Social Activists

The New York Times best-selling true story of an all-American girl and a boy from Zimbabwe and the letter that changed both of their lives forever. It started as an assignment. Everyone in Caitlin's class wrote to an unknown student somewhere in a distant place....

February 19, 1942. George Takei is four years old when his world changes forever. Two months after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, President Franklin D. Roosevelt declares anyone of Japanese descent an enemy of the United States....

This chapter-book edition of the number-one New York Times best seller by luminaries Ibram X. Kendi and Jason Reynolds is an essential introduction to the history of racism and antiracism in America....

Each book in the series focuses on a particular character trait that made that role model heroic. For example, Rosa Parks dared to stand up for herself and other African Americans by staying seated, and helped end public bus segregation and launch the country’s Civil Rights Movement....

Once a kidnapped slave baby, George Washington Carver found freedom in learning everything he could about the world around him. Overcoming poverty and racism, George became a brilliant scientist and a gifted professor who dedicated his expertise to helping black farmers....

Coretta Scott King is known for being the wife of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., but she was a civil rights activist and leader in her own right! She was a singer and an author, too, and her work made a difference for Black Americans and for all women for decades to come....

In 1955, Rosa Parks refused to give her bus seat to a white passenger in Montgomery, Alabama. This seemingly small act triggered civil rights protests across America....

As featured in the Oscar-nominated documentary Crip Camp, and for fans of I Am Malala, one of the most influential disability rights activists in US history tells her story of fighting to belong....

Dr. William Edward DuBois pioneered the science of sociology. His detailed long-range study of an African American community in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, was the first of its kind....

Eric Greitens brings his adventures to life, sharing stories of friendship, struggle, and hard-earned wisdom....

At one time Lew Alcindor was just another kid from New York City with all the usual problems: He struggled with fitting in, with pleasing a strict father, and with overcoming shyness....

At age six the sharp bite of a whip taught Harriet Tubman what it meant to be a slave. The other slaves scoffed when Harriet resolved to escape north someday. Little did they know that this girl would one day lead hundreds of slaves to freedom on the Underground Railroad....

Growing up as a girl in Pakistan, Malala Yousafzai had to fight every step of the way to get an education. After she was attacked for doing so, Malala took her fight to the world stage, pushing for the right to an education for every girl, everywhere....

It was April 5, 1943, and the Gestapo would arrive any minute. Dietrich Bonhoeffer had been expecting this day for a long time....

Susan B. Anthony may be an international icon but her campaign for women's rights had personal roots. Working as a school teacher in New York, Anthony refused to settle for less pay than her male colleagues which ignited her lifelong devotion to women's equality....

Betty Before X is the story of Dr. Betty Shabazz before she became a figurehead for the Civil Rights Movement....

Nunca se es demasiado jóven para salvar el mundo. Este es el mensaje que transmiten los 16 cuentos de este libro. 16 vidas extraordinarias de personas que luchan cada día por salvar el medio ambiente. 16 historias para los pequeños heroes que salvarán nuestro planeta....

Even as a child, Martin Luther King, Jr. was shocked by the terrible and unfair way African-American people were treated. When he grew up, he decided to do something about it - peacefully, with powerful words....

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., was only 25 when he helped organize the Montgomery bus boycott and was soon organizing black people across the country in support of the right to vote, desegregation, and other basic civil rights....

The story of one of America's most revered figures is brought to life by the text of award-winning author Walter Dean Myers....

Featuring 18 trailblazing Black women in American history, Little Leaders educates and inspires as it relates true stories of breaking boundaries and achieving beyond expectations....

This is the true story of Shannen Koostachin and the people of Attawapiskat, a Cree community in Northern Ontario, who have been fighting for a new school since the late 1970s when a fuel leak contaminated their original school building....

The story of Fred Korematsu’s fight against discrimination explores the life of one courageous person who made the United States a fairer place for all Americans, and it encourages all of us to speak up for justice....

For 200 years, British slave ships plied in the Middle Passage, taking African men, women, and children to their doom. Ending slavery in the British Empire seemed impossible, but once William Wilberforce resolved to represent the abolitionists in Parliament, he would fight to the bitter end....

