Valencia Abbott
@vannabbott.bsky.social
High School Social Studies Teacher, Local Historian, Photographer, Telling Black Stories is my passion and side hustle. Black Folks Education Ambassador (accept the moniker).
Reposted by Valencia Abbott
I had to watch this twice to fully appreciate the Blackness of it. LOL
The Wright Museums Instagram page is HILARIOUS. Think The Office but it's the staff at a Museum for Black History. Better believe this is on my list of places to visit.
Gentle Spades
"I'm a veteran"
Gentle Spades
"I'm a veteran"
February 7, 2026 at 5:13 AM
I had to watch this twice to fully appreciate the Blackness of it. LOL
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!
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!
February 4, 2026 at 8:29 PM
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!
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!
February 3, 2026 at 7:40 PM
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!
February 3, 2026 at 7:37 PM
If you are an educator, scholar, or community leader committed to justice-centered education, I strongly encourage you to register for this event!
Reposted by Valencia Abbott
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.
Take care of yourselves and each other. We're with you.
January 23, 2026 at 5:51 PM
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.
Take care of yourselves and each other. We're with you.
Thank you @historyed.bsky.social NCHE for this honor!!
Congratulations to our 2026 Paul A. Gagnon Prize recipient, Valencia Abbott.
Join us in Montgomery
ncheteach.org/conference/r...
Join us in Montgomery
ncheteach.org/conference/r...
February 3, 2026 at 3:38 PM
Thank you @historyed.bsky.social NCHE for this honor!!
Reposted by Valencia Abbott
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...
www.newyorker.com/news/the-led...
What ICE Should Have Learned from the Fugitive Slave Act
Americans took to the streets to defend their neighbors in the nineteenth century, too.
www.newyorker.com
February 2, 2026 at 2:19 AM
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...
www.newyorker.com/news/the-led...
Reposted by Valencia Abbott
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.
February 1, 2026 at 5:09 PM
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.
Reposted by Valencia Abbott
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...
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...
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...
www.zinnedproject.org
January 31, 2026 at 12:58 PM
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...
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...
Reposted by Valencia Abbott
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
January 29, 2026 at 2:51 AM
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
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
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
January 30, 2026 at 11:42 PM
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
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
Reposted by Valencia Abbott
This is hilarious!! 🤣 🤣
January 29, 2026 at 1:35 PM
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
January 29, 2026 at 2:51 AM
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
Reposted by Valencia Abbott
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.
This is the kind of leadership Democratic governors nationwide should be emulating.
January 18, 2026 at 11:35 AM
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.
This is the kind of leadership Democratic governors nationwide should be emulating.
Reposted by Valencia Abbott
January 14, 2026
From Classroom to Community: A National History Teacher’s Journey www.dpi.nc.gov/blog/2026/01...
From Classroom to Community: A National History Teacher’s Journey www.dpi.nc.gov/blog/2026/01...
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...
www.dpi.nc.gov
January 18, 2026 at 7:10 PM
January 14, 2026
From Classroom to Community: A National History Teacher’s Journey www.dpi.nc.gov/blog/2026/01...
From Classroom to Community: A National History Teacher’s Journey www.dpi.nc.gov/blog/2026/01...
Reposted by Valencia Abbott
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
January 19, 2026 at 12:52 AM
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
Reposted by Valencia Abbott
Coogler's use of the Choctaw points to a larger intersection here, that is that Native Americans were also a crucial part of the mixture that gave us modern music: www.theguardian.com/music/2017/j...
It is significant, tying into the larger themes of music to come.
#Sinners #HATM
It is significant, tying into the larger themes of music to come.
#Sinners #HATM
'Buried history': unearthing the influence of Native Americans on rock'n'roll
Stevie Salas’ research has led to the documentary Rumble: The Indians Who Rocked the World, which traces the impact of Native people on America’s rich musical history
www.theguardian.com
January 19, 2026 at 1:41 AM
Coogler's use of the Choctaw points to a larger intersection here, that is that Native Americans were also a crucial part of the mixture that gave us modern music: www.theguardian.com/music/2017/j...
It is significant, tying into the larger themes of music to come.
#Sinners #HATM
It is significant, tying into the larger themes of music to come.
#Sinners #HATM
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
January 19, 2026 at 12:52 AM
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
January 14, 2026
From Classroom to Community: A National History Teacher’s Journey www.dpi.nc.gov/blog/2026/01...
From Classroom to Community: A National History Teacher’s Journey www.dpi.nc.gov/blog/2026/01...
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...
www.dpi.nc.gov
January 18, 2026 at 7:10 PM
January 14, 2026
From Classroom to Community: A National History Teacher’s Journey www.dpi.nc.gov/blog/2026/01...
From Classroom to Community: A National History Teacher’s Journey www.dpi.nc.gov/blog/2026/01...
Reposted by Valencia Abbott
#tdih 1865
Demands by Black ministers after Ebenezer Creek Massacre led to Special Field Order #15: a short-lived land distribution to freed people.
They established civic institutions, schools, militia (for defense from Klan), & more. #TeachReconstruction 🧵
www.zinnedproject.org/news/tdih/sp...
Demands by Black ministers after Ebenezer Creek Massacre led to Special Field Order #15: a short-lived land distribution to freed people.
They established civic institutions, schools, militia (for defense from Klan), & more. #TeachReconstruction 🧵
www.zinnedproject.org/news/tdih/sp...
Jan. 16, 1865: Special Field Order No. 15
Demands by Black ministers after the Ebenezer Creek Massacre led to the short-lived land distribution during Reconstruction known as Special Field Order No. 15.
www.zinnedproject.org
January 16, 2026 at 12:43 PM
#tdih 1865
Demands by Black ministers after Ebenezer Creek Massacre led to Special Field Order #15: a short-lived land distribution to freed people.
They established civic institutions, schools, militia (for defense from Klan), & more. #TeachReconstruction 🧵
www.zinnedproject.org/news/tdih/sp...
Demands by Black ministers after Ebenezer Creek Massacre led to Special Field Order #15: a short-lived land distribution to freed people.
They established civic institutions, schools, militia (for defense from Klan), & more. #TeachReconstruction 🧵
www.zinnedproject.org/news/tdih/sp...
Reposted by Valencia Abbott
"I could not move, because history had me glued to the seat. . . It felt like Sojourner Truth’s hands were pushing me down on one shoulder & Harriet Tubman’s hands were pushing me down on another shoulder, & I could not move." — Claudette Colvin
Claudette Colvin ¡Presente! has died at age 86. 💔
Claudette Colvin ¡Presente! has died at age 86. 💔
March 2, 1955: Claudette Colvin Refuses to Give Up Her Bus Seat
At age 15, Claudette Colvin refused to give up her bus seat to a white woman in Montgomery, Alabama.
www.zinnedproject.org
January 13, 2026 at 10:40 PM
"I could not move, because history had me glued to the seat. . . It felt like Sojourner Truth’s hands were pushing me down on one shoulder & Harriet Tubman’s hands were pushing me down on another shoulder, & I could not move." — Claudette Colvin
Claudette Colvin ¡Presente! has died at age 86. 💔
Claudette Colvin ¡Presente! has died at age 86. 💔
Reposted by Valencia Abbott
Does anyone know of an African American man or woman, who lived in Boston during the Civil War, who left a diary or correspondence that covers this history? It could be published in some form or located in an archive. Thank you.
January 13, 2026 at 1:39 PM
Does anyone know of an African American man or woman, who lived in Boston during the Civil War, who left a diary or correspondence that covers this history? It could be published in some form or located in an archive. Thank you.
Reposted by Valencia Abbott
It's time to officially let X/Twitter go. That platform's decline from a vibrant public square to what is now a platform for hate & disinformation has been painful to experience. I’ve already in this great community & look forward to continuing our conversations.
www.reuters.com/business/med...
www.reuters.com/business/med...
US teachers union says it's leaving X over sexualized AI images of children
The American Federation of Teachers says it is leaving X, citing the social media site's creation and dissemination of "sickening" images of children in various states of undress.
www.reuters.com
January 13, 2026 at 10:21 PM
It's time to officially let X/Twitter go. That platform's decline from a vibrant public square to what is now a platform for hate & disinformation has been painful to experience. I’ve already in this great community & look forward to continuing our conversations.
www.reuters.com/business/med...
www.reuters.com/business/med...
Reposted by Valencia Abbott
😬
January 12, 2026 at 4:09 PM
😬
Reposted by Valencia Abbott
ICE used pepper spray on students at a school in Minneapolis last week. We need ICE out of schools. Send a letter to Congress right now. actionnetwork.org/letters/tell...
Tell Congress: Keep ICE Out of Schools
This week, we witnessed unconscionable acts of violence by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers in Minnesota—including the murder of Renee Nicole Good, the handcuffing of school staff, th...
actionnetwork.org
January 12, 2026 at 1:37 AM
ICE used pepper spray on students at a school in Minneapolis last week. We need ICE out of schools. Send a letter to Congress right now. actionnetwork.org/letters/tell...