Jeanne Theoharis author photo
Image via Wikimedia Commons, licensed under GFDL 1.2.

Jeanne Theoharis

Jeanne Theoharis is an American political scientist and historian whose work examines U.S. civil rights history, racial inequality, and the Black freedom struggle. She is best known for The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks and A More Beautiful and Terrible History; The Rebellious Life won an NAACP Image Award.

Biography & Author's Journey

Jeanne Theoharis has built her career as a scholar who treats history not as a settled national story but as a site of argument, recovery, and public responsibility. Educated at Harvard University and then at the University of Michigan, where she earned a Ph.D. in American Culture, she later joined Brooklyn College and rose to become a Distinguished Professor, while also serving at the CUNY Graduate Center. Her student years already hinted at the shape of her later work: as a Harvard senior in 1991, she was publicly involved in organizing around faculty diversity, a women’s center, and labor issues, suggesting an early commitment to linking scholarship with civic dissent. ((https://www.brooklyn.edu/bc-news/jeanne-theoharis-named-cuny-distinguished-professor-of-political-science/))

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Quotes

quote
It is a faith that requires people to act in the world
-The Rosa Parks Papers
quote
The civil rights movement was deeply unpopular at the time
-Don’t Forget That Martin Luther King Jr. Was Once Denounced as an Extremist
quote
They criticized, monitored, demonized and at times criminalized those who challenged the way things were, making dissent very costly
-Don’t Forget That Martin Luther King Jr. Was Once Denounced as an Extremist
quote
These words trap her
-You Still Don't Know the Whole Rosa Parks Story
quote
But Rosa Parks at the end of her life was saying there’s still more work to be done
-You Still Don't Know the Whole Rosa Parks Story
quote
A lifetime of more than sixty years of political activism was reduced to a 'singular act' on a long-ago winter day
-A Life History of Being Rebellious
quote
A considered look at Parks’s life reveals a 'life history of being rebellious,' as she liked to explain it
-A Life History of Being Rebellious

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Gender, Identity, History & Pleasure

Gender, Identity, History & Pleasure

LEARNING PLAN

Gender, Identity, History & Pleasure

This plan is essential for anyone seeking to understand how historical power structures shape our modern concepts of self and desire. It is ideal for educators, activists, and lifelong learners wanting to dismantle systemic biases and reclaim personal agency through an intersectional feminist lens.

3 h 18 m4 Sections
Study social justice history

Study social justice history

LEARNING PLAN

Study social justice history

Understanding social justice history provides essential context for contemporary activism and civic engagement. This learning plan benefits students, activists, policymakers, and anyone seeking to comprehend how historical struggles for equality continue to shape our present social landscape.

2 h 33 m4 Sections
Learn about black history

Learn about black history

LEARNING PLAN

Learn about black history

This plan provides a comprehensive overview of the African American journey, from the struggles for freedom to the heights of cultural achievement. It is essential for anyone seeking to understand the historical forces and systemic issues that continue to shape modern society.

2 h 40 m4 Sections
Study Politics, History, Race & Gender Impact

Study Politics, History, Race & Gender Impact

LEARNING PLAN

Study Politics, History, Race & Gender Impact

This learning plan is essential for understanding the systemic forces that shape our modern social and political landscape. It is ideal for students, activists, or professionals seeking to develop a nuanced perspective on how race, gender, and history intersect to influence power dynamics.

2 h 45 m4 Sections
Global history with focus on Black heritage

Global history with focus on Black heritage

LEARNING PLAN

Global history with focus on Black heritage

This learning plan provides essential context for understanding both world history and the often-overlooked contributions and experiences of Black people throughout human civilization. It's ideal for anyone seeking a more complete and honest understanding of history, educators wanting to teach inclusive curricula, activists working toward racial justice, or individuals committed to confronting systemic racism through historical knowledge. By centering Black history within the broader narrative of human development, learners gain critical perspectives on how power, resistance, and identity have shaped our modern world.

2 h 25 m4 Sections
Explore the ideas of John Gray

Explore the ideas of John Gray

LEARNING PLAN

Explore the ideas of John Gray

John Gray is one of the most provocative political philosophers of our time, offering a vital corrective to modern secular myths of inevitable progress. This plan is essential for students of political science and philosophy who want to move beyond ideological idealism toward a more grounded, realistic understanding of global coexistence.

3 h 4 m4 Sections
Intersectionality

Intersectionality

LEARNING PLAN

Intersectionality

Intersectionality is essential for anyone committed to meaningful social justice work, as single-issue approaches often overlook the complex realities of those experiencing multiple forms of marginalization. This learning path is invaluable for activists, DEI professionals, organizational leaders, educators, and anyone seeking to understand how systems of oppression interconnect and how to create truly inclusive solutions that don't leave the most vulnerable behind.

2 h 26 m4 Sections
History and empowerment

History and empowerment

LEARNING PLAN

History and empowerment

This learning plan bridges historical consciousness with personal empowerment, making it essential for anyone seeking to understand the roots of modern social movements and their own role in creating change. It's particularly valuable for activists, educators, community organizers, and individuals who want to ground their empowerment journey in the wisdom of those who fought before them. By connecting past struggles to present action, learners gain both context and confidence to become effective agents of change.

2 h 25 m4 Sections

Community Voices

"Jeanne Theoharis is one of our nation’s finest civil rights scholars"

Bryan Stevenson

"Jeanne Theoharis’s Rosa Parks is a pedagogical gift"

Peniel E. Joseph

"Just when you thought you knew everything about MLK, Jeanne Theoharis comes along and proves you wrong"

Lerone A. Martin

"Jeanne Theoharis has written an eye-opening biography of Rosa Parks"

Thomas J. Sugrue

"Jeanne Theoharis gives us the gift of a fully human Rosa Parks, who studied, organized, loved, struggled, and stayed committed to freedom her entire life"

Mariame Kaba

"Jeanne Theoharis redirects our collective gaze from the racial regime of the South to his time in the North"

Noliwe Rooks

"Jeanne Theoharis has written an engaging book that challenges students’ preconceptions about the Civil Rights Movement"

Tomás F. Summers Sandoval, Jr

"In A More Beautiful and Terrible History, Jeanne Theoharis debunks nearly a dozen national fables"

Khalil Muhammad

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