Table Of ContentEngage and Empower
Engage and Empower
Expanding the Curriculum for
Justice and Activism
Edited by
Mary Amanda Stewart
Christina Salazar
Victor Antonio Lozada
Christina Thomas
ROWMAN & LITTLEFIELD
Lanham • Boulder • New York • London
Published by Rowman & Littlefield
An imprint of The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc.
4501 Forbes Boulevard, Suite 200, Lanham, Maryland 20706
www .rowman .com
86-90 Paul Street, London EC2A 4NE, United Kingdom
Copyright © 2022 by Mary Amanda Stewart, Christina Salazar, Victor Antonio Lozada,
and Christina Thomas
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any
electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems,
without written permission from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote
passages in a review.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information Available
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Stewart, Mary Amanda, 1979– editor.
Title: Engage and empower : expanding the curriculum for justice and activism / edited
by Mary Amanda Stewart, Christina Salazar, Victor Antonio Lozada, Christina
Thomas.
Description: Lanham, Maryland : Rowman & Littlefield, 2022. | Includes bibliographical
references. | Summary: “This edited book provides ready-to-use, engaging curriculum
units for an integrated approach to teaching English language arts and U.S. history in
grades 4–12”—Provided by publisher.
Identifiers: LCCN 2021036911 (print) | LCCN 2021036912 (ebook) |
ISBN 9781475863062 (paperback) | ISBN 9781475863055 (cloth) |
ISBN 9781475863079 (epub)
Subjects: LCSH: Social justice and education—United States. | Language arts
(Elementary)—United States. | Language arts—Correlation with content
subjects—United States.
Classification: LCC LC192.2 .E64 2022 (print) | LCC LC192.2 (ebook) |
DDC 370.11/5—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021036911
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021036912
∞ ™ The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American
National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library
Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992.
To every student who has been ignored, devalued, and silenced.
You matter.
We value you.
May every teacher hear your beautiful voice.
Contents
Foreword ix
Tiffany A. Flowers
Introduction: Teachers Unbought and Unbossed xi
Mary Amanda Stewart
PART I: EFFECTS AND TRANSACTIONS OF EXPANSION,
COLONIALISM, AND MIGRATION 1
1 Colonialism and Native American Resiliency 3
Patricia Flint and Mariannella Núñez
2 Modern-Day Colonialism: Washington D.C., Puerto Rico, and
Other U.S. Territories 25
Marlene Walker
3 Immigration: The Fabric of Our Nation 39
Yismelle Duran
PART II: THE INFLUENCES OF LATIN AMERICA ON U.S.
CULTURE AND SOCIETY 57
4 Latinx Influencers: Past and Present Contributions to
America’s Greatness 59
Margarita Ramos-Rivera
5 Latinas as Change Agents: Feminist Activism in
the United States 71
Juan Borda
vii
viii Contents
PART III: AMERICA’S ORIGINAL SIN: UNDERSTANDING
AND RESPONDING TO RACISM 87
6 Antiracism: Understanding Our History to Co-create a
Better Future 89
Christina Thomas and Victor Antonio Lozada
7 Redlining: A Mechanism of Systemic Racism 103
Christina Salazar
8 Cultural (Mis)representations in the Media: Challenging
Hegemonic Ideas 121
Phyliciá Anderson
PART IV: EXPLORING THE DIVERSE LIVED
EXPERIENCES OF MODERN-DAY ADOLESCENTS 133
9 The Death of Childhood: Mass Shootings in the United States 135
Christina Thomas
10 Rap Music: Leveraging Hip-Hop Culture to Empower 147
Victor Antonio Lozada
11 Consent Isn’t Complicated: The Implications of the #MeToo
Movement 165
Christina Thomas
12 See Us: LGBTQ+ Issues for Representation, Empathy,
and Justice 179
Christina Salazar
Afterword 197
Isabel Morales
About the Editors 199
About the Contributors 201
Foreword
When I was invited to write the foreword for this book, I was excited to under-
take such an enormous responsibility. I was hopeful after reading several sec-
tions of this text. I knew that the authors of this work have compiled a strong
collection to show what integrated content instruction looks like across grade
levels with adaptable and understandable content. In my experience within
the field, one of the main reasons teachers have difficulty understanding these
concepts has to do with lack of readily available standards-based resource
materials they can use.
In the past thirty years, there have been numerous changes to landscape
of the field of education. Past theories, research, and teaching in the field of
education go far beyond the initial ideas of inclusion within the curriculum,
social justice frameworks, and racial representation. Current theories focus
on using a variety of texts, practical strategies for studying diverse histories,
and making critical conversations the norm. Many of these approaches pre-
viously include diversity work in isolation and were deemed as important.
However, the previous theories, research, and practice often fell short as
merely literature extensions in ELA classrooms, specialized curricula in
social studies classrooms, and various interpretations of classroom inquiry.
While we continue to redefine curriculum, national standards, and teaching
methods within the field, we must expand our existing understanding of these
concepts as well. Additionally, we must recognize quality practice related to
the new theories and research in the field. As more scholars continue to pro-
duce texts which connect theory, research, and practice, we will no doubt see
attempts to come to a consensus on the issues of teaching justice in English
Language Arts and classrooms in practice. Engage and Empower: Expanding
the Curriculum for Justice and Activism demonstrates a strong direction of
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