How can communities repair past injustices?

2 Day (55 Minute Classes), 11-12 Grade

Students will explore ways in which various community members have sought justice for the 1946 arson murder of O’Day Short and his family in Fontana, California. Students will analyze primary source documents to research attempts to bring this injustice to light, repair the harm, and commemorate the Short family’s death. After exploring and discussing primary sources, students will write an argumentative paragraph answering the question “Has the injustice of the firebombing and death of the Short family been repaired?” Students will apply what they have learned about repairing past injustices to research and bring to light an issue or incident that affects their community, and produce a 30-60 second “Instagram Reel” that highlights the issue and proposes an action to address the injustice.

Curriculum Activism African American Fontana Segregation

Equal Access to Public Pools

2 Days (55 Minute Classes), 11-12 Grade

In what ways does having access to public pools impact a community? Students will learn about the creation of public pools and the challenges presented to equal access by exploring historic access to pools in three Inland Empire cities: the Fairmount Park Plunge in Riverside during the 1920s, the Sylvan Plunge in Redlands in the 1930s, and the Perris Hill Plunge in San Bernardino during the 1940s. Students will identify why having access to a public pool was important then and now – and how it impacts individuals and the community. Finally, students will research and map access to public pools in their own community to analyze current needs.

Curriculum African American Civil Rights Latina/o/x Redlands Riverside San Bernardino Segregation

Building Spaces of Belonging, Resistance & Care in the IE

4-day lesson (55-minute class periods)

How have Inland Empire communities built and sustained spaces of belonging, resistance, and care across generations? Students use historical images from Riverside’s Eastside to explore the concept of spatial entitlement, the idea that marginalized communities have the right to claim and shape space for belonging, resistance, and care. Students will learn the concept of spatial entitlement through personal reflection, an analysis of Orange Valley Lodge, and the study of sonic spaces inspired by Gaye Theresa Johnson’s Spaces of Conflict, Sounds of Solidarity. Students will then research a local Inland Empire space and creating a historical “postcard” that illustrates how the site embodies spatial entitlement. The lesson culminates with a peer postcard exchange and analysis, deepening their understanding of local histories and the power of place.

Curriculum African American Asian American Business Community Leaders Ethnic Studies Latina/o/x Native American Riverside