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.
Aliens in Their Own Land: The Incarceration of Japanese Americans
When racism and discrimination are deployed as national security measures, how can a nation make amends?
![An obelisk memorial with Japanese Kanji characters that read “Soul Consoling Tower.”](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2024-02/Manzanar_NHS_memorial_tower_3_0.jpg?h=9a3874b6&itok=pQmA5i7X)
Holocaust Remembrance Day: A Time for Reflection and Learning
In recognition of Holocaust Remembrance Day, we reflect on the profound loss of life, the experience of multigenerational trauma, and the pervasive stream of antisemitism that remains today.
![Candles in the shape of the Magen David (Star of David)](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2024-01/iStock-943678206.jpg?h=a49d782d&itok=yWNL_6Zl)
We Cannot Lose These Lessons: International Holocaust Remembrance Day
Holocaust remembrance honors the lost and informs the present: from survivor stories to the acts of perpetrators, we learn the consequences of hate.
![Color photograph of the Auschwitz-Birkenau Museum Gate From The Outside](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2023-01/lasma-artmane-yZ6UJvLDgKc-unsplash.jpg?h=4362216e&itok=AEh8gPm_)
Reflections on Plymouth: "This is where our people are."
Cheryl Andrews-Maltais talks about feelings around the Mayflower landing, celebrating Indigenous survival, and how to teach true history.
![Cheryl Andrews-Maltais, Chairwoman of the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head Aquinnah, is seen on July 8, 2019 in Boston, Boston Herald](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2023-09/Cheryl%20Andrews-Maltais%2C%20Chairwoman%20of%20the%20Wampanoag%20Tribe%20of%20Gay%20Head%20Aquinnah%2C%20is%20seen%20on%20July%208%2C%202019%20in%20Boston%2C%20Boston%20Herald.jpg?h=4362216e&itok=IjjcaSu_)
How Two Teenagers Created a Textbook for Racial Literacy
Activist and author Winona Guo discusses the importance of personal narratives in fostering racial literacy and promoting democracy.
![Winona Guo And Priya Vulchi At TED Talk](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2023-08/24270063028_4e8fb648da_o%20%281%29.jpg?h=b69e0e0e&itok=-tjt-JsC)
Commemorating UK Holocaust Memorial Day 2023
Resources, activities and events to support you in commemorating Holocaust Memorial Day 2023: Ordinary People.
![Berlin Holocaust Memorial](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2023-01/holocaust-memorial-3710509.jpg?h=b1301626&itok=seE0ziLH)
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)
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)
Why Teach Reconstruction Today?
Studying the history of Reconstruction reveals that American history is lined with recurring cycles of social progress and backlash in which everyday people have surmounted immense barriers to drive powerful change.
![Man representing the Freedman's Bureau stands between armed groups of Euro-Americans and Afro-Americans.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-09/Freedman_bureau_harpers_cartoon_FH21213.jpg?h=83f3d97f&itok=jf0SD3Wz)
How AAPI Thinkers are Redefining Asianness
Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) thought leaders reveal their experiences with “single stories” to demonstrate what it can look like to push back against restrictive narratives that dominate American society.
![The loneliest Americans book cover.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/tlabook_large-jpg.jpeg?h=ed0b1a50&itok=HQUl1c8B)
Teaching About Anti-Asian Violence: Start with Yourself and Your Community
Most school curriculum fails to adequately address Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) histories and identities, which contributes to a widespread lack of understanding that fuels the anti-AAPI hate we see today. Facing History provides suggestions and resources for educators to better address AAPI histories so as to avoid continuing this damaging trend.
![Man holding stop Asian hate sign.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/iStock-1307873903.jpeg?h=140710cd&itok=kSZdGfCX)
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)