Suggested Stories: Human Rights

CHOOSE YOUR STORY

Human Rights includes stories about racial justice, gender equality, migration and refugees, labor rights, LGBTQ+ rights, and more. Explore the stories below to find one that moves you. Then, use this worksheet to support you with writing your Fighting Words poem.

CONTEST GUIDELINES

Stories for Grades 3 and Up

Story	Media	Publication	Content Warnings
“Tam's Comeback: Diary of First Visit Home After Transitioning” by Irina Werning	Photo, Text	Der Spiegel	N/A
“The Black Curriculum: Shaping Minds, Reshaping History” by Jermaine Ervin Jr.	Text	Pulitzer Center	N/A
“How the Oceti Sakowin Are Reclaiming Their Culture One School at a Time” by Jordan Rusche	Audio, Text	South Dakota Public Broadcasting	N/A

Stories for Grades 6 and Up

Story	Media	Publication	Content Warnings
The Lost Ancestors by Lydie Diakhaté, Susan Gray, and Linda Matchan	Video	Pulitzer Center	Descriptions of the traumas of slavery
“The Race To Extract an Indigenous Language From Its Last Lucid Speaker” by Florence Goupil and Simeon Tegel	Photo, Text	The Washington Post	N/A
“In a Small Eastern Shore Community Descended From Slavery, a Grassroots Affordable Housing Model Expands” by Katherine Hafner	Audio, Photo, Text	WHRO	N/A
“Afghanistan in a New Light: Women, Erased” by Rodrigo Abd and Elena Becatoros	Photo, Text	Associated Press	N/A
“‘I Just Don’t Want To Die’: Black Pregnant Women Are Turning to Midwives for Personalized Care—And a Better Chance at Survival” by Karen Kasmauski and Louis Hansen	Photo, Audio, Text	Virginia Center for Investigative Journalism	N/A
“Tracked and Traced: How Thousands of American Muslims Ended up on the Terrorist Watch List” by Nargis Rahman and David Leins	Audio, Text	WDET	N/A
“Editorial: Beyond the Feuds Pitting Haitians and Dominicans Against Each Other” by Macollvie Neel	Text	The Haitian Times	Discussions of violence
“Dispossessed by Climate—Iraqi Refugees in Their Own Country” by Susan Schulman	Photo, Text	The Markaz Review	N/A
“The Right To Protest Is Under Threat in Britain, Undermining a Pillar of Democracy” by Jill Lawless	Photo, Text	Associated Press	N/A

Stories for Grades 9 and Up

Story	Media	Publication	Content Warnings
"Afghan Women Far from Home” by Amy Ferris-Rotman and Zahra Joya	Photo, Text	TIME Magazine	Reference to suicide
“The Queens of Queen City” by Rae Garringer and Michael O. Snyder	Photo, Text	Virginia Quarterly Review	Discussion of anti-LGBTQ+ violence
“In the Dominican Republic, the Fight for Abortion Rights Is a Fight Against Anti-Blackness” by Natalia Perez Gonzalez	Video, Text	The Nation	Discussion of sexual assault
"On the Navajo Nation, a Life Without Water" by Richard Tsong-Taatarii	Photo, Text	Searchlight New Mexico	N/A
Renter Revolt: Housing and Human Rights in America’s Heartland by Isabel Evans, Marley Cogan, and Charlotte Alter	Video	TIME	References to domestic violence, use of expletives
“How Uyghur Forced Labor Makes Seafood That Ends Up in School Lunches” by Ian Urbina	Photo, Text	POLITICO Magazine	N/A
“The World’s Best Rainforest Guardians Already Live There” by Peter Yeung	Photo, Text	The Washington Post	N/A
“Three Times Too Many: Stories from Palestine” by Laila Shadid	Text	Pulitzer Center	Descriptions of violence
“The Soil Farmers: Black Food Sovereignty and Climate Solutions” by Justin Cook	Photo, Text	NC Newsline	N/A
“Essay: Anti-Trans Myths” by Simón(e) D. Sun and Florence Ashley	Text	OpenMind Magazine	N/A
“‘There Is No Standard’: Investigation Finds AI Algorithms Objectify Women’s Bodies” by Hilke Schellmann and Gianluca Mauro	Photo, Text	The Guardian	N/A
“These Women Are Bringing Some Peace to War-Stricken Congo” by Hugh Kinsella Cunningham, Sifa Bahati, and Camille Maubert	Photo, Text	National Geographic	Discussion of violence and sexual assault