by Kate Schatz, Illustrated by Miriam Klein Stahl
Ten Speed Press
3/3/2020, hardcover
SKU: 9781984856838
From the New York Times bestselling team behind Rad American Women A-Z comes an illustrated collection of radical and transformative political, social, and cultural movements in American history.
In Rad American History A-Z, each letter of the alphabet tells the story of a significant moment in America's progressive history--one that isn't always covered in history classes: A is for Alcatraz, and the Native occupation of 1969; C is for the Combahee River Raid, a Civil War action planned in part by Union spy Harriet Tubman; Z is for Zuccotti Park, and the Occupy movement that briefly took over the world.
Paired with dynamic paper-cut art by Miriam Klein Stahl, the entries by Kate Schatz explore several centuries of politics, culture, art, activism, and liberation, including radical librarians, Supreme Court cases, courageous youth, punk rocker grrrls, Southern quilts, and modern witches. In addition to the twenty-six core stories, short sidebars expand the discussion, and dictionary-style lists refer readers to additional key moments. So while F is for Federal Theater Project, a New Deal-era program that employed thousands of artists, F is also for Freedom Rides and First Amendment. E is for Earth First!, but also for Endangered Species Act and Equal Rights Amendment.
There are tales of triumph, resilience, creation, and hope. Each engaging, fact-filled narrative illustrates an eye-opening moment that shows us how we got to now--and what we need to know about our histories to create a just and sustainable future.
Reviews:
"As multifaceted as the nation itself, Rad American History A-Z is an alphabet's worth of movements and moments that have shaped the United States, including many history-makers such as young people who are often marginalized or omitted from traditional textbooks. Kate Schatz's lively, accessible text and Miriam Klein Stahl's energetic original art combine in a clear-eyed yet hopeful view of our shared history as a living thing--something we are all still creating." --Rebecca Stefoff, adapter of Howard Zinn's A Young People's History of the United States and James W. Loewen's Lies My Teacher Told Me: Young Readers' Edition
"I wish I'd had Rad American History A-Z when I was growing up; it's a book I hope to read to my children one day. In such chaotic political times, this is a critical tool for young people to know how change happens, and to know that they, too, can make change happen. This book belongs on all library shelves as a transformative approach to history as we know it." --Alicia Garza, cofounder of Black Lives Matter Global Network
About the Contributors:
Kate Schatz is a feminist writer, activist, and educator. With illustrator Miriam Klein Stahl, she is the author of the New York Times bestsellers Rad American Women A-Z and Rad Women Worldwide, as well as My Rad Life: A Journal and Rad Girls Can. Kate is the co-founder of Solidarity Sundays, a nationwide network of feminist activist groups, and she speaks often about politics, resistance, feminism, race, parenting, and more.
Miriam Klein Stahl is an artist, educator, and activist. In addition to her work in printmaking, drawing, sculpture, and paper-cut and public art, she is also the co-founder of the Arts and Humanities Academy at Berkeley High School, where she has taught since 1995.