Dinner Table Discussions About Selma

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A Dinner Table Discussion: Selma Selma is a historical drama, not a documentary, based on the 1965 voting rights marches from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama. These marches were bravely led by Hosea Williams, James Bevel, and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Although the South was legally desegregated by the Civil Rights Act of 1964, discrimination remained rampant, making it nearly impossible for African Americans to exercise their voting rights and responsibilities. For more than 30 years, Facing History and Ourselves has been augmenting our rigorous academic content with compelling films like Selma. In Facing History and Ourselves classrooms, teachers would place this historical motion picture in the larger context of the American Civil Rights Movement. We also believe that the classroom extends into the community, and the important issues raised in the film should be discussed among adolescents and the adults in their lives. Here are some guided questions that a parent or another adult can use to engage youth in a post-viewing discussion of Selma: 1. Which scene in the film stood out to you the most and why? 2. The film is called “Selma” and not Dