This unit was created by educators in California, part of the 2022 cohort of The 1619 Project Education Network. It is designed for facilitation across approximately 3 weeks, or 6 class periods.
Objectives
Students will be able to:
- Understand the intersectionality of prisons and immigration as it relates to mass incarceration and for profit systems of oppression.
- Develop advocacy skills by writing an persuasive letter to the Oakland Mayor.
- Develop a critical awareness of the things that are needed in order to create safe communities.
Essential Questions
- What makes a community feel safe?
- What are the origins of policing in the United States?
- How does policing contribute to mass incarceration?
- What could people have needed instead of policing/prisons?
- When/where do police and immigration intersect?
- How can we invest in our own communities?
Unit Overview
In this unit, students will be able to identify the root causes of mass incarceration and its impact on communities of color. Students will explore the connections that the immigration system has with mass incarceration and identify the common thread of incarceration. Students will then research issues impacting their communities that could be solved with funding and community support, and finally, write a letter to the Mayor of Oakland advocating to invest in community-based solutions to increase public safety.
Performance Task
Final assessment –Write a letter to the new Oakland Mayor that describes an issue you have learned about and want her to pay attention to and make a change for the better. Think about the organizations that you learned about and use the information as evidence for why the Mayor should focus on community services rather than increasing the police budget in Oakland.
Requirements :
- Name of the issue you are trying to solve that needs funding
- Who is being impacted by that issue
- Why the issue is important to you
- Who could benefit from these funds
- How they can support and create safer communities
Three week unit plan for teachers, including pacing, texts and multimedia resources, graphic organizers for student projects, and performance tasks for the unit. Download below, or scroll down to read the complete unit plan.
Facilitation Resources
Pulitzer Center-supported Reporting |
“Mass Incarceration” by Bryan Stevenson |
Teaching Materials |
Collaborative Summary for Stevenson Article City of Inmates Peardeck - formative assessment MDH project - create a report of a neighborhood in L.A. Week 1-5 slides with do now’s and exit tickets |
Common Core
Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources, attending to such features as the date and origin of the information
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.9-10.7
Integrate quantitative or technical analysis (e.g., charts, research data) with qualitative analysis in print or digital text.
Learning for Justice
Social Justice Standards AC.9-12.20 I will join with diverse people to plan and carry out collective action against exclusion, prejudice and discrimination, and we will be thoughtful and creative in our own actions in order to achieve our goals.
Ethnic Studies Standards: I can express a specific demand for justice on a societal issue to a target audience or power holder (based on JU.9-12.15).
In this unit, students study the origins of mass incarceration and its connection to the immigration system. Students conduct research to learn how government funding could be used to support community-based solutions that increase public safety, rather than investing in prisons.
Below is a sample of work from 9th grade Ethnic Studies students (ages 14-16) who presented their research in the form of persuasive letters to the Mayor of Oakland: