Civil rights movement https://www.morningsidecenter.org/ en A Gathering to Honor the Life and Legacy of John Lewis https://www.morningsidecenter.org/teachable-moment/lessons/gathering-honor-life-and-legacy-john-lewis <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--title--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig x field--node--title.html.twig * field--node--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--title.html.twig * field--string.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <span>A Gathering to Honor the Life and Legacy of John Lewis</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--body--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--node--body.html.twig * field--node--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--body.html.twig * field--text-with-summary.html.twig x field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field--item"><p><strong>To the Teacher</strong><br> &nbsp;</p> <p>On July 17, 2020, the world lost civil rights leaders John Lewis and C.T. Vivian within hours of each other. In honor of their lives and their legacies, we dedicate this circle to them, and to all current and future leaders inspired by and continuing their work.&nbsp;</p> <p>John Lewis exemplified resistance and love, compassion and faith. He was one of our greatest examples of what it means to be committed to the fight for justice.</p> <p>This lesson for middle and high schoolers engages students in a gathering to deepen their knowledge of the civil rights icon, and to listen to and share their thoughts and reflections. Students will engage with Lewis' legacy by analyzing&nbsp;selected resources about John Lewis and his life’s work. In discussing his work, students will also reflect on their own values and missions, while considering the path he has laid for us all to continue in the fight for liberation and freedom.</p> <p><strong>Note:</strong> Determine in advance which of the resources below you will use, or how many lessons you will devote to exploring multiple resources. Several of the resources are short enough that two activities will likely fit within one lesson.&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'filter_caption' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/filter/templates/filter-caption.html.twig' --> <figure role="group"> <img alt="John Lewis in 1964" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="4691dbf9-447c-43bc-85dc-4fd0796bb8ca" src="/sites/default/files/inline-images/John_Lewis_1964-04-16_0.jpg" width="1200" height="1229" loading="lazy"> <figcaption>Civil rights activist John Lewis speaks to newspaper editors in 1964.</figcaption> </figure> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/filter/templates/filter-caption.html.twig' --> <p><br> &nbsp;</p> <hr> <p>&nbsp;</p> <h3><strong>Opening</strong></h3> <p>Have students share a thought in response to the John Lewis quote:</p> <blockquote> <p><strong>“We may not have chosen the time, but the time has chosen us.”</strong></p> </blockquote> <p><br> Invite one to two students to share something they know about John Lewis. They will have a chance to learn more about him through the following activities.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <hr> <h3><br> <br> <strong>Exploring John Lewis’ life and legacy&nbsp;</strong></h3> <p><br> Invite students to read, watch, or listen to one or more of the following.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>1.&nbsp; Read John Lewis’ <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/30/opinion/john-lewis-civil-rights-america.html?action=click&amp;module=Opinion&amp;pgtype=Homepage">final words</a> to us all&nbsp;</strong>or listen to <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXa7Vn8Ar6M&amp;feature=youtu.be">this reading</a> of it by&nbsp;Morgan Freeman.</p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">&nbsp;</span></span></p> <ul> <li class="m-1788772828228755142gmail-m-3461668319967009794">What is the impact of the intro sentence? The first two sentences?&nbsp;</li> </ul> <ul> <li>What is the significance of John Lewis writing to us before passing on?</li> </ul> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>2. Watch <a href="https://www.tolerance.org/classroom-resources/texts/teaching-tolerance-interview-with-john-lewis?fbclid=IwAR0K66GcVfYbL1Oj1iz2y576tkCLqYtrBNf2oSzc_GWuOl3qCJOaLeA-Wv8">Teaching Tolerance’s interview</a> with John Lewis.</strong></p> <ul> <li>What stood out to you from this interview?<br> &nbsp;</li> <li>Speak to a time when you felt similarly to what John Lewis described – when someone thought they had “beat” you, but you knew that you were the true victor.</li> </ul> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>3.&nbsp; Compare the two versions of John Lewis’ <a href="https://billmoyers.com/content/two-versions-of-john-lewis-speech/">March on Washington speech</a>.</strong></p> <ul> <li>Which version of the speech speaks to you more? Why?<br> &nbsp;</li> <li>What do you see as the major difference(s) between the two?&nbsp;<br> &nbsp;</li> <li>Why do you think Lewis’ advisors found it necessary to request alterations to the speech?&nbsp;<br> &nbsp;</li> <li>What does this bring to mind when you think about the concepts of censorship, comfortability, brave conversations, self expression, objectivity vs. subjectivity?&nbsp;</li> </ul> <p><br> <strong>4.&nbsp;&nbsp;View a John Lewis <a href="https://www.politico.com/gallery/2020/07/17/remembering-john-lewis-photo-gallery-003726?slide=6&amp;fbclid=IwAR3lavFJurENyCBoAGIohiUj7O8AzYECUDcwP3L1XY_jp36lv3CEqqy_tsY">photo gallery</a>.</strong></p> <ul> <li>Which image(s) speak to you most? Why?</li> </ul> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>5.&nbsp; Read <a href="https://medium.com/@BarackObama/my-statement-on-the-passing-of-rep-john-lewis-fa86761cd964">President Obama’s statement </a>on John Lewis.</strong></p> <ul> <li>What does it mean to see the best in others, and the best in yourself? Is that difficult or easy to do?<br> &nbsp;</li> <li>What are your thoughts on the “marching orders” that President Obama spoke of at the end of the piece?<br> &nbsp;</li> </ul> <p>&nbsp;</p> <hr> <h3><br> <strong>Closing</strong></h3> <p><br> Ask students to respond to the following John Lewis quote:</p> <blockquote> <p><br> <strong>“Get in good trouble, necessary trouble, and help redeem the soul of America.”</strong></p> </blockquote> <p><br> Encourage them to keep fighting for what they believe in, reminding them of their power and their right to be heard and respected.&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <hr> <h3><br> <strong>Extension Activities</strong><br> &nbsp;</h3> <ol> <li>After your exploration, invite students to consider these questions, in discussion or in writing:<br> <br> - What qualities or characteristics allowed John Lewis to commit himself to the fight for justice in the way&nbsp;he did?&nbsp;<br> - What are you willing to fight for?<br> -&nbsp;Should we all have a cause that we are willing to fight for?<br> &nbsp;</li> <li>Have students watch the film <a href="https://www.johnlewisgoodtrouble.com/?fbclid=IwAR2Q3bnJXzpJPzoVc1iKPqvk59TCuRUMAgI3M9P0p22mzh5-oNj32q5Hhp4">Good Trouble</a> and discuss as you watch it or after you watch it.&nbsp;<br> &nbsp;</li> <li>Read and discuss with students the series <a href="https://www.booksamillion.com/p/March/John-Lewis/9781603093002?id=7965507938264#overview">March</a> (books one, two and three), three young adult graphic novels, co-written by Lewis, that provide "a vivid first-hand account of John Lewis' lifelong struggle for civil and human rights."&nbsp;</li> </ol> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Additional Articles</strong><br> &nbsp;</p> <p>Invite students to read and discuss one or more of the following.</p> <ul> <li><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/17/us/john-lewis-dead.html?fbclid=IwAR0FnuVQzQnqjHoGsWaSe-7Kj5H9xnW6BuWUwtm9oIEQmO8niPt6-_p0kNw">John Lewis, Towering Figure of Civil Rights Era, Dies at 80</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/18/us/politics/freedom-riders-john-lewis-work.html?action=click&amp;module=News&amp;pgtype=Homepage&amp;fbclid=IwAR0O2CiaIBFOh4K3lQSLWEnrbq0-X89o71iGdYJAR0qDW3YPpe1eDV6GBgg">Who Were the Freedom Riders?</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/18/us/john-lewis-ct-vivian-dead/index.html">The U.S. Loses Two Icons of the Civil Rights Movement in One Day</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/with-the-deaths-of-john-lewis-and-ct-vivian-history-seems-to-be-sending-a-message/2020/07/18/7681bc58-c8f2-11ea-a99f-3bbdffb1af38_story.html">With the Deaths of John Lewis and C.T. Vivian, History Seems to Be Sending a Message</a></li> </ul> <p>&nbsp;</p> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--uid--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig x field--node--uid.html.twig * field--node--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--uid.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--uid.html.twig' --> <span> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'username' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/user/templates/username.html.twig' --> <span>Laura McClure</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/user/templates/username.html.twig' --> </span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--uid.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--created--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig x field--node--created.html.twig * field--node--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--created.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--created.html.twig' --> <span> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'time' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/system/templates/time.html.twig' --> <time datetime="2020-08-02T09:36:32-04:00" title="Sunday, August 2, 2020 - 09:36">August 2, 2020</time> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/system/templates/time.html.twig' --> </span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--created.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'links__node' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * links--node.html.twig x links.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/system/links.html.twig' --> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/system/links.html.twig' --> Sun, 02 Aug 2020 13:36:32 +0000 Laura McClure 1477 at https://www.morningsidecenter.org Poor People's Campaign: Then & Now https://www.morningsidecenter.org/teachable-moment/lessons/poor-peoples-campaign-then-now <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--title--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig x field--node--title.html.twig * field--node--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--title.html.twig * field--string.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <span>Poor People&#039;s Campaign: Then &amp; Now</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--body--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--node--body.html.twig * field--node--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--body.html.twig * field--text-with-summary.html.twig x field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field--item"><h4>To The Teacher:</h4> <p>In 1968, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. launched what became his final campaign. The Poor People’s Campaign was a multiracial campaign of poor people who advocated for economic justice for all Americans through lobbying and direct action protest. Although Dr. King was killed before he could see the campaign come to fruition, a number of his advisors and allies continued after his death and led a major mobilization in Washington, DC, in the summer of 1968.</p> <p>Fifty years later, in the spring of 2018, a coalition of multiracial groups&nbsp;launched&nbsp;a new Poor People’s Campaign, aimed at addressing divisions in the United States, from racism to economic and gender inequality. Led by figures including Rev. William Barber and Rev. Liz Theoharis, the campaign is using somewhat different tactics than the original effort, but it is endeavoring to draw attention to similar issues of economic injustice.</p> <p>This lesson looks back at the original Poor People’s Campaign to see what inspired people across the country to take action together over&nbsp;fifty years ago, and it compares Dr. King’s original drive with today's Poor People’s Campaign. The first reading dives into the history of the 1968 Poor People’s Campaign, looking at its tactics and objectives. The second reading explores the new Poor People’s Campaign and examines how the new effort might be similar to or different from the original drive.</p> <p>Questions for discussion follow each reading.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <hr> <h4><br> Reading One<br> Dr. King’s Poor People’s Campaign of 1968</h4> <p><br> In 1968, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. launched what became his final campaign. The Poor People’s Campaign was a multiracial campaign of poor people who advocated for economic justice for all Americans through lobbying and direct action protest. Although Dr. King was killed before he could see the campaign come to fruition, a number of his advisors and allies continued after his death and led a major mobilization in Washington, DC, in the summer of 1968.</p> <p>Fifty years later, in the spring of 2018, a coalition of multiracial groups has announced that it is launching a new Poor People’s Campaign, aimed at addressing divisions in the United States, from racism to economic and gender inequality. Led by figures including Rev. William Barber and Rev. Liz Theoharis, the campaign is using somewhat different tactics than the original effort, but it is endeavoring to draw attention to similar issues of economic injustice.</p> <p>How did the original Poor People’s Campaign begin and what did it aim to accomplish?</p> <p>In December 1967, Martin Luther King and the Southern Christian Leadership Council (SCLC) publicly announced a new effort to combat joblessness and economic inequality called the Poor People’s Campaign. The campaign would have three phases: an encampment on the National Mall in Washington, DC, lobbying politicians and government agencies to pass an “Economic Bill of Rights”; mass civil disobedience; and a mass boycott of major industries. Dr. King was assassinated just weeks before the campaign was set to begin in 1968.</p> <p>The following entry from the Martin Luther King, Jr. Encyclopedia, maintained by the King Institute of Stanford University,&nbsp;<a href="http://kingencyclopedia.stanford.edu/encyclopedia/encyclopedia/enc_poor_peoples_campaign/">describes</a>&nbsp;the beginning of the Poor People’s Campaign:<br> &nbsp;</p> <blockquote> <p>“Martin Luther King announced the Poor People’s Campaign at a staff retreat for the&nbsp;<a href="http://kingencyclopedia.stanford.edu/encyclopedia/encyclopedia/enc_southern_christian_leadership_conference_sclc/index.html">Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC)</a>&nbsp;in November 1967…. King planned for an initial group of 2,000 poor people to descend on Washington, D.C., southern states and northern cities to meet with government officials to demand jobs, unemployment insurance, a fair minimum wage, and education for poor adults and children designed to improve their self-image and self-esteem.</p> <p>Suggested to King by Marion Wright, director of the&nbsp;<a href="http://kingencyclopedia.stanford.edu/encyclopedia/encyclopedia/enc_national_association_for_the_advancement_of_colored_people_naacp1/index.html">National Association for the Advancement of Colored People’s</a>&nbsp;Legal Defense and Education Fund in Jackson, Mississippi, the Poor People’s Campaign was seen by King as the next chapter in the struggle for genuine equality. Desegregation and the right to vote were essential, but King believed that African Americans and other minorities would never enter full citizenship until they had economic security. Through nonviolent direct action, King and SCLC hoped to focus the nation’s attention on economic inequality and poverty.</p> <p>‘This is a highly significant event,’ King told delegates at an early planning meeting, describing the campaign as ‘’the beginning of a new co-operation, understanding, and a determination by poor people of all colors and backgrounds to assert and win their right to a decent life and respect for their culture and dignity.’ Many leaders of American Indian, Puerto Rican, Mexican American, and poor white communities pledged themselves to the Poor People’s Campaign.”</p> </blockquote> <p>Dr. King and the SCLC founded the campaign on the premise that people should have what they need to live. The campaign was focused on alleviating poverty for all, with a radical redistribution of wealth. Strategically, the organizers conceived of the campaign in three parts, each designed to increase pressure on politicians so that they would take action. The Poor People’s Campaign Revival website&nbsp;<a href="https://poorpeoplescampaign.org/index.php/poor-peoples-campaign-1968/">outlines</a>&nbsp;the strategy of the 1968 campaign:</p> <blockquote> <p>“The Campaign was organized into three phases. The first was to construct a shantytown, to become known as Resurrection City, on the National Mall between the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument. With permits from the National Park Service, Resurrection City was to house anywhere from 1,500 to 3,000 Campaign participants. Additional participants would be housed in other group and family residences around the metropolitan area. The next phase was to begin public demonstrations, mass nonviolent civil disobedience, and mass arrests to protest the plight of poverty in this country. The third and final phase of the Campaign was to launch a nationwide boycott of major industries and shopping areas to prompt business leaders to pressure Congress into meeting the demands of the Campaign.</p> <p>Although Rev. Dr. King was assassinated on April 4, on April 29, 1968, the Poor People’s Campaign went forward. It began in Washington where key leaders of the campaign gathered for lobbying efforts and media events before dispersing around the country to formally launch the nine regional caravans bringing the thousands of participants to Washington….</p> <p>The efforts of the Poor People’s Campaign climaxed in the Solidarity Day Rally for Jobs, Peace, and Freedom on June 19, 1968. Fifty thousand people joined the 3,000 participants living at Resurrection City to rally around the demands of the Poor People’s Campaign on Solidarity Day….</p> <p>[Renown labor and civil rights organizer] Bayard Rustin put forth a proposal for an ‘Economic Bill of Rights’ for Solidarity Day that called for the federal government to:<br> &nbsp;</p> <ol> <li>Recommit to the Full Employment Act of 1946 and legislate the immediate creation of at least one million socially useful career jobs in public service.<br> &nbsp;</li> <li>Adopt the pending housing and urban development act of 1968.<br> &nbsp;</li> <li>Repeal the 90th Congress’s punitive welfare restrictions in the 1967 Social Security Act.<br> &nbsp;</li> <li>Extend to all farm workers the right–guaranteed under the National Labor Relations Act–to organize agricultural labor unions.<br> &nbsp;</li> <li>Restore budget cuts for bilingual education, Head Start, summer jobs, Economic Opportunity Act, Elementary and Secondary Education Acts.</li> </ol> </blockquote> <p><br> In a 2008 report for&nbsp;<em>National Public Radio</em>, journalist Kathy Lohr&nbsp;<a href="https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=91626373">considered</a>&nbsp;the fate of Dr. King's&nbsp;Poor People’s Campaign. The story quotes the Rev. Ralph Abernathy speaking at the Solidarity Day Rally for Jobs, Peace, and Freedom on June 19, 1968:</p> <blockquote> <p>“’We come with an appeal to open the doors of America to the almost 50 million Americans who have not been given a fair share of America's wealth and opportunity, and we will stay until we get it,’ Abernathy said as he led the way for demonstrators.</p> <p>A week later, protesters erected a settlement of tents and shacks on the National Mall where they camped out for six weeks. [Jesse] Jackson became mayor of the encampment, which was called Resurrection City. Conditions were miserable.</p> <p>‘You know, what I remember I suppose the most about it was that we set the tents up at the foot of Lincoln's memorial,’ he says. ‘It seemed to rain without ceasing and became muddy and people were hurt, and we were still traumatized by Dr. King's assassination. Then while in the Resurrection City, Robert Kennedy was killed.’</p> <p>The demonstrators were discouraged and disheartened, says Jackson, so he tried to give them hope through words.</p> <p>‘I am. Somebody,’ he told protestors. ‘I am. God's child. I may not have a job, but I am somebody.’</p> <p>Jackson says that refran ‘has resonated across the world in this last 40 years, but it grew out of the context of trying to give people a sense of somebody-ness who had nothing, but still had their person and their souls.’</p> <p>Although as many as 50,000 people ended up marching, the Poor People's Campaign was considered a failure by people who had grown weary of protesting and did not see immediate changes. But not by the Rev. Joseph Lowery.</p> <p>‘The nation became conscious of the fact that it has an expanding poor population,’ says Lowery, who co-founded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference with King.”</p> </blockquote> <p>Poverty has deepened in the wake of the Covid pandemic.&nbsp;Before the pandemic, the monthly poverty rate for white people was&nbsp;11 percent, versus nearly&nbsp;24 percent&nbsp;for Black and Latinx people, according to researchers at Columbia University's <a href="https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/covid-poverty-america/">Center on Poverty &amp; Social Policy</a>&nbsp;. While the estimated poverty rate crept up to&nbsp;12.3 percent&nbsp;for white individuals in August, it increased to&nbsp;26.3 percent&nbsp;for Black individuals and&nbsp;26.9 percent&nbsp;for Hispanic individuals that same month. In other words, the racial poverty gap widened during the pandemic.</p> <p>Given these statistics and the lived experience of many Americans, many feel the need for continuation of a&nbsp;Poor People’s Campaign.<br> &nbsp;</p> <h4>For Discussion:</h4> <ol> <li>How much of the material in this reading was new to you, and how much was already familiar? Do you have any questions about what you read?</li> </ol> <ol> <li value="2">According to the reading, what was the 1968 Poor People’s Campaign, and what did it aim to accomplish?</li> </ol> <ol> <li value="3">Dr. King and other organizers planned a three-phase campaign. What were the phases and why do you think that the leaders chose to order the phases in the way they did?</li> </ol> <ol> <li value="4">Looking at the five-point platform Bayard Rustin put forward as an “Economic Bill of Rights,” what stands out to you? Are there any aspects that seem particularly relevant for the 1960s that are no longer relevant now? Are there aspects that might be even more relevant today?</li> </ol> <ol> <li value="5">Some considered the Poor People's Campaign a shift in the civil rights movement because it highlighted the connections between racial and economic justice. Why do you think that Dr. King saw it necessary to emphasize the relationship between the two?</li> </ol> <p>&nbsp;</p> <hr> <p>&nbsp;</p> <h4>Reading Two<br> Today's Poor People’s Campaign&nbsp;</h4> <p><br> In 2018, a coalition of multiracial groups&nbsp;launched&nbsp;a new Poor People’s Campaign, aimed at addressing divisions in the United States, from racism to economic and gender inequality. Led by figures including Rev. William Barber and Rev. Liz Theoharis, the campaign is using somewhat different tactics than the original effort, but it is endeavoring to draw attention to similar issues of economic injustice.</p> <p>Rev. William Barber&nbsp;is a Protestant minister, the former state president of the North Carolina NAACP chapter, and the leader of “Moral Mondays,” a recurring civil rights protest that took place every Monday at the North Carolina state capital for several years, beginning in 2013. Rev. Theoharis is an ordained Presbyterian minister and a co-director of the Kairos Center, a nonprofit whose mission is to strengthen and expand social justice movements.</p> <p>As prominent faith leaders, the reverends draw on years of preaching. They use moral language to describe what they are calling on followers to do, with Rev. Barber having called for “moral defibrillators of our time” to “shock this nation with the power of love.”</p> <p>Those at the center of the new Poor People’s Campaign say that the effort comes out of more than a decade of organizing and mobilizing around issues including racism, poverty, militarism and military spending, and environmental destruction.</p> <p>In a January 15, 2018, article for NBC by journalist Donna Owens, Rev. Liz Theoharis&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/nbcblk/activists-push-make-mlk-s-poor-people-s-campaign-reality-n836546">argued</a>&nbsp;that in 2018, the call for moral revival is pressing. She stated that “with extremists who stand against voting rights, living wages, healthcare and immigration reform gaining even more influence today in Washington and in statehouses across the country, the need for this campaign is more urgent than ever.”</p> <p>As for the goals of the Poor People’s Campaign Revival, Rev. William Barber&nbsp;<a href="https://thinkprogress.org/rev-barber-why-america-needs-a-new-poor-peoples-campaign-dd406d515193/">described</a>&nbsp;the effort in a May 15, 2017, article for&nbsp;<em>Think Progress</em>:</p> <blockquote> <p>“Fifty years ago, Dr. Martin Luther King called for a ‘revolution of value’ in America, inviting people who had been divided to stand together against the ‘triplets of evil’— militarism, racism, and economic injustice — to insist that people need not die from poverty in the richest nation to ever exist. Poor people in communities across America — black, white, brown and Native — responded by building a Poor People’s Campaign that would demand a Marshall Plan for America’s poor…. [The Marshall Plan was a U.S.-led effort to rebuild Europe after it was devastated during World War 2.]</p> <p>The fights for racial and economic equality are as inseparable today as they were half a century ago. Make no mistake about it: We face a crisis in America. The twin forces of white supremacy and unchecked corporate greed have gained newfound power and influence, both in statehouses across this nation and at the highest levels of our federal government. Sixty-four million Americans make less than a living wage, while millions of children and adults continue to live without access to healthcare…. As our social fabric is stretched thin by widening income inequality, politicians criminalize the poor, fan the flames of racism and xenophobia to divide the poor, and steal from the poor to give tax breaks to our richest neighbors and budget increases to a bloated military.</p> <p>Americans across the country are crying out in defiance — and for change. Bringing this cry into the public square, a Resistance has emerged: The Fight for $15, the Movement for Black Lives, Moral Mondays, the Women’s March, The People’s Climate March and No Ban/No Wall protesters have taken to the streets….</p> <p>This moment requires us to push into the national consciousness a deep moral analysis that is rooted in an agenda to combat systemic poverty and racism, war mongering, economic injustice, voter suppression, and other attacks on the most vulnerable. We need a long term, sustained movement led by the people who are directly impacted by extremism.”<br> &nbsp;</p> </blockquote> <p>Tactically and strategically, the revival campaign is carrying on the work of the original Poor People’s Campaign and innovating&nbsp;for the present political and economic moment in the United States.&nbsp;</p> <p>In December 2020, as president-elect Joe Biden and vice president-elect Kamala Harris prepared to take&nbsp;office, the Poor People’s Campaign&nbsp;joined the Congressional Progressive Caucus to call for a seven-part legislative agenda aimed at helping poor Americans amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.</p> <p>The proposal, called the&nbsp;<a href="https://progressives.house.gov/_cache/files/a/b/ab7f6d65-260e-45bf-8e54-851a1f291a45/7EC1F831489CD4DE1B46C8797EBD5C4C.final-people-s-agenda.pdf" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">People’s Agenda</a>, includes: provide adequate Covid&nbsp;relief, including $2,000 monthly stimulus checks and student debt cancellation; invest in a green infrastructure package that prioritizes clean renewable energy and provides jobs; ensure healthcare for everyone by expanding Medicare; defend and expand voting rights with a comprehensive voting rights bill; dismantle racism and white supremacy through policies like police demilitarization and immigration reform; end U.S. wars in Yemen and Afghanistan; and end corporate monopolies by expanding antitrust law and reforming the tax system.