Who Run The World?

Women, and specifically women of color, have faced their fair share of challenges in America.  Women have made incredible contributions to our country, and yet, the contributions of many of these women still go unnoticed.  Recently, one of these stories has been unearthed.  Let’s watch this trailer together:

In the trailer for Hidden Figures, the character Mary Jackson says, “every time we have the chance to get ahead, they move the finish line.”  What do you think this quote means?  Who is “they”, and what is “the finish line”?

The story of these women, and this consequential movie, was brought into the light because someone started poking around and asking questions.  These questions are the very same questions that we ask to challenge the dominant narrative in Ms. Green’s class!  Whose voice is not being heard?  Who is being kept on the outside of this story?  This Newsela article looks deeper into the discovery of these women’s stories.  Read this article with a partner, annotate the passage, and answer the questions.  We will discuss as a class afterwards.

We’re going to be discovering our own “hidden figures.”  There are so many important stories that have gone untold in America’s history, and we’re going to start poking around and asking questions to uncover a handful of these stories for ourselves.

Your project:

We will be working to discover our own “hidden figures.”  You will be researching one woman, or group of women’s, contributions to American history and/or current events.

We will be pushing past the dominant narrative by researching women who are truly hidden figures (you can’t research Ruby Bridges, Malala, Helen Keller, etc.).  I expect you to research a woman we have not already talked about in class, or who would normally not be talked about in a US history class.

Your project is due Wednesday, March 1st, in celebration of Women’s History Month.  We will be presenting our projects throughout the month of March, and the best of the best will be featured on the blog.

To download instructions for your project, as well as an example project, click here.