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Sankore Mosque, a UNESCO World Heritage site, built in the 14th century in the African country of Mali.
AP Photo

Schools To Teach Pre-Enslavement Black History

A major overhaul of K-12 social studies programs in Illinois schools calls for every elementary and high school to develop a curriculum that includes one unit of studying pre-enslavement Black history, dating back to 3,000 BCE. Three guests shared reaction and how the education will happen.

 Manuel Rene Del Carmen organizes bags of recyclables and throws them into their allotted storage spaces at the Sure We Can recycling depot, Thursday, Feb. 27, 2020, in the Bushwick neighborhood of New York.
AP Photo

Rethinking Recycling

Even if we’re careful about sorting paper from plastic, and washing that plastic, too, what really happens to our recycling? An Illinois expert says all that paper and plastic you carefully sort from the trash might very well end up in a landfill. 

A work called Nyan Cat by Chris Torres sold for $590,000 recently. It's part of growing interest in digital assets, known as nonfungible tokens, or NFTs, that are generating millions of dollars in sales every day.
Chris Torres

NFT Art with Illinois Artists

Various forms of digital art can be sold as a “non-fungible token." To talk more about NFT sales and how they're transforming the art community, The 21st was joined by an artist and a reporter following art news. 

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