … Continue reading “Alex Taylor on What it Means to Be British”
Students at Georgetown University in Washington, DC, have voted to pay reparations to the descendants of 272 slaves sold by the Jesuit university in 1838. A long-running campaign by students has identified descendants of the 272, who were sold to plantations in Louisiana. A student referendum voted for each student to pay a small amount … Continue reading “Payback for Slavery”
Juneteenth is an American celebration marking the end of slavery, when news of the Emancipation Proclamation finally reached the last U.S. state, Texas on June 19, 1865. These digital resources can be used to add to Shine Bright 2e File 19 “Breaking the Chains”. Read more about the history and traditions of Juneteenth in our … Continue reading “The End of Slavery: Juneteenth”
Adapting a scene from a book as a film scene, or a film scene as prose, is an excellent English-learning exercise. To see how the experts do it, a talk at the American Library in Paris analyses the adaptation of one of America’s classic books into one of its classic films. Judith Merians, Hollywood executive … Continue reading “To Kill a Mockingbird: Adapting to Film”
Britain’s celebrated modern dance company, Rambert, is celebrating singer Nina Simone with a dance-theatre piece featuring musicians live on stage. Simone, who died in 2003, was one of the great, and unclassifiable, popular singers of the 20th century, and a strong proponent of Civil Rights. Simone was born in North Carolina in 1933. She had … Continue reading “Dancing Nina Simone”
To commemorate the 75th anniversary the D-Day landings, the Mémorial de Caen is hosting a touring exhibition dedicated to Norman Rockwell’s depictions of President Roosevelt’s vision of a post-war future. Franklin D. Roosevelt first formulated the “Four Freedoms” in 1941 for his State of the Union speech: Freedom of Speech, Freedom of Worship, Freedom from … Continue reading “Save the Date: Rockwell in Caen”