In an intensive 6 week program “The Other American History” will use the counter narrative (the stories of Native Americans, Africans, African Americans, Mexicans, and Immigrants, LGBT, women and the poor) of American history to critically think about historical content as a bridge to understanding our contemporary world and its political economy. Through the reading of “A People’s History” by Howard Zinn and a series of contemporary topics that will be explored through film, music, videos, primary sources, cartoons, articles and in class dialogue students will finish the class with a deeper understanding of American history, beyond blind patriotism and mythology and will have built the historical context, critical thinking skills and critical assessment to better process our contemporary realities. Each student will be responsible for creating a project of any nature (artistic, written, video, etc) that will express their learning and ideas around their subject of choice.

T. Barnes is a Global Lifestyle Entrepreneur, Educator and Historian and owns T. Barnes Global Lifestyle and FREE BLACK WOMAN MAGAZINE. She is the founder and host of The Black Freedom Colony in Tulum, Mexico. She has taught in the classroom at Pathways Academy for Boys and served as the Executive Director and Head educator at Beyond the Surface Critical Thinking and Social Justice Academy a small home school in her backyard. Beyond the Surface Academy transitioned into The T. Barnes Summer Camp a non -profit organization, with a pending 501C3, founded in 2016, to help provide an opportunity for youth from the African Diaspora, a profound transformational global summer experience in various countries around the world. She has produced two documentary films: World Trade: Gli African in Italy Vecchia about the historical and contemporary African migration to Italy and is currently completing her second film Baby Mama Rebellion, which explore the trajectory of black motherhood in America. TaNesha holds a MA in History (Suma Cum Laude) with a concentration on black American women from Western CT State University, a 2nd MA in Teaching for Social Justice from Spark’s Teacher’s Institute with a concentration on educating African American boys. Her BA in Sociology is from New York University. She has studied and/or lived abroad in Russia, Italy, Barbados, Anguilla, Ghana and travels all over the world. Her ultimate motivation for all that she does is her daughter Solana, as she hopes to create a world of truth and beauty for her to come of age.