(RE)PRESENT: Using Iowa's History to Build the Next Generation of Leaders

What happens when we teach Iowa history as something people can investigate, question, connect to their own lives and use to shape the future?

That question is at the center of (RE)PRESENT, a new learning initiative from the NAACP Des Moines Branch built around the book (RE)PRESENT: Racism & Resistance in Iowa.

The first adult cohort begins this month. But the vision goes beyond a traditional book club.

Beginning with adults, building toward youth leadership

The Des Moines Branch is working with the book's publisher to create an experience that connects Iowa history to research, civic engagement, critical thinking, advocacy and leadership.

The adult cohort gives us an opportunity to engage the material deeply while also learning what conversations, activities and questions are most useful as we build the next phase of the program.

That next phase is designed for young people.

Our goal is to develop a youth-centered (RE)PRESENT curriculum and use it support membership growth in the NAACP Des Moines Youth Council. Young people should have opportunities not only to learn about advocacy, but to practice it: identifying issues, finding evidence, understanding decision-making systems, communicating their ideas and working with others to make change.

Civil-rights history happened here

Civil-rights history is too often taught as though the most important struggles happened somewhere else. Iowa has its own histories of discrimination, resistance, organizing, institution-building and Black leadership.

Those stories can help participants ask better questions about the present: Who made this decision? Who benefited? Who was excluded? Who challenged it? What changed? What did not? Where can I find evidence? What responsibility do I have now?

Our longer-term goal is to build a curriculum strong enough to share with NAACP units across Iowa so other communities can adapt it for their own young people.

History should do more than tell us what happened. It should help us understand where we are and prepare us to decide what comes next.

Sign-Up the Young People in Your Life

Registration is now open for youth who want to be part of the first (RE)PRESENT cohort and help us begin building what comes next.

Sign Up for (RE)PRESENT