Born into slavery in Maryland in 1818, Frederick Douglass was determined to gain freedom - and once he realized that knowledge was power, he secretly learned to read and write to give himself an advantage....

Dutch student Boyan Slat always loved inventing. A visit to the oceans of Greece inspired his greatest invention ever. Why were there more plastic bags than fish? How could he save the sea? Learn more about Boyan’s Great Pacific Garbage Patch project; The Ocean Cleanup and his plastic cleanup invention, System 001; and the challenges behind removing trash from our oceans and rivers.

In August 2018, a teenager named Greta Thunberg missed school to sit outside the Swedish parliament with a sign that read School Strike for Climate. She was demanding that government leaders take stronger action against climate change due to global warming. At first, Greta sat alone. But her message spread.

When the United States entered World War II, it had to face its own contradictions at home. Opportunities opened up for Black people and women in support of the war effort. But ideas about race and gender didn't change as swiftly. Listen to the story of the first all-Black battalion in the Women's Army Corps—the Six Triple Eight—and its leader, Major Charity Adams. These women bravely confronted the racism and sexism they experienced. And they did it while creating a system to make sure millions of letters and packages got to soldiers fighting in Europe.

Wangari Maathai was a fierce protector of the environment and a couragous advocate for women's rights, especially in her native country of Kenya. Her journey from a girl of rural Africa to college professor, founder of the Green Belt Movement, and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate shows listeners how little things can bring about big change.

You may have learned about Cesar Chavez’s leadership in organizing the well-known Delano Grape Strike and Boycott of the 1960s. But did you know it began as a strike led by Larry Itliong? He was a Filipino labor organizer who had also been working with grape pickers in California at the time.

You probably know that the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education case was an important part of ending segregation in schools. But it wasn’t the only one. In 1947, Mendez v. Westminster helped end segregation in California’s schools. With key biographical information and related historical events, this Capstone Captivate book will uncover Mendez’s story and show how it connects to Brown v. Board of Education.

When 6-year-old Ruby Bridges and her mother went to William Frantz Elementary School on November 14, 1960, they arrived to find an angry crowd of white people shouting racist insults. For her safety, Ruby had to be escorted to school every day by U.S. Marshals. But despite the hateful attitudes of others, Ruby didn't miss a single day of school that year.

Jackie Robinson was the first Black player in Major League Baseball. Arthur Ashe was the first Black man to win several pro tennis titles. Listeners will learn about these athletes and others who have fought for and spoken out for racial equity in sports and the greater society.

Taking a stand and being an activist means having the courage to speak up for an important cause. For football player Colin Kaepernick and basketball great LeBron James, fighting for social justice is their top priority. Learn how they and other players use their platform as celebrity athletes to bring attention and change to the cause of social justice.

Activists take a stand. They speak out and demand change. From legendary boxer Muhammad Ali to baseball star Carlos Delgado, listeners discover the pro athletes who have affected change by speaking out against war and its impact on society.

From tennis legend Billie Jean King to the U.S. Women’s Soccer Team, athletes have fought for equity and fairness for women in professional sports. Discover the pro athletes who have used their platform to speak out and affect change for all women.

Thank you, Isatou Ceesay! Meet a climate activist whose clever way to deal with the plastic bags that were polluting her village ended up creating jobs for hundreds of women, and saving her village from pollution.

How much do you know about Greta Thunberg? Discover the details you want to know about this inspiring young activist. You’ll learn about the childhood, challenges, and accomplishments of this young leader in the fight against climate change.

How much do you know about Ida B. Wells? Find out the facts you need to know about this journalist and activist. You’ll learn about the early life, challenges, and major accomplishments of this important American.

It's March 2, 1955, and an ordinary 15-year-old girl from Montgomery, Alabama is about to do something extraordinary. When a white bus driver orders Claudette Colvin to give up her seat for a white passenger, she refuses to move. After Claudette is arrested, her brave actions help inspire Civil Rights leaders organize bus boycotts and perform similar acts to defy segregation laws.