</p> <p><br> <strong>For Discussion</strong><br> &nbsp;</p> <ol> <li>How much of the material in this reading was new to you, and how much was already familiar? Do you have any questions about what you read?<br> &nbsp;</li> <li>According to the reading, what is the focus of today's Poor People's Campaign?<br> &nbsp;</li> <li>Which aspects of the contemporary Poor People’s Campaign are similar to the original campaign? Which aspects do you see as different?<br> &nbsp;</li> <li>The leaders of the Poor People’s Campaign are explicitly calling it a multi-issue campaign. Why do you think they chose to do that? What are some of the issues it is addressing?<br> &nbsp;</li> <li>Are there other issues you would like to see included as part of the campaign? Why?<br> &nbsp;</li> <li>Rev. Barber argues, “The twin forces of white supremacy and unchecked corporate greed have gained newfound power and influence both in statehouses across this nation and at the highest levels of our federal government.” Do you agree? Why, or why not? Explain your position.<br> &nbsp;</li> </ol> <p>— &nbsp;<em>Research assistance provided by Ryan Leitner.</em></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--uid--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig x field--node--uid.html.twig * field--node--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--uid.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--uid.html.twig' --> <span> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'username' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/user/templates/username.html.twig' --> <span>Sara Carrero</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/user/templates/username.html.twig' --> </span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--uid.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--created--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig x field--node--created.html.twig * field--node--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--created.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--created.html.twig' --> <span> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'time' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/system/templates/time.html.twig' --> <time datetime="2018-02-17T08:57:09-05:00" title="Saturday, February 17, 2018 - 08:57">February 17, 2018</time> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/system/templates/time.html.twig' --> </span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--created.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'links__node' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * links--node.html.twig x links.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/system/links.html.twig' --> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/system/links.html.twig' --> Sat, 17 Feb 2018 13:57:09 +0000 Sara Carrero 1143 at https://www.morningsidecenter.org Black History Month Lesson Collection https://www.morningsidecenter.org/teachable-moment/lessons/black-history-month-lesson-collection-0 <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--title--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig x field--node--title.html.twig * field--node--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--title.html.twig * field--string.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <span>Black History Month Lesson Collection</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--body--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--node--body.html.twig * field--node--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--body.html.twig * field--text-with-summary.html.twig x field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field--item"><p><br> Looking for engaging activities for Black History Month? Here's a selection of relevant Teachable Moment lessons. Most are appropriate for high school students, and in some cases middle school students.&nbsp;<br> &nbsp;</p> <p><a href="https://www.morningsidecenter.org/teachable-moment/lessons/black-history-month-danger-single-story">Black History Month &amp; the Danger of a Single Story</a><br> Students explore why it is important for people to be able to tell their own stories and relate that to Black History Month.</p> <p><a href="http://www.morningsidecenter.org/teachable-moment/lessons/black-history-month-how-do-we-change-history">Black History Month: How do we change history?</a><br> Students explore the origins of Black History Month and consider where we stand today in creating a more inclusionary history in classrooms across the country.&nbsp;</p> <p><a href="http://www.morningsidecenter.org/teachable-moment/lessons/mlk-day-lesson-montgomery-story">The Montgomery Story</a><br> Students use a remarkable 1957 comic book to learn about the Montgomery Bus Boycott and the real nature of the civil rights movement. &nbsp;</p> <p><a href="http://www.morningsidecenter.org/teachable-moment/lessons/honoring-dr-martin-luther-king-power-nonviolent-resistance">The Power of Nonviolent Resistance</a>&nbsp;&nbsp;<em>(Elementary school)</em><br> Through engaging activities, video, and small-group discussion, students consider the Montgomery Bus Boycott and how they might stand up against injustice.&nbsp;</p> <p><a href="http://www.morningsidecenter.org/teachable-moment/lessons/civil-rights-movement-truths-myths">Civil Rights Movement: Truths &amp; Myths</a><br> History has a way of smoothing out the complexities of real-life events. This brief lesson explores some forgotten or misrepresented facts about the movement for civil rights.<br> &nbsp;<br> <a href="https://www.morningsidecenter.org/teachable-moment/lessons/3-women-civil-rights-activists-who-changed-history">3 Women Civil Rights Activists Who Changed History</a><br> Through reading, discussion, and small group activities, students learn about three relatively unknown women in the civil rights movement: Diane Nash, Virginia Durr, and Claudette Colvin. &nbsp;<br> &nbsp;<br> <a href="http://www.morningsidecenter.org/teachable-moment/lessons/50th-anniversary-civil-rights-act-movement-behind-it">The Civil Rights Act &amp; the Movement Behind It</a><br> Students explore the interplay of this legislation with the Civil Rights Movement, and consider what role everyday people play in making change.<br> &nbsp;<br> <a href="https://www.morningsidecenter.org/teachable-moment/lessons/black-history-month-everyday-hero">Everyday Hero</a><br> This brief activity focuses on the African American girl who refused to give up her seat on the bus, months before Rosa Parks touched off the 1955 Montgomery Bus Boycott.&nbsp;<br> &nbsp;<br> <a href="http://www.morningsidecenter.org/teachable-moment/lessons/university-missouri-win-students-against-racism">Voting Rights Act of 1965, Then &amp; Now</a><br> This activity traces the orgins of the Voting Rights Act; a second discusses the recent Supreme Court decision limiting the Act's scope when it comes to drawing voter district lines.<br> &nbsp;&nbsp;<br> <a href="http://www.morningsidecenter.org/teachable-moment/lessons/fight-voting-rights-selma-1965-today">The fight for voting rights, from Selma in 1965 to today</a><br> Students examine a primary source document to help them understand&nbsp;why so few southern blacks could vote in 1965 and how that struggle 50 years ago relates to voting rules today.&nbsp;</p> <p><a href="http://www.morningsidecenter.org/teachable-moment/lessons/power-strategic-nonviolent-action-strategy-change">The Power of Strategic Nonviolent Action</a><br> Students consider nonviolence as a strategy for intentionally building public support--in both in the Civil Rights Movement and in the Occupy movement.<br> &nbsp;<br> <a href="http://www.morningsidecenter.org/teachable-moment/lessons/freedom-summer-1964-and-voting-rights-today">Freedom Summer in 1964 and Voting Rights Today</a><br> In two readings and discussion, studnets learn about the Freedom Summer project, then discuss some challenges to voting rights that we face today.&nbsp;</p> <p><a href="http://www.morningsidecenter.org/teachable-moment/lessons/mlk-day-activity-organizing-end-poverty-then-and-now">Organizing to end poverty, then and now</a><br> This lesson focuses on MLK's Poor People’s Campaign and links it to current struggles to combat poverty in the US, including by workers at fast food restaurants, Wal-Mart, and others.</p> <p><a href="http://www.morningsidecenter.org/teachable-moment/lessons/mlk-dayinauguration-day-power-alliance-building">MLK &amp; The Power of Alliance-building</a><br> Students discuss Dr. King’s views about alliance-building; consider these in light of Obama’s inauguration; and learn about the alliance-building work of&nbsp;Ai-jen Poo, founder of Domestic Workers United.<br> &nbsp;<br> <a href="http://www.morningsidecenter.org/teachable-moment/lessons/black-history-month-order-v-justice">Order vs. justice: MLK’s Letter from a Birmingham Jail</a><br> This brief activity examines King's letter from a Birmingham jail in light of current events.&nbsp;<br> <br> <a href="http://www.morningsidecenter.org/teachable-moment/lessons/civil-rights-movement-truths-myths">Civil Rights Movement: Truths &amp; Myths</a><br> This brief lesson explores some forgotten or misrepresented facts about the movement for civil rights.&nbsp;</p> <p><a href="http://www.morningsidecenter.org/teachable-moment/lessons/3-allies-story-about-standing">3 Allies: A Story about Standing Up</a><br> Students consider what it means to be an ally and stand up for justice by examining a famous photo of a protest at the 1968 Olympics and learning the story behind it.<br> &nbsp;</p> <h4>Recent Activism</h4> <p><a href="http://www.morningsidecenter.org/teachable-moment/lessons/black-lives-matter-lesson-series-part-1">Black Lives Matter Lesson Series: Part 1</a><br> Students learn about the origins of the Black Lives Matter movement through tweets, quotes, and discussion of the movement's principles. &nbsp;</p> <p><a href="http://www.morningsidecenter.org/teachable-moment/lessons/black-lives-matter-lesson-series-part-2">Black Lives Matter Lesson Series: Part 2</a><br> Through a series of engaging "opinion continuum" exercises, students explore a range of views about the phrases "Black Lives Matter" and "All Lives Matter."<br> <br> <a href="http://www.morningsidecenter.org/teachable-moment/lessons/black-lives-matter-lesson-series-part-3">Black Lives Matter Lesson Series: Part 3</a><br> Using tweets, video and a poster, students review the history of the Black Lives Matter movement, consider criticisms of it, and examine the movement's policy goals.&nbsp;</p> <p><a href="http://www.morningsidecenter.org/teachable-moment/lessons/has-black-lives-matter-had-impact">Has Black Lives Matter had an impact?</a><br> What are the demands of the Black Lives Matter movement, and what progress has it made in bringing social change? &nbsp;Students explore these questions with readings and discussion.</p> <p><a href="http://www.morningsidecenter.org/teachable-moment/lessons/kaepernick-fellow-athletes-take-stand">Kaepernick &amp; Fellow Athletes Take a Stand</a><br> NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick added momentum to a wave of protests by athletes against racial injustice. Students discuss tweets about the protests, consider multiple points of view about them, and construct a timeline.</p> <p><a href="http://www.morningsidecenter.org/teachable-moment/lessons/university-missouri-win-students-against-racism">University of Missouri: A win for students against racism</a><br> In this brief activity, students learn about how organizing by Black students at the University of Missouri led to the resignation of the university's president and sparked a wave of organizing on campuses nationwide.&nbsp;</p> <p><a href="http://www.morningsidecenter.org/teachable-moment/lessons/athletes-protest-racial-inequality-exploring-views">Athletes protest racial inequality: Exploring views</a><br> Students discuss widespread protests by NFL and other athletes against racial injustice, consider tweets for and against these protests, and discuss how one group of high school athletes decided to act.&nbsp;</p> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--uid--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig x field--node--uid.html.twig * field--node--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--uid.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--uid.html.twig' --> <span> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'username' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/user/templates/username.html.twig' --> <span>Sara Carrero</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/user/templates/username.html.twig' --> </span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--uid.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--created--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig x field--node--created.html.twig * field--node--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--created.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--created.html.twig' --> <span> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'time' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/system/templates/time.html.twig' --> <time datetime="2018-02-07T08:57:25-05:00" title="Wednesday, February 7, 2018 - 08:57">February 7, 2018</time> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/system/templates/time.html.twig' --> </span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--created.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'links__node' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * links--node.html.twig x links.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/system/links.html.twig' --> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/system/links.html.twig' --> Wed, 07 Feb 2018 13:57:25 +0000 Sara Carrero 1145 at https://www.morningsidecenter.org Civil Rights Movement: Truths & Myths https://www.morningsidecenter.org/teachable-moment/lessons/civil-rights-movement-truths-myths <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--title--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig x field--node--title.html.twig * field--node--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--title.html.twig * field--string.