sign in sign up
<<
Home , Big Six (activists)

Campbell Middle School Celebrates Black History Month

“Black History Month is an annual celebration of achievements by and a time for recognizing the central role of blacks in U.S. history. The event grew out of “Negro History Week,” the brainchild of noted historian Carter G. Woodson and other prominent African Americans. Since 1976, every U.S. president has officially designated the month of February as Black History Month.”

History.com Staff. “Black History Month.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 2010, www.history.com/topics/black-history/black-history-month. Appreciating Ourselves, Celebrating Our Community • Together at Campbell Middle School we will learn about and celebrate the diversity and history of our Black community.

• As you are introduced to the historic figures think about what you see in them that may connect to you, what IB profile traits did this person exhibit, and how the Black community has changed our country for the better. Zora Neale Hurston • Writer and anthropologist Zora Neale Hurston was a fixture of the Harlem Renaissance and author of the masterwork 'Their Eyes Were Watching God.'

• Zora Neale Hurston’s writing focused on African-American life in the South.

• She worked closely with Langston Hughes to create plays during the Harlem Renaissance. Alice Walker • Author, Activist, Women's Rights Activist, Civil Rights Activist • Alice Walker is a Pulitzer Prize-winning, African- American novelist and poet most famous for authoring 'The Color Purple.‘ (Only 13 Pulitzer Prizes are given out a year!) • Grew up in the south during and became active in the . • She married a white man and returned to the South and during this time interracial marriage was illegal. Ralph David Abernathy

-Pastor and civil rights activist -Chief aide for Dr. Martin Luther , Jr. during the civil rights movement. -Co-created the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) which organized the nonviolent struggle against segregation throughout the South. -Became president of SCLC after Dr. King’s assassination. -Resigned from SCLC in 1977 and became a pastor in . , , Martin Luther King Jr., Jesse Douglas, and . King leads the five-day, 54-mile for voting rights in 1965, from Selma, Alabama, to Montgomery. John Lewis • U.S. Representative and Civil Rights Activist • He learned about nonviolent protest and helped to organize sit-ins at segregated lunch counters. He was arrested during these demonstrations, but Lewis was committed to the Civil Rights Movement and went on to participate in the Freedom Rides of 1961. • He worked closely with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Ralph David Abernathy. • As one of the "Big Six" leaders of the Civil Rights Movement, he helped plan the March on Washington. To bring attention to this struggle, Lewis and led a march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, on March 7, 1965. (He was only 25 years old!) • John Lewis endured several physical attacks while peacefully fighting to end segregation. Maynard Jackson -Lawyer and politician. -Attended Morehouse University in Atlanta. Atlanta’s first African-American mayor and for any major city in the South. He became mayor at the age of 35 and was mayor for 12 years. -Jackson implemented an affirmative action plan to ensure minorities shared in the prosperity of an city. -Maynard Jackson’s major achievement while serving as mayor was the expansion of Atlanta Hartsfield International Airport into an international transportation hub. -He also helped secured Atlanta as the host of the 1996 Olympic Summer Games. Hamilton E. Holmes & Charlayne Hunter The first two African-American students admitted to University of Georgia. They applied multiple times even after being rejected each time and challenged the university in the court system. H.E. Holmes- Attended Morehouse College while awaiting acceptance into UGA. He later attended School of Atlanta as the first African- American student as well. Charlayne Hunter- Attended Wayne State University while awaiting acceptance into UGA. She majored in journalism while attending UGA.

They faced harassment throughout their time at UGA due to the integration of African-Americans in the college. • Lawyer, activist, first African- American Supreme Court Justice. • He was rejected from the University of Maryland Law School because he was not white. • As an attorney, he argued before the U.S. Supreme Court the case of Brown v. the Board of Education of Topeka (1954) which declared racial segregation in public schools unconstitutional. Katherine Johnson - Katherine Johnson’s intense curiosity and brilliance with numbers vaulted her ahead several grades in school. By thirteen, she was attending the high school on the campus of historically black West Virginia State College. - One of three black students to integrate West Virginia’s graduate schools. - Katherine played a pivotal role in NASA’s space program and completed various equations to help space missions be successful. Jesse Owens At the Berlin 1936 Olympics, Hitler planned to show the world that the Aryan people were the dominant race, Jesse Owens proved him wrong and sealed his place in Olympic history by becoming the most successful athlete of the 1936 Games. Owens also became the first American to win four track and field gold medals at a single Olympics (100m, 200m, 4x100m relay and long jump), a record that stood unbroken for 48 years. Reflect on some of the IB traits these people possess • As a class, share some of the IB traits that stood out to you while learning about these historic people.

• Which IB traits do you share with some of these historic figures? • Which of these historic figures connect most to you? Celebrate Our Community

Talk with your friends and family about what makes you or them proud of the uniqueness and the contributions of the Black community throughout history.

Share your responses on social media to celebrate – include a video if everyone agrees.

#cmsculture @cmsspartans1