Valencia Abbott

Day 1 of the North Carolina Social Studies Conference done! #NHTOY #NCCSS2026

Clarence Thomas Secretly Accepted Luxury Trips From Major GOP Donor Island-hopping on a superyacht. Private jet rides around the world. The undisclosed gifts to Thomas have no known precedent in the modern history of the Supreme Court. “It’s incomprehensible to me tha...

Our Pulitzer-winning "Friends of the Court" series began with this story that revealed how SCOTUS Justice Clarence Thomas had, for 20+ years, been treated to undisclosed luxury vacations by real estate titan and GOP megadonor Harlan Crow.

(Published April 2023)

The Fathers We Don’t See in the Footnotes: Reclaiming Black Men from the Case File Black Friday History Post #31

“Black history isn’t just what happened, but how communities learned to survive systems designed to erase them. This week’s Black Friday History post: The Fathers We Don’t See in the Footnotes: Reclaiming Black Men from the Case File open.substack.com/pub/valencia...

Black History Is for Everyone with Brian Jones - Teaching for Change On Wednesday, February 25, educator Brian Jones, in conversation with Dave Zirin, will discuss his latest book Black History Is for Everyone, a look at how the study of Black history challenges our un...

Friends in the D.C. area.

Don't miss @brianjoneseducator.bsky.social & @edgeofsports.bsky.social in person on Wednesday Feb. 25 at @busboysandpoets.bsky.social (14th & V).

Hosted by @teachingchange.bsky.social & BBP.

Books onsite for purchase & signing.

Order from menu throughout the event.

When I need a trusted source for teacher resources, ZEP (@zinnedproject.bsky.social) is always at the top of my list.

And now, to see a “Forever Student” return to pour into our current scholars, that’s the power of teaching, of people, and of platforms like Zinn Education Project. ✊🏾📚

Of all the teacher duties I do in my classroom, one of my absolute favorites is switching out my bookcase to display and highlight the month’s theme! So loving Black History Month to spotlight one of the historians I am adding to my Fav List. Thank you, ZEP, for getting me his latest! 📚 #Read

A Friday happy hour toast to:

Bad Bunny—for his gorgeous joyous inclusiveness

Teal Robe Lady in Minnesota—for standing up for good & being a bad ass

Uncelebrated people around the USA helping neighbors. I celebrate you

Good teachers, librarians, & those standing tall for facts

We the People

Matthew Delmont joins David, Torie, and David Maraniss to discuss Until the Last Gun Is Silent, his examination of Black activism during the Vietnam War. Coretta Scott King and Dwight “Skip” Johnson get their due. If you think you know this chapter of history, think again. 🎙️📚 Listen" buff.ly/OW9tVyM

Feb. 12, 1946: Isaac Woodard Blinded by Police Isaac Woodard Jr., a Black army sergeant, was beaten and left blind in both eyes by white police officers within hours of being discharged from the army.

#TDIH 1946 Black WWII vet Isaac Woodard beaten & blinded by white SC police chief.

Learn how Woodard & NAACP organized, and Orson Welles took up his case on the air, in new @radiodiaries.bsky.social
series. They galvanized support for Army desegregation." ⬇️

www.zinnedproject.org/news/tdih/is...

I had to watch this twice to fully appreciate the Blackness of it. LOL

I don't know where this musuem is, but I will be finding out.😍

YouTube video by The Emotions - Topic Best of My Love

Best of My Love-The Emotions youtu.be/EbwXoN-XU5I?...

Thank you to everyone who celebrated with me 🖤
Honored to be named NCHE’s 2026 Paul A. Gagnon Prize recipient. Join us in Montgomery (March 2026) for my session, Road Tripping Through Black Routes & Resistance. Playlist recommendations welcome!

If you are an educator, scholar, or community leader committed to justice-centered education, I strongly encourage you register an learn more!

If you are an educator, scholar, or community leader committed to justice-centered education, I strongly encourage you to register for this event!

Right now, communities across the country are showing up for one another. That's not new, it's what people have always done. As history educators, you help students see that legacy: the long line of people who chose connection and solidarity.

Take care of yourselves and each other. We're with you.

Thank you @historyed.bsky.social NCHE for this honor!!

Congratulations!

What ICE Should Have Learned from the Fugitive Slave Act Americans took to the streets to defend their neighbors in the nineteenth century, too.

Fugitive Slave Act forced question: "Were Northerners prepared to watch their neighbors, many of whom had lived in their communities for years, be violently removed from their homes or grabbed off the streets? For many, answer was no." - @jelaniya.bsky.social Read ⬇️
www.newyorker.com/news/the-led...

Black History Month is a time to recognize the lived, shared experience of all Black folks who have fundamentally shaped, challenged, and ultimately strengthened America. It’s about taking an unvarnished look at the past so that we can create a better future.

Until the Last Gun Is Silent Historian Matthew Delmont will discuss his new book Until the Last Gun Is Silent: A Story of Patriotism, the Vietnam War, and the Fight to Save America's Soul. This session is part of the Zinn Educati...

Matt Delmont is speaking in our Teach the Black Freedom Struggle series on April 13.

Please send a teaching story about your project using Half American and we'll send books in appreciation www.zinnedproject.org/news/free-bo...

www.zinnedproject.org/news/until-t...

Yes he not only an awesome historian but good people as well.

Snow days = time to build something meaningful ❄️📚 Finalizing my #NCCSSVoice presentation, Africa to Carolina: Water as Salve and Salvation. Born from a teacher PD space that no longer exists still felt, still needed. The work continues. Hope to see you there. #NHTOY2025 #NCHTOY2025

Already registered for @Gilder_Lehrman’s America in the 1970s: The Era of Distrust—so this is officially first up on my summer reading list.
www.gilderlehrman.org/professional...

Third Dr. Delmont book loading… 📚✨

Grateful to @zinnedproject.bsky.social for feeding my historian heart. This makes book three by Dr. Matthew Delmont, and if the first two taught me anything, this one will linger.

#AlwaysLearning #HistoryNerd #NHTOY #NCHTOY #Read

This is hilarious!! 🤣 🤣

Snow days = time to build something meaningful ❄️📚 Finalizing my #NCCSSVoice presentation, Africa to Carolina: Water as Salve and Salvation. Born from a teacher PD space that no longer exists still felt, still needed. The work continues. Hope to see you there. #NHTOY2025 #NCHTOY2025

The first thing Virginia Spanberger did after being sworn in as Governor of Virginia was repeal Youngkin’s executive order requiring state and local law enforcement to cooperate with ICE.

This is the kind of leadership Democratic governors nationwide should be emulating.

From Classroom to Community: A National History Teacher’s Journey In this reflective essay, Valencia Abbott, the North Carolina and National History Teacher of the Year for 2025, explores how place-based, inquiry-driven history instruction empowers students to see t...

January 14, 2026
From Classroom to Community: A National History Teacher’s Journey www.dpi.nc.gov/blog/2026/01...

Love sharing my nerdy and pedagogical history topics with other educators, but for me, every presentation is an opportunity to dig deeper into a subject that is a seed of passion. Mia Bay’s book is becoming an indispensable source as I put my presentation together. 🔥📖 @historyed.bsky.social