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <span>Civil Rights Movement: Truths &amp; Myths</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--body--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--node--body.html.twig * field--node--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--body.html.twig * field--text-with-summary.html.twig x field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field--item"><h4>Introduction</h4> <p><br> History has a way of smoothing out the complexities of real life events. The Civil Rights Movement is a good example. What many of us know about that movement today is reduced to a few important icons&nbsp;—&nbsp;Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King, the March on Washington, Brown v Board of Education. and the Civil Rights Acts. And much of what we know about these icons has entered into the realm of myth.<br> &nbsp;</p> <hr> <p>&nbsp;</p> <h4>What is true?</h4> <p><br> Ask students which of the following statements can generally be considered to be true (that is, true without a lot of qualifications — ifs, ands or buts).&nbsp;</p> <ol> <li>The Civil Rights Movement began in the 1950s and ended in the 1960s.<br> &nbsp;</li> <li>The Movement achieved its goals with the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.<br> &nbsp;</li> <li>Rosa Parks was tired after a long day's work and refused to sit in the back of the bus.<br> &nbsp;</li> <li>Martin Luther King initiated the March on Washington and the Montgomery Bus Boycott.<br> &nbsp;</li> <li>The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) included may whites.<br> &nbsp;</li> <li>The Supreme Court decision Brown v Board of Education ended school segregation.<br> &nbsp;</li> <li>Martin Luther King fought for racial equality and stayed away from economic issues.<br> &nbsp;</li> </ol> <p>Answer:&nbsp; #5 comes closest to being a simple statement of fact. White students were an important part of SNCC until December 1967, when the organization asked its white members to work against racism in their own communities. The rest of the statements are not generally true.&nbsp;<br> &nbsp;</p> <hr> <p>&nbsp;</p> <h4>Some Remembered and Forgotten Facts&nbsp;</h4> <p><br> Share with students the following information - or ask them to read it for themselves.&nbsp;</p> <p>Rosa Parks' arrest for not giving up her seat to a white man on that Montgomery Alabama bus did spark the famous bus boycott. But it wasn't because her feet hurt after a long day's work. Parks was an active member of a group of Black&nbsp; Montgomery women who had been organizing for years and had plans laid out already for a boycott of the city's buses. (For the details, see our 2015 <a href="https://www.morningsidecenter.org/teachable-moment/lessons/black-history-month-everyday-hero">TeachableInstant lesson</a>&nbsp; and 2012 <a href="http://www.morningsidecenter.org/teachable-moment/lessons/mlk-day-lesson-montgomery-story">TeachableMoment lesson</a>.)</p> <p>Martin Luther King is rightfully known for leading the fight for desegregation and voting rights, his faith-based appeals for equality, his nonviolent philosophy and his soaring speeches. And if you just listened to politicians praising Dr. King on the national holiday bearing his name, that's all you would know about King's message. What you might not know from the commemorations, celebrations, textbooks and movies is that King also opposed the war in Vietnam, supported trade unions, and worked to end poverty for people of all races. (See our <a href="http://www.morningsidecenter.org/teachable-moment/lessons/mlk-day-activity-organizing-end-poverty-then-and-now">TeachableMoment lesson</a> from 2014.)</p> <p>The March on Washington of August 28, 1963, is largely known for Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech. What is often forgotten is that the full name of the demonstration was the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, and that economic justice was a top focus of the march. The idea for the march came from A. Philip Randolph, president of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters and president of the Negro American Labor Council. &nbsp;Another key organizer was Bayard Rustin, an advisor to Martin Luther King and a leader in the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. Rustin, a strong advocate for nonviolence, was also openly gay and a socialist. (See our <a href="http://www.morningsidecenter.org/teachable-moment/lessons/march-washington-teaching-suggestions">teaching suggestions </a>on the March on Washington.)</p> <p>Of course we would expect that histories of any event or person or movement would differ. Sometimes though, a national consensus forms on important events that reduces that event to a simple message--one that is short and palatable to the broad population. This national memory is formed by textbooks, films, public officials, monuments, museums commemorations and national holidays.</p> <p>The shorthand view of the Civil Rights Movement leaves out a lot:</p> <ul> <li>Descriptions of the movement often focus on a few great leaders, while the hard work, courage, and clever organizing of grassroots activists in communities across the country is ignored or under-emphasized. The day-to-day work of organizing--holding meetings, forming committees, writing and distributing leaflets, holding local protests, distributing petitions, organizing protests, going door to door, or picketing local businesses is erased. Instead, the focus tends to be on King and a few other famous individuals making speeches and leading national marches.<br> &nbsp;</li> <li>The movement is often taken out of context. It’s often thought to have begun in the 1950s and ended in the 1960s. &nbsp;In fact, earlier movements to end lynching, desegregate the armed forces, unite with whites in the labor movement and promote Black nationalism, are also part of civil rights history.&nbsp; Also lost are the connections to the later struggles against police brutality and voter suppression, and for housing rights, education equality, environmental justice, and affirmative action.<br> &nbsp;</li> <li>Despite the prominence of Rosa Parks, women (as leaders or as foot soldiers) are often left out of the story. In fact, women were key in building the Civil &nbsp;Rights Movement. (See this <a href="https://www.morningsidecenter.org/teachable-moment/lessons/3-women-civil-rights-activists-who-changed-history">TeachableMoment lesson</a> on three women civil rights activists.)&nbsp;<br> &nbsp;</li> <li>Radical organizers (those who advocate large-scale change rather than simply reforms) were also vital to the movement, but tend to be overlooked or have their views softened in the histories.</li> </ul> <p><br> What we know about the past affects what we do today and in the future. If we know that everyday normal people like us have worked for change and made a difference in the past, then we might feel inspired to work for change ourselves.<br> &nbsp;</p> <hr> <p>&nbsp;</p> <h4>For Discussion<br> &nbsp;</h4> <ol> <li>Joseph Lowry was a co-founder and president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and&nbsp; a close ally of Martin Luther King. Still, marching in 2007, Lowry had this to say about mythologizing King (drawing from a poem by Carl Wendell Hines): &nbsp;"Now that he (King) is safely dead, let us praise him... Dead men make such convenient heroes. Besides, it's easier to build a monument than a movement." &nbsp;What do you think Lowry meant? Do you agree with his sentiments?<br> &nbsp;</li> <li>Is the Black Lives Matter movement a continuation of the Civil Rights Movement? How are they similar? Different?<br> &nbsp;</li> <li>Can you think of any other examples of history as myth?&nbsp;<br> &nbsp;</li> <li>Have you ever read something in a textbook that you felt was false, or distorted or that left out important parts?<br> &nbsp;</li> <li>To what extent does the saying "history is written by the winners" apply to the history of the Civil Rights Movement?<br> &nbsp;</li> <li>Why do you think we tend to hear a simplified version of the Civil Rights Movement history that emphasizes inspiring leaders rather than grassroots activism?&nbsp;<br> &nbsp;</li> </ol> <hr> <h4><br> Sources</h4> <p><br> <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-civilrights-lowery-idUSN2135502320070802">http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-civilrights-lowery-idUSN2135502320070802</a></p> <p><a href="https://www.good.is/articles/on-the-50th-anniversary-of-the-march-on-washington-it-s-time-for-real-action-on-freedom-and-jobs">https://www.good.is/articles/on-the-50th-anniversary-of-the-march-on-washington-it-s-time-for-real-action-on-freedom-and-jobs</a></p> <p><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/carolyn-dupont/baltimore-and-americas-ci_b_7214512.html">http://www.huffingtonpost.com/carolyn-dupont/baltimore-and-americas-ci_b_7214512.html</a></p> <p><a href="http://time.com/4125377/rosa-parks-60-years-video/">http://time.com/4125377/rosa-parks-60-years-video/</a></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--uid--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig x field--node--uid.html.twig * field--node--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--uid.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--uid.html.twig' --> <span> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'username' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/user/templates/username.html.twig' --> <span>fionta</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/user/templates/username.html.twig' --> </span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--uid.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--created--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig x field--node--created.html.twig * field--node--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--created.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--created.html.twig' --> <span> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'time' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/system/templates/time.html.twig' --> <time datetime="2016-01-30T15:52:40-05:00" title="Saturday, January 30, 2016 - 15:52">January 30, 2016</time> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/system/templates/time.html.twig' --> </span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--created.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'links__node' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * links--node.html.twig x links.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/system/links.html.twig' --> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/system/links.html.twig' --> Sat, 30 Jan 2016 20:52:40 +0000 fionta 414 at https://www.morningsidecenter.org 3 Allies: A Story about Standing Up https://www.morningsidecenter.org/teachable-moment/lessons/3-allies-story-about-standing <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--title--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig x field--node--title.html.twig * field--node--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--title.html.twig * field--string.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <span>3 Allies: A Story about Standing Up</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--body--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--node--body.html.twig * field--node--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--body.html.twig * field--text-with-summary.html.twig x field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field--item"><h4>&nbsp;<br> Gathering</h4> <p><br> Invite students in a pair share to talk about a time they felt supported, by a friend, family member, classmate, teacher, or possibly a stranger.&nbsp; What did this person do or say that was supportive?&nbsp; Invite a few students to share out with the full group.<br> &nbsp;<br> Circle format:&nbsp; If you are using a circle format for this activity, consider using the following opening ceremony from the song Stand by Me by Ben E. King:&nbsp;</p> <p class="rteindent1">When the night has come<br> And the land is dark<br> And the moon is the only light we'll see<br> No I won't be afraid, no I won't be afraid<br> Just as long as you stand, stand by me<br> &nbsp;</p> <p>Next send a talking piece around asking students to talk about a time they had someone "stand by them,"&nbsp; a time they felt supported by a friend, family member, classmate, teacher, or possibly a stranger.&nbsp; What did this person do or say that was supportive?<br> &nbsp;</p> <hr> <h4><br> &nbsp;<br> Word Web:&nbsp; Associations With the Word "Ally"&nbsp;&nbsp;</h4> <p><br> Invite students to free associate with the word ally.&nbsp; Chart what students share in a web:&nbsp; Write the word ALLY in the center of the board, circle it and write student associations around the circled word.&nbsp; Draw lines from these associations to the circled word to create a web.&nbsp; Consider grouping words that are connected in some way, e.g. feelings words, words that are connected to bullying, the kind of things that allies do or say, etc.&nbsp;</p> <p>Circle format: If you are using a circle format, consider sending the word ALLY around the circle to elicit associations in the following way:&nbsp; Turn to the student next to you and say ALLY, inviting him/her to respond with whatever word first comes to mind.&nbsp; This student then turns to his/her neighbor saying ALLY and inviting the neighbor to respond with the first thing that comes to their mind.&nbsp; In this way the word ALLY continues around the circle, eliciting associations from all students.&nbsp; Either chart these associations in a web as described above or have the students write their associations on index cards and contribute them to the center piece for all to see.<br> &nbsp;<br> At the end of the activity, invite students to come up with a definition of ally.&nbsp; According to dictionary.com an ally is:&nbsp;</p> <ul> <li>a person, group, or nation that is associated with another or others for some common cause or purpose, [or]</li> <li>a person who associates or cooperates with another; supporter.</li> </ul> <p>&nbsp;</p> <hr> <h4><br> &nbsp;<br> A Historic Photo</h4> <p><br> &nbsp;<img alt src="/sites/default/files/pictures/Olympic%20Protest.jpg" style="height: 556px; width: 450px;"><br> <br> &nbsp;<br> <strong>Step 1: Objective Description&nbsp;</strong><br> &nbsp;<br> Ask students to look at the picture above and describe what they see.&nbsp;Instruct them to describe only what is actually in the image.&nbsp;If students draw any conclusions or make any interpretations, redirect them to what can actually be seen.<br> &nbsp;<br> Students might share that they see three men. Two have their fists raised above their heads.&nbsp; One has his arms by his side.&nbsp; The two who are raising their arms and fists have a darker skin color than the third man, and they are looking down while the third man is looking straight ahead.&nbsp; All three men are wearing similar black outfits and have ribbons with metal objects around their necks.&nbsp; The two darker skinned men have USA on their jackets, the other does not. They all have a round white badge on the left hand side of their jackets. The background is blurry. They are standing at different heights, etc.<br> &nbsp;<br> Try to have students share as complete a description of the image as they can, by asking, every time someone shares, what else students notice.&nbsp;Ask them to compare and contrast the two men on the right of the photo with the man on the left. How are they different? How are they the same?<br> <strong>&nbsp;<br> Step 2: Assign Adjectives </strong><br> &nbsp;<br> Now ask students to move beyond the mere description of the image. Ask: If you were to use adjectives to describe this image, what might they be?&nbsp; Why?&nbsp; What feelings does the image bring up for you?<br> &nbsp;<br> <strong>Step 3: Moving Beyond the Image</strong><br> &nbsp;<br> Next ask students: If you were the photographer and you zoomed out from this image, what do you think you might see?&nbsp; What do you think is beyond the image? If you were to bring the background into focus, what might you see? &nbsp;<br> &nbsp;<br> <strong>Step 4: Interpretations </strong><br> &nbsp;<br> Ask students if they know what the image is of. Are they familiar with what happened here? If not, have them guess what the image might be of. What might be going on here?&nbsp;Ask them to explain why they would think that.<br> &nbsp;</p> <hr> <h4><br> The Story Behind the Image</h4> <p><br> Ask students to read the handout below. Discuss the article using some or all of the following questions:</p> <ul> <li>What are your thoughts and feelings about what happened that fateful day in 1968?&nbsp;</li> <li>What are your thoughts about Smith and Carlos’ actions?&nbsp; Do you believe they had an impact?&nbsp; If so, who/what do you think they impacted?&nbsp; How?&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;</li> <li>What do you think it took for Smith and Carlos to take this extremely controversial stand at the very moment they had won Olympic medals, after years of training?</li> <li>How do you think they might be feeling in the photo we viewed?</li> <li>What are your thoughts about Norman’s actions?&nbsp; Do you believe they had an impact?&nbsp; If so, who/what do you think they impacted?&nbsp; How?</li> <li>How do you think Norman might be feeling in the photo we viewed?</li> <li>What does it tell you about Smith and Carlos that they remained friends with Norman throughout his life, and even served as pallbearers at his funeral?</li> <li>Who were Smith and Carlos allies to?&nbsp; Who was Norman an ally to?</li> <li>What did the men lose as a result of their actions?&nbsp; What did they gain?</li> </ul> <p>&nbsp;</p> <hr> <h4><br> <br> Closing</h4> <p><br> In a documentary written, directed and produced by his nephew Matt, Peter Norman described the reasons for what he did on that podium in 1968:&nbsp;</p> <p class="rteindent1">I couldn’t see why a black man couldn’t drink the same water from a water fountain, take the same bus or go to the same school as a white man.&nbsp; There was a social injustice that I couldn’t do anything about from where I was, but I certainly hated it.&nbsp; It has been said that sharing my silver medal with that incident on the victory dais detracted from my performance. On the contrary.&nbsp; I have to confess, I was rather proud to be part of it.&nbsp;</p> <p>Read the quote by Norman out loud.&nbsp; Then ask students if there is anything they learned from today’s lesson.&nbsp; Alternatively ask them to share, one thing they’ll start, stop or keep doing as a result of today’s lesson.&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <hr> <h4><br> &nbsp;<br> The Story Behind the Image</h4> <p><br> The photo we just viewed and discussed was taken at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City.&nbsp; The image is of three men who won gold, silver and bronze medals in the 200 meters.&nbsp; It is a famous image in which two African Americans, John Carlos and Tommie "the Jet" Smith, stood shoeless on the podium, heads bowed, their black gloved fists in the air as the U.S. national anthem sounded through the stadium.&nbsp;</p> <p>The symbolism of this moment had been carefully planned.&nbsp; They went shoeless, wearing black socks, to represent the poverty facing people of color in the U.S.&nbsp; Smith wore a black scarf and Carlos a bead necklace in memory of African Americans who had been lynched, and both raised their fists in a gesture Carlos said was meant to represent "power to the people." They wore the Olympic Project for Human Rights badge, a movement of athletes supporting equality for all.&nbsp;&nbsp;<br> &nbsp;<br> Carlos was a founding member of the&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olympic_Project_for_Human_Rights" title="Olympic Project for Human Rights">Olympic Project for Human Rights</a>, and originally advocated a&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boycott" title="Boycott">boycott</a>&nbsp;of the 1968 Olympic Games unless four conditions were met: withdrawal of (then-apartheid) South Africa and Rhodesia from the games, restoration of Muhammad Ali's world heavyweight boxing title,&nbsp;the resignation of International Olympics Committee (IOC) president <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avery_Brundage" title="Avery Brundage">Avery Brundage</a>, and the hiring of more African-American assistant coaches. The IOC withdrew its invitations for South Africa and Rhodesia, but the other conditions were not met. Carlos and Smith decided that they would participate in the Olympics, but would stage a protest if they won. &nbsp;When they came in, in first and third place, they did exactly that. &nbsp;<br> &nbsp;<br> Immediately after their protest, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IOC" title="IOC">IOC</a>&nbsp;president<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avery_Brundage" title="Avery Brundage"> Brundage</a>&nbsp;ordered Smith and Carlos suspended from the U.S. team and banned from the Olympic Village. Back home they faced further threats and repercussions, but with time things changed and they were seen for what they were: champions of the Civil Rights Movement.&nbsp; Their courage was memorialized in this statue erected at San Jose State University.&nbsp;<br> &nbsp;<br> &nbsp;<br> <img alt src="/sites/default/files/pictures/Olympic%20protest%20memorial.jpg"><br> &nbsp;<br> &nbsp;<br> &nbsp;<br> As we look at the first, famous picture, it is no wonder that our eyes are immediately drawn to Carlos and Smith making their powerful statement.&nbsp; And yet the third man in this picture, often forgotten -- and left out entirely in the San Jose memorial -- was more than a footnote in the story of this brave protest.&nbsp;<br> &nbsp;<br> In the photo, this third man stands looking straight ahead, by the side of the other two athletes. On close inspection, we can see that he is wearing the same badge as Carlos and Smith - the badge of the Olympic Project for Human Rights.&nbsp; It turns out there is more of a connection between these three men than may be apparent at first sight.&nbsp;<br> &nbsp;<br> The third man in the picture was an Australian named Peter Norman. He had come in second that day with a personal best and Australian record that still stands today, 47 years later. Only Smith beat him, in world record time. The race was memorable, but the awards ceremony that followed even more so.&nbsp;<br> &nbsp;<br> Before the games, word had spread in the Olympic village that Smith and Carlos were planning a protest if they won medals. They approached Norman to talk with him about their plan. John Carlos remembers Peter Norman saying, "I’ll stand with you." Recalled Carlos: "I expected to see fear in Norman’s eyes, but instead we saw love."&nbsp;<br> &nbsp;<br> Norman was from a country with strict apartheid laws, which he was vehemently against. He was happy to support these two men in their fight for equality.&nbsp; They planned the awards ceremony together, with Norman wearing the Olympic Project for Human Rights badge. &nbsp;"That way I can show my support for your cause," he said.<br> &nbsp;<br> Unlike Smith and Carlos, Norman was not immediately suspended from the Olympic team. &nbsp;However, he was barred from the team four years later, even though he ran qualifying times for the 200 and 100 meter races. &nbsp;Peter Norman and his family were ostracized in a country that continued to promote racist laws and segregation.&nbsp; As a result, he had a hard time finding work. But when he was invited to condemn the actions of Smith and Carlos at the 1968 games, which would have made life for himself and his family much easier, he refused. According to Carlos: "If we were getting beat up, Peter was facing an entire country and suffering alone."&nbsp;<br> &nbsp;<br> In 2006, Norman died of a heart attack.&nbsp; At the funeral Tommie Smith and John Carlos, who had been friends with him since that day in 1968, were his pallbearers. <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/sport/norman-mortally-wounded--by-protest-us-runner-20120821-24ji6.html">(See a photo here.)</a>&nbsp;</p> <p>John Carlos believes Peter Norman's story should not be forgotten. In stories about the 1968 protest, he said, "They write Peter out on purpose so white athletes don’t have him as a hero or an example." "Peter was a lone soldier," said Carlos. "He consciously chose to be a sacrificial lamb in the name of human rights. There’s no one more than him that Australia should honor, recognize and appreciate," John Carlos said. "He paid the price with his choice," added Tommie Smith, "It wasn’t just a simple gesture to help us, it was his fight. He was a white man, a white Australian man among two men of color, standing up in the moment of victory, all in the name of the same thing."</p> <p>It wasn’t until after his death in 2012 that the Australian Parliament formally apologized to Peter Norman, rewriting him into history with this statement:&nbsp;</p> <p class="rteindent1">This House "recognizes the extraordinary athletic achievements of the late Peter Norman, who won the silver medal in the 200 meters sprint running event at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics, in a time of 20.06 seconds, which still stands as the Australian record."<br> &nbsp;<br> "Acknowledges the bravery of Peter Norman in donning an Olympic Project for Human Rights badge on the podium, in solidarity with African-American athletes Tommie Smith and John Carlos, who gave the ‘black power’ salute."<br> &nbsp;<br> "Apologizes to Peter Norman for the wrong done by Australia in failing to send him to the 1972 Munich Olympics, despite repeatedly qualifying; and belatedly recognizes the powerful role that Peter Norman played in furthering racial equality."</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--uid--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig x field--node--uid.html.twig * field--node--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--uid.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--uid.html.twig' --> <span> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'username' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/user/templates/username.html.twig' --> <span>fionta</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/user/templates/username.html.twig' --> </span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--uid.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--created--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig x field--node--created.html.twig * field--node--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--created.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--created.html.twig' --> <span> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'time' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/system/templates/time.html.twig' --> <time datetime="2015-12-09T15:14:29-05:00" title="Wednesday, December 9, 2015 - 15:14">December 9, 2015</time> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/system/templates/time.html.twig' --> </span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--created.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'links__node' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * links--node.html.twig x links.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/system/links.html.twig' --> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/system/links.html.twig' --> Wed, 09 Dec 2015 20:14:29 +0000 fionta 422 at https://www.morningsidecenter.org 3 Women Civil Rights Activists Who Changed History https://www.morningsidecenter.org/teachable-moment/lessons/3-women-civil-rights-activists-who-changed-history <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--title--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig x field--node--title.html.twig * field--node--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--title.html.twig * field--string.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <span>3 Women Civil Rights Activists Who Changed History</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--body--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--node--body.html.twig * field--node--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--body.html.twig * field--text-with-summary.html.twig x field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field--item"><h4>Objectives:</h4> <p>Students will</p> <ul> <li>Share knowledge about women in the civil rights movement</li> <li>Study the work of three relatively unknown women in the civil rights movement</li> <li>Learn about the trajectory of social change</li> </ul> <h4>Skills:</h4> <ul> <li>Research</li> <li>Critical thinking</li> </ul> <h4><br> Materials needed:</h4> <ul> <li>Today's agenda on chart paper or on the board</li> <li>Chart paper (or space on the board) for writing</li> <li>Copies of the short biographies below (or <a href="/sites/default/files/files/3%20Women%20Civil%20Rights%20Leaders.pdf">download this pdf</a>)&nbsp;</li> <li>Individual chart paper for small groups, plus markers</li> </ul> <h4><br> Agenda</h4> <ul> <li>Gathering (10 min.)</li> <li>Agenda Review (1 min.)</li> <li>Small group reading &amp; poster-making (15 min.)</li> <li>Poster reports and discussion (10 min.)</li> <li>Closing (4 min.)</li> </ul> <hr> <h4>Gathering:&nbsp;<br> What do we know?<br> &nbsp;</h4> <p>In a go-round, ask students to say one thing they know about the civil rights movement. Ask what civil rights are. Write down the answers, making sure that the right to vote, right to a fair trial, freedom of speech, and equal protection under the law are included.</p> <p>Accept all responses and chart them in a few words each on chart paper.</p> <p>Explain the following, making sure to provide information that addresses any factual errors in what students have shared.</p> <ul> <li>When we talk about the civil rights movement today, we are usually talking about the movement to gain the true right to vote, an end to racial segregation, and equal protection under the law for people who are not considered white in our society.</li> </ul> <ul> <li>A few years after slaves were freed (emancipation), the U.S. Constitution was amended &nbsp;or changed to give males the right to vote. (Women did not gain the right to vote until almost 50 years later.) However, almost everywhere in the South and in many other places, there were many laws and regulations to keep African Americans from voting. Many immigrants from certain countries, such as China and other parts of Asia, were specifically not allowed to become citizens or to marry white people, either. The civil rights movement of the 1960s helped change laws that targeted Asian people as well as black people.</li> </ul> <ul> <li>The civil rights movement was mainly led by young people. Many of the activists were students in high schools and colleges. They were only a few years older or the same age as the students in the room.<br> &nbsp;</li> </ul> <hr> <p>&nbsp;</p> <h4>Check agenda and objectives</h4> <p>Review the agenda and check off the first item.<br> &nbsp;</p> <hr> <h4><br> Small group posters and discussion<br> &nbsp;</h4> <p>In a go-round, ask students to share one name they associate with the civil rights movement. Write down their responses and then review them with students. It's possible that Rosa Parks, Coretta Scott King, and Fannie Lou Hamer will be listed, but there are probably more men than women on the list.</p> <p>Tell the students that there were many, many more women, both black and white, who were involved in the civil rights movement. Their names are not always in the history books.&nbsp; Many times, they were taking care of children or working to earn money when the men lost their jobs because of their activities. They were also at the sit-ins, the Freedom Rides, and the demonstrations, but they were not always the ones who got their pictures in the paper.</p> <p>Today we are going to find out about three women in the civil rights movement whose names are known, but who are not written about a lot.</p> <p>Divide the class into three groups and give each group copies of one of the biographical sketches below (or in this <a href="/sites/default/files/files/3%20Women%20Civil%20Rights%20Leaders.pdf">pdf </a>), a sheet of chart paper, and markers. Give the groups 10 or 15 minutes to do the following:</p> <ul> <li>read their biography together by going around in a circle with each person reading a sentence</li> <li>write down any questions they have</li> <li>make a poster describing the most important points they want their classmates to know</li> </ul> <p>Then, reconvene the class and ask each group to present their poster and report to the class. Allow about 10 minutes for the reports, and for questions, if there is time.</p> <p>After students have reported and discussed each person, ask students to think about how each person's actions in the civil rights movement helped other people. The victories of the civil rights movement did not come from one brave person but from many brave people.</p> <p>Ask students to turn to a neighbor and give an example from what we learned today or what they already know about how one person's action builds on another person's action. Each student should talk for about a minute.</p> <p>Ask for volunteers to share examples.</p> <hr> <h4>Follow up activities</h4> <ul> <li>&nbsp;If students have questions for which there are simple, direct answers, provide those answers to the class.</li> <li>&nbsp;If other questions require further study, ask for volunteers to look into them and give poster reports back.</li> <li>&nbsp;Encourage students to do research on other women in the civil rights movement.</li> </ul> <hr> <h4>Closing</h4> <p>Ask for several students to tell how the work of civil rights activists has made their lives better today.<br> &nbsp;</p> <hr> <h4><br> SYNOPSES OF BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES &nbsp;</h4> <p><strong>(<a href="/sites/default/files/files/3%20Women%20Civil%20Rights%20Leaders.pdf">Download the pdf</a> or see below.)</strong></p> <p><strong>Diane Nash: </strong>In the photos of the civil rights movement, she is next to Martin Luther King and other more well-known leaders, but she was also in the meetings where civil rights activists planned strategy. Her courage inspired not only thousands of people, but her own family, which became active because of her work.</p> <p><strong>Virginia Durr:</strong> This white child of the Old South was almost kicked out of college in the North because she refused to sit next to a black classmate. She soon learned more about injustice against blacks and became an activist. Her husband, a lawyer, is mentioned more often than Virginia in the history books, but she was there from the beginning of the struggle.</p> <p><strong>Claudette Colvin</strong>&nbsp; If we know her name, we know her as the teenager who preceded Rosa Parks in refusing to give her seat on the bus to a white person. But we probably don't know that she was part of the lawsuit that made bus segregation illegal.</p> <p><strong>Resources</strong></p> <p><a href="http://www.aarp.org/politics-society/history/info-2014/female-civil-rights-leaders.html">http://www.aarp.org/politics-society/history/info-2014/female-civil-rights-leaders.html</a><br> <a href="http://womenshistory.about.com/od/civilrights/">http://womenshistory.about.com/od/civilrights/</a><br> <a href="http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/08/19/march-on-washington-women/2648011/">http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/08/19/march-on-washington-women/2648011/</a></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <hr> <p>&nbsp;</p> <h4>Diane Nash<br> Biographical Sketch</h4> <p>Before she started school at Fisk University in Nashville, Diane Nash had never seen a sign that said "Colored" or "Whites Only." She grew up in Chicago, where her parents tried to shelter her from racism. At Fisk, she decided she wanted to fight against racism. Soon, she heard about people who were learning nonviolent ways to resist racism. She signed up for training in nonviolence and started to study what Mohandas Gandhi had done in India.</p> <p>The first campaign she was involved with was to integrate the lunch counters in stores in downtown Nashville. Black shoppers could buy food at the counter, but they had to take it outside to eat it. The lunch counter sit-ins started in Nashville and spread throughout the South. Nash and many other students were arrested. As soon as they were arrested, others would take their place at the counter. After over 150 students were arrested and negotiations with the Mayor, the protesters eventually won their demand, and downtown lunch counters began serving Black customers for the first time.</p> <p>Nash helped found the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and dropped out of school to be in charge of its direct action arm. A historian who later wrote about her said she was "...bright, focused, utterly fearless, with an unerring instinct for the correct tactical move."</p> <p>Next, in 1961, Nash helped lead Freedom Rides. The Freedom Riders were interracial groups who rode interstate buses across the South as a way of challenging segregation on the buses. The Freedom Riders were beaten up when the buses rolled into town. The leaders of the campaign wanted to call off the rides because they were sure somebody would get killed. Nash refused. "We know someone will be killed, but we cannot let violence overcome nonviolence," &nbsp;she said. She and other Freedom Riders made out their wills and were prepared to die. They were not killed, but some of the people who were beaten never recovered from the effects.</p> <p>Nash married a fellow civil rights activist, James Bevel, and was pregnant with their first child when she was arrested for her Freedom Ride work and sent to jail. She could have paid bail and gotten out, but, she said, "I believe that if I go to jail now, it may help hasten that day when my child and all children will be free — not only on the day of their birth but for all their lives."</p> <p>President John Kennedy appointed Nash to work on the&nbsp;national committee that promoted passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. &nbsp;But at the same time, Nash knew that it was very important to put pressure on politicians to make such progress possible. She worked with Martin Luther King to plan the voting rights march in Selma, Alabama, and to get publicity for the cause.</p> <p>After being a leader in the civil rights movement, Nash became active in protests against the war in Vietnam. Many years later, when someone asked what the best piece of advice was that she'd ever gotten, she said, "When I have a decision to make, I always make the choice that will make me proud of and will make me respect the person I see in the mirror."</p> <p><strong>Image</strong>:&nbsp;<em>Diane Nash (front row, center) and other activists march to the Nashville City Hall on April 19, 1960, to confront the mayor over segregation and violence against protesters.&nbsp;</em><em>Credit: Copyright New York Times/Archive&nbsp;</em></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Resources</strong></p> <p>There are a number of powerful videos and video segments that explore Nash's life. They include:</p> <p><a href="http://www.makers.com/diane-nash">http://www.makers.com/diane-nash</a> (video interview with Nash)<br> <a href="http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/eyesontheprize/story/04_nonviolence.html">http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/eyesontheprize/story/04_nonviolence.html</a><br> <a href="http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/freedomriders/people/diane-nash">http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/freedomriders/people/diane-nash</a><br> &nbsp;</p> <hr> <p>&nbsp;</p> <h4>Virginia Durr<br> Biographical Sketch</h4> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>Virginia Foster Durr saw a lot of change in her life. She was born in 1903 and died in 1999. She came a long way from the beliefs and prejudices of her early life. Raised in the South, the daughter of a well-known minister, Durr thought that her life would be similar to those of other privileged white women. But her life changed because of something that happened when she went to school at Wellesley College in Massachusetts.</p> <p>At the school, students were expected to eat dinner with different people. When she saw that she was supposed to sit next to a Black student, she refused.&nbsp; The dean of the school told her that she had to eat with the student or she would have to leave the school.&nbsp; She wrote later that she stayed up all night thinking about her choice, then decided to stay at school and sit with the other student.</p> <p>That decision changed her life, because she started to rethink all the things she had been taught about race. Later, after Durr became well known and wrote about how she had changed, some developmental psychologists called what she went through a "Virginia Durr moment." That is the moment when you make a choice that advances your moral development. You&nbsp; reflect, you change your beliefs, you move forward morally.</p> <p>Durr married a white lawyer from Montgomery, Alabama, named Clifford Durr. They had five children. She and Clifford moved to Washington, D.C. to work for President Franklin Roosevelt. They became involved in civil rights work. Virginia began to work on getting voting rights for Black people. Many states had poll taxes that people had to pay before they could register to vote. The taxes were a way to keep poor people and African Americans from voting. Usually, the law was written so that if you had an ancestor who had voted in 1867, then you didn't have to pay the tax.</p> <p>Virginia Durr and her husband were active in the Montgomery Bus Boycott. They had to send their two youngest children away to school because of all the threats against their family. The Durrs helped bail Rosa Parks out of jail after Parks refused to give up her seat on the bus. Durr had employed Parks as a seamstress and had helped her get a scholarship to a school that trained activists. When Virginia died, Rosa Parks said that Virginia Durr's "upbringing of privilege did not prohibit her from wanting equality for all people. She was a lady and a scholar, and I will miss her."</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Resources</strong></p> <p><a href="http://www.encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/h-1574">http://www.encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/h-1574</a></p> <p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virginia_Durr_Moment">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virginia_Durr_Moment</a></p> <p><em>Social Activism and Civil Rights, </em>by Virginia Durr<br> <em>Outside the Magic Circle: The Autobiography of Virginia Foster Durr</em><br> <em>Freedom Writer: Virginia Foster Durr, Letters from the Civil Rights Years</em><br> &nbsp;</p> <hr> <h4>Claudette Colvin<br> Biographical Sketch</h4> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>Claudette Colvin was 15 years old when she walked onto the stage of history not once but twice. She was arrested for not giving up her seat to a white person on a segregated bus in Montgomery, Alabama. The officers kicked and handcuffed her.</p> <p>Colvin was active in the NAACP youth group. Rosa Parks was a mentor to the group.</p> <p>The NAACP had been looking for a test case to oppose segregation on the city buses. The lawyers thought that Colvin's case would be it the right case (see our <a href="https://www.morningsidecenter.org/teachable-moment/lessons/black-history-month-everyday-hero">brief classroom activity on this</a>).&nbsp; But when Colvin became pregnant to a married man a few months after her arrest, they worried that the deeply religious black community might not be sympathetic to her.</p> <p>Nine months later, Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat, and the bus boycott began. Lawyers for the NAACP knew that they had to get the courts to declare segregation on city buses illegal. Even if the boycott worked, there would be no legal way to make another bus company stop segregating. The lawyers knew it would take a long time for the Parks case to go through the state court system. They needed a federal case.</p> <p>They took another look at Colvin's case. They found four other women who had also been arrested for refusing to give up their seats on the buses. All the women and their families knew that they would be in danger once their names became public.</p> <p>The NAACP realized that those cases could be filed as a class action in a U.S. district court, and a decision could be made faster.&nbsp; They asked Colvin and another teenager, Mary Louise Smith, to be part of the lawsuit along with three other women.</p> <p>The case is called&nbsp; <em>Browder v. Gayle</em>. Aurelia Browder was what is called the lead plaintiff in the case, and W. A. Gayle was the mayor of Montgomery. One of the women dropped out of the case because of threats from whites.</p> <p>It took almost a year, but the U.S. Supreme Court decided that segregation on the buses was illegal.&nbsp; A brave teenager was partly responsible for this historic win.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Resources</strong><br> &nbsp;</p> <p><a href="https://www.morningsidecenter.org/teachable-moment/lessons/black-history-month-everyday-hero">Please see this short Teachable Instant activity on Colvin.&nbsp;</a></p> <p><a href="http://www.tolerance.org/article/browder-v-gayle-women-rosa-parks">http://www.tolerance.org/article/browder-v-gayle-women-rosa-parks</a><br> <a href="http://www.philliphoose.com/books/claudette-colvin-twice-towards-justice/">http://www.philliphoose.com/books/claudette-colvin-twice-towards-justice/</a><br> <a href="http://artsandsciences.sc.edu/performance-%E2%80%9Crage-not-1-day-thing-untaught-history-montgomery-bus-boycott%E2%80%9D">http://artsandsciences.sc.edu/performance-%E2%80%9Crage-not-1-day-thing-untaught-history-montgomery-bus-boycott%E2%80%9D</a>&nbsp; (one-woman play about women involved in the boycott, including Colvin)</p> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--uid--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig x field--node--uid.html.twig * field--node--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--uid.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--uid.html.twig' --> <span> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'username' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/user/templates/username.html.twig' --> <span>fionta</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/user/templates/username.html.twig' --> </span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--uid.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--created--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig x field--node--created.html.twig * field--node--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--created.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--created.html.twig' --> <span> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'time' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/system/templates/time.html.twig' --> <time datetime="2015-03-20T10:14:57-04:00" title="Friday, March 20, 2015 - 10:14">March 20, 2015</time> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/system/templates/time.html.twig' --> </span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--created.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'links__node' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * links--node.html.twig x links.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/system/links.html.twig' --> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/system/links.html.twig' --> Fri, 20 Mar 2015 14:14:57 +0000 fionta 474 at https://www.morningsidecenter.org Black History Month: Order v. Justice https://www.morningsidecenter.org/teachable-moment/lessons/black-history-month-order-v-justice <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--title--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig x field--node--title.html.twig * field--node--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--title.html.twig * field--string.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <span>Black History Month: Order v. Justice</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--body--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--node--body.html.twig * field--node--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--body.html.twig * field--text-with-summary.html.twig x field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field--item"><p><strong>Question:</strong><br> What Black leader expressed the following?</p> <p class="rteindent1">"I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro’s great stumbling block in his stride toward freedom is not the White Citizen’s Counciler or the Ku Klux Klanner, but the white moderate, who is more devoted to "order" than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice; who constantly says: ‘I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I cannot agree with your methods of direct action’; who paternalistically believes he can set the timetable for another man’s freedom; who lives by a mythical concept of time and who constantly advises the Negro to wait for a ‘more convenient season.’"</p> <p>a)&nbsp; Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.</p> <p>b) &nbsp;Rev. Al Sharpton</p> <p>c) &nbsp;President Barack Obama</p> <p>d) Malcolm X</p> <p><strong>Fact: </strong><br> The statement is from a letter written by Martin Luther King from his jail cell in Birmingham, AL, in 1963. The letter was in response to white clergy who had denounced the civil rights movement’s nonviolent demonstrations as "unwise and untimely."&nbsp;In the letter, the clergymen argued that "actions as incite to hatred and violence, however technically peaceful those actions may be, have not contributed to the resolution of our local problems."</p> <p><strong>Sources:</strong><br> <a href="http://www.africa.upenn.edu/Articles_Gen/Letter_Birmingham.html">http://www.africa.upenn.edu/Articles_Gen/Letter_Birmingham.html</a><br> <a href="http://teachingamericanhistory.org/library/document/letter-to-martin-luther-king/">http://teachingamericanhistory.org/library/document/letter-to-martin-luther-king/</a></p> <p><br> <strong>Questions for students:</strong></p> <p>1. What does King mean when he refers to white moderates who are more devoted to order than to justice?&nbsp;</p> <p>2.&nbsp; Can you think of recent cases in which some people have urged patience and order in response to nonviolence protest? &nbsp;</p> <p>3.&nbsp; Do you think King’s arguments apply to today's protests? How?&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Optional follow-up activities:</strong></p> <p>1. Ask students to write a paragraph on whether Dr. King could have written similar words today.</p> <p>2. &nbsp;As homework, ask students to read the letter from the clergymen in its entirety and an excerpt from King’s letter in response. (<a href="/sites/default/files/files/Excerpts%20Clergymen%20%26%20King%20letters.pdf">Click here for a pdf of these</a>.) &nbsp;Write one paragraph summarizing each. Then write one paragraph in response to this question:&nbsp;</p> <ul> <li>What does this exchange of views make you feel, and why? &nbsp;</li> </ul> <p>Follow up with a discussion in class about how the two letters relate to recent events.&nbsp;</p> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--uid--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig x field--node--uid.html.twig * field--node--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--uid.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--uid.html.twig' --> <span> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'username' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/user/templates/username.html.twig' --> <span>fionta</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/user/templates/username.html.twig' --> </span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--uid.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--created--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig x field--node--created.html.twig * field--node--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--created.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--created.html.twig' --> <span> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'time' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/system/templates/time.html.twig' --> <time datetime="2015-02-01T01:00:00-05:00" title="Sunday, February 1, 2015 - 01:00">February 1, 2015</time> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/system/templates/time.html.twig' --> </span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--created.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'links__node' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * links--node.html.twig x links.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/system/links.html.twig' --> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/system/links.html.twig' --> Sun, 01 Feb 2015 06:00:00 +0000 fionta 485 at https://www.morningsidecenter.org The Fight for Voting Rights, from Selma in 1965 to Today https://www.morningsidecenter.org/teachable-moment/lessons/fight-voting-rights-selma-1965-today <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--title--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig x field--node--title.html.twig * field--node--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--title.html.twig * field--string.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <span>The Fight for Voting Rights, from Selma in 1965 to Today</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--body--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--node--body.html.twig * field--node--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--body.html.twig * field--text-with-summary.html.twig x field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field--item"><h4>Learning Objectives</h4> <p>Students will</p> <ul> <li>read the 15<sup>th</sup> Amendment and explain why there was still a need to fight for voting rights in 1965</li> <li>analyze a primary source document to learn how African Americans were frequently denied the right to vote</li> <li>compare past efforts to suppress voting to current voter registration restrictions</li> <li>take action to protect voting rights in their state<br> &nbsp;</li> </ul> <hr> <h4>Introduction</h4> <p>Write on chart paper or the board the Fifteenth Amendment:</p> <p class="rteindent1">The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.&nbsp; --1870</p> <p>Ask a student to read it aloud; then ask: &nbsp;How would you say this in your own words?</p> <p>Make sure students understand the meaning of the amendment, and point out that it became law in 1870.</p> <p>Tell students that now you will move ahead nearly 100 years, to 1965. Have them read the following.<br> &nbsp;</p> <hr> <h4>Background Reading:<br> Before the Selma-to-Montgomery March</h4> <p>After World War II, the modern civil rights movement challenged racism in the United States, particularly in the South. &nbsp;Lawyers argued before the Supreme Court that school segregation was unconstitutional. After the Court agreed, courageous black students began integrating schools. Residents of Montgomery, Alabama, boycotted the city’s buses for an entire year, and succeeded in putting an end to bus segregation there.</p> <p>In addition to these well-known actions, everyday people across the South challenged injustice in many ways for many years. Their efforts often met with violent resistance from white Americans who opposed equal rights. Among many bloody incidents, police attacked nonviolent protestors in Birmingham, Alabama, and a bomb exploded in a church there in 1963, killing four young black girls.</p> <p>As a result of both the activism and negative reactions to the violent responses to it, Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The new law outlawed discrimination and segregation. It also called for equal access to jobs and to the right to vote.</p> <p>Despite these guarantees, many African Americans were still prevented from voting. Local organizations and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC, pronounced "Snick") joined forces in Selma, Alabama, in the early 1960s to challenge these restrictions and get black Alabamans registered to vote. In 1965, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, led by Martin Luther King, Jr., joined their efforts.</p> <p>The work in Alabama culminated with a march from Selma to the state capital in Montgomery, and ultimately to the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The months leading up to this march are the focus of the movie <em>Selma</em>.<br> &nbsp;</p> <hr> <h4><br> Why couldn’t blacks vote in 1965?</h4> <p>Ask students to share any questions or comments they have about the reading.</p> <p>Ask: What prevented blacks from voting, even after passage of the Civil Rights Act?</p> <p>Tell students that they will investigate this question by looking at an Alabama voter registration application from the 1960s. Explain that in order to vote in elections—in the past as well as now—a person must register. Registering involves filling out a form that shows that the person lives in the voting district. Remind them that the Constitution leaves the details of voting, such as registration requirements and voting sites, up to the individual states.</p> <p>Ask them to look at this <a href="http://crmvet.org/info/litapp.pdf">Alabama Voter Registration Application</a>. Students can either view it online, or you can project the image to the class or print out copies. &nbsp;If viewing the document online, students will see that the document is annotated with yellow "comment" bubbles, which explain the deeper meaning of many of the questions in the application.&nbsp; In addition, have students look at this <a href="http://crmvet.org/info/litques.pdf">sample test</a> that was given to African Americans who tried to register to vote.</p> <p>Have students, working in groups or as a whole class, read the registration application and the sample test and make a list of the different requirements that might present obstacles to a black resident registering to vote. Ask students to share their list. The final list should include: poll taxes, literacy tests, vouchers, threats, and intimidation.</p> <p>Ask: How do you think these obstacles affected African Americans in states like Alabama? <em>If students have seen </em>Selma<em>, they can refer to the part of the movie where Annie Lee Cooper attempts to register to vote, and the part where activists discuss which challenges to address first.</em></p> <p>Now ask: Why did civil rights activists believe that it was so important to continue to fight for the right to vote? &nbsp;</p> <p>Write the following quotation on the board or chart paper.</p> <p class="rteindent1">"The Civil Rights Act of 1964 gave Negroes some part of their rightful dignity, but without the vote it was dignity without strength."<br> - &nbsp;Martin Luther King, Jr., 1965</p> <p>Ask students, working alone or in groups, to write down what the quotation means. Then work with the class to agree on the meaning of the quote.&nbsp;</p> <p>Ask: Why did Martin Luther King, Jr., think that voting was so important? <em>If students have seen </em>Selma<em>, they can refer to the part of the movie where they talk about the need to elect people to public office who will represent African Americans and affect legislation.</em><br> &nbsp;</p> <hr> <h4><br> Connecting Past and Present</h4> <p>Ask students what they know about voting rights today. &nbsp;What do they know about recent debates over access to the voting booth?</p> <p>Have students find out what the voter registration laws are in your state.&nbsp; Help them answer this question: Are voting rights for African Americans and others restricted or threatened? &nbsp;Sources of information include the <a href="https://www.aclu.org/voting-rights">ACLU</a>&nbsp;and the <a href="http://votingrightstoday.org/ncvr/home">National Commission on Voting Rights.</a></p> <p>Ask students to think about how we might fight for voting rights today. Have them plan and take an action, such as a letter-writing campaign, a rally, or a public relations effort to raise awareness. Students might also draf legislation to protect voting rights and present it to your state representative.<br> &nbsp;</p> <hr> <h4><br> Additional Resources</h4> <p><a href="http://mlk-kpp01.stanford.edu/index.php/encyclopedia/encyclopedia/enc_selma_to_montgomery_march/">Selma to Montgomery March</a>, MLK Research and Education Institute<br> Summary of the march from Selma to Montgomery, including background about the struggle for voting rights and details about the coalition of civil rights organizations that worked on voter registration in Selma.</p> <p><a href="http://crmvet.org/tim/timhis65.htm">"Selma and the March to Montgomery"</a> Civil Rights Movement Veterans<br> In-depth explanation of the 1965 struggles for voting rights, including data about numbers of African Americans registered to vote in Alabama, a chronicle of the events in Selma from January 1965 through the march to Montgomery, and links to primary source documents.</p> <p><a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/govbeat/wp/2014/06/17/map-22-states-have-passed-new-voting-restrictions-over-the-past-four-years">22 States Have Passed New Voting Restrictions Over the Past Four Years</a><br> June 17, 2014 piece from the <em>Washington Post</em> describing the current situation regarding voting rights regulations in the United States.</p> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--uid--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig x field--node--uid.html.twig * field--node--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--uid.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--uid.html.twig' --> <span> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'username' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/user/templates/username.html.twig' --> <span>fionta</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/user/templates/username.html.twig' --> </span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--uid.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--created--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig x field--node--created.html.twig * field--node--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--created.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--created.html.twig' --> <span> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'time' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/system/templates/time.html.twig' --> <time datetime="2015-01-16T14:32:20-05:00" title="Friday, January 16, 2015 - 14:32">January 16, 2015</time> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/system/templates/time.html.twig' --> </span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--created.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'links__node' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * links--node.html.twig x links.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/system/links.html.twig' --> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/system/links.html.twig' --> Fri, 16 Jan 2015 19:32:20 +0000 fionta 490 at https://www.morningsidecenter.org MLK Day Lesson: The Montgomery Story https://www.morningsidecenter.org/teachable-moment/lessons/mlk-day-lesson-montgomery-story <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--title--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig x field--node--title.html.twig * field--node--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--title.html.twig * field--string.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <span>MLK Day Lesson: The Montgomery Story</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--body--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--node--body.html.twig * field--node--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--body.html.twig * field--text-with-summary.html.twig x field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field--item"><p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>By Marieke van Woerkom</strong></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <h4>Gathering</h4> <p><em>(5 minutes)</em></p> <p>Ask students what they know about the Montgomery Bus Boycott. What role did Rosa Parks play? What role did Dr. Martin Luther King play?</p> <h4><br> Check agenda and objectives</h4> <p><em>(2 minutes)</em></p> <p>Explain that in today's lesson, in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., we'll look at the Montgomery Bus Boycott, which helped bring Dr. King into the public eye as a civil rights leader. We'll also look at the role Rosa Parks played and how the myths that surround her story persist today.</p> <p>This lesson accompanies another lesson available on TeachableMoment,&nbsp;<a href="http://www.morningsidecenter.org/teachable-moment/lessons/honoring-dr-martin-luther-king-power-nonviolent-resistance">Dr. Martin Luther King: The power of nonviolent resistance</a>.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <hr> <h3>Martin Luther King and the Montgomery Story</h3> <p><em>(20 minutes)</em></p> <p>Pull up the following link on the Smartboard or ask students to pull it up on their computers and view it in small groups:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.ep.tc/mlk/">http://www.ep.tc/mlk/</a></p> <p>If you can't access the comic book online, download the&nbsp;<a href="http://www.morningsidecenter.org/sites/default/files/documents-pdfs/montgomerycomic.pdf">PDF version</a>&nbsp;and print up copies for all of your students to read.</p> <p>Read the comic book together, up to&nbsp;page 9.</p> <p>Debrief the story, asking students some or all of the following questions.</p> <p><em>About the comic book:</em></p> <ul> <li>Why do you think the story of the Montgomery Bus Boycott was turned into a comic book (a.k.a. graphic novel) in 1957 and distributed across the South in the months following the boycott?</li> <li>What was it like for you to be introduced to the story in this format?</li> <li>What did you notice about the drawings and the language that told you this comic book was published long ago?</li> <li>Would it surprise you to find out that the comic book has been reprinted in other languages, most recently in Arabic and Persian? What do you think the purpose of that is?</li> </ul> <p>Explain to students that in 1957, the Fellowship of Reconciliation, a group that supported nonviolence and the civil rights movement, published this 14-page comic book, which has been described as one of the most influential teaching tools produced for the civil rights movement. It was circulated throughout the segregated South during the late 1950s and through the sixties as a way to inspire people to join the movement and to inform them about the power of nonviolence. It was recently translated into Arabic and Persian, and is being distributed among supporters of nonviolent change in the Middle East.</p> <p><em>About the Montgomery bus boycott:</em></p> <ul> <li>According to the story, what role did Rosa Parks play in the Montgomery bus boycott?</li> <li>What role did the African American ministers and leaders of the civil rights movement play?</li> <li>What role did ordinary people play?</li> <li>Was there a strategy involved or did these events "just happen"?</li> <li>How did people get around riding the buses?&nbsp;</li> <li>Was it easy to keep up the boycott? Why or why not?</li> <li>How did Dr. King respond to the violence that was directed at his family? Why?&nbsp;</li> <li>Do you think this was easy? Why or why not?</li> <li>How do you think this relates to the idea of leaders being role models and leaders "showing the way"?</li> <li>In the story, the narrator quotes Reverend Ralph Abernathy: "Those arrests were last minute desperation measures on the part of those who knew that some day soon, right and justice would prevail..." What do you think of this statement?&nbsp; <p>&nbsp;</p> </li> </ul> <hr> <h3>An Important Myth of the Civil Rights Movement&nbsp;</h3> <p><em>(18 minutes)</em></p> <p>If it has not yet come up, elicit and explain that although the comic book story we read is very accurate in many ways, it also contains one of the most persistent myths of the civil rights movement: that the boycott began after a humble African American seamstress, whose feet were tired, spontaneously decided that she would not give up her seat to a white man who boarded the bus after her. That woman, Rosa Parks, has been called the mother of the civil rights movement.</p> <p>What is often left out of this story is that in addition to being a "humble seamstress," Rosa Parks was a civil rights activist long before that fateful bus ride. She was the secretary of her local NAACP chapter (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, a leading civil rights organization). In the years leading up to the action that made her famous, she attended workshops on civil disobedience; she studied and practiced racial desegregation tactics and nonviolent resistance methods that informed her action. As for her tired feet, Parks is quoted as saying,"The only tired I was, was tired of giving in."</p> <p>So while Rosa Parks was led from that bus alone, arrested and put in jail, there were many people backing her up as she boarded. Her decision to refuse to move to the back of the bus so that a white man could have her seat was strategically made in the context of a much larger community and a movement that was only just starting to gain momentum.</p> <p>Ask students some or all of the following questions:</p> <ul> <li>Did you know this about Rosa Parks?&nbsp;</li> <li>Why do you think that Rosa Parks is usually portrayed as an accidental hero?&nbsp;</li> <li>Why do you think that we often like our heroines, and sometimes our heroes, to be humble?&nbsp;</li> <li>What does the real story of Rosa Parks tell you about the movement that Dr. Martin Luther King helped lead?<br> &nbsp;</li> </ul> <h4>Closing</h4> <p><em>(5 minutes)</em></p> <p>Ask students to share one thing they learned today. Ask whether anything they learned today changes how they'll view the civil rights movement.</p> <p>Alternatively, ask students to share something they think they'll be able do this Martin Luther King Day to honor such people as Dr. King and Rosa Parks.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><em>This lesson was written for TeachableMoment.org by&nbsp;<a href="https://www.morningsidecenter.org/marieke-van-woerkom">Marieke van Woerkom</a>. We welcome your comments. Please email them to:&nbsp;<a href="mailto:lmcclure@morningsidecenter.org">lmcclure@morningsidecenter.org</a>.</em></p> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--uid--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig x field--node--uid.html.twig * field--node--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--uid.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--uid.html.twig' --> <span> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'username' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/user/templates/username.html.twig' --> <span>fionta</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/user/templates/username.html.twig' --> </span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--uid.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--created--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig x field--node--created.html.twig * field--node--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--created.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--created.html.twig' --> <span> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'time' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/system/templates/time.html.twig' --> <time datetime="2012-01-12T00:00:00-05:00" title="Thursday, January 12, 2012 - 00:00">January 12, 2012</time> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/system/templates/time.html.twig' --> </span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--created.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'links__node' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * links--node.html.twig x links.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/system/links.html.twig' --> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/system/links.html.twig' --> Thu, 12 Jan 2012 05:00:00 +0000 fionta 640 at https://www.morningsidecenter.org