Resistance through Humor and Storytelling Text Set

This grade 11-12 culturally relevant text set focuses on encouraging students to see how humor and storytelling can be powerful vehicles for resisting injustice and to understand how racial inequity is upheld through laws and policies. While designed for grades 11-12, you may choose to adapt it for different grade levels. Please consider leaving feedback on this resource using the “Send Feedback” button at the bottom of the page.   

Details about this culturally relevant text set: 

• Grade Level Recommendation: 11-12
• Key Focus Areas for Design: Current Events, Identity, Social Justice 
• Topic: Exploring systemic racial inequity and how humor and storytelling can be used as tools to resist injustice 
• Curriculum Connection:  This text set can be done as is but is suggested as a companion resource for Trevor Noah’s memoir, Born a Crime.

Context/rationale/reflections: This text set focuses on Trevor Noah’s use of humor as a narrative element and challenges students to emphasize humor through their own storytelling. Resources are selected to pair with Born a Crime’s content and to enhance students’ understandings of the author’s perspective, the sociopolitical climate when the text was written about, and connections to today.