Educational Resources

Project NIA founder and director Mariame Kaba has written a new zine designed by artist Naimah Thomas.

Plight of the Girl tells the story of Dorothy Belle Young. In December 1968, 14-year old Dorothy Belle Young and her 11-year-old sister Yvonne were arrested for “using profane language at school to white boys.” While Yvonne received probation, Dorothy was detained at the Regional Youth Development Center (a juvenile jail) in Sanderville, GA. Black residents of Sylvester, GA, a town of 5,000 where the girls and their family lived, mobilized in support of Dorothy. They claimed that the sisters and their other siblings were being punished for integrating an all-white school. National Civil Rights figures also came to Dorothy’s defense including Coretta Scott King and Dr. Ralph Abernathy who traveled to Sylvester to lead protests.

This publication was written with high school students in mind. It’s a great way to discuss the criminalization of Black girls and also the school to prison pipeline. Please feel free to share with educators, young people and others in your communities.

See more of Naimah’s work here.

Curriculum resource to accompany the “Two Sides of Justice” (https://soundcloud.com/2sidesofjustice) audio stories. This curriculum resource was created for educators and organizers who would like to use the stories to start or extend discussions about harm, violence, and criminalization in their communities.

Tools and insights for educators to help create alternatives to punishment in classrooms based on cutting edge research in education and human development. Designed to be accessible and malleable enough to be adapted for use by families, organizations, clubs or any group.

Early on, the anti-rape and anti-domestic violence movements were riddled with internal tensions between those who worried that the movements would be co-opted by the state and those who deeply believed that the state needed to be responsive to the demands of penal punishment. The concerns presented in 1977 are still relevant in 2020.

A guide to discussing transformative justice with youth, neighbors, colleagues, and friends. A good resource for educators to use with students.

An introductory-level workshop on the Prison Industrial Complex that lets participants discuss their experiences, gain knowledge, and use that understanding to mobilize for social justice.

A curriculum that guides participants through their own experiences to better understand how oppression is connected to violence.

A brief primer on the 1971 Attica prison uprising for educators and organizers.

A curriculum for groups who want to talk and think about alternatives to policing in their communities.

A series of bi-weekly film screenings accompanied by an art project conducted at the Cook County Juvenile Temporary Detention Center. The selected films in the program feature a young female protagonist who faces challenges and ultimately triumphs.

A guide on using poetry as anti-violence intervention with girls and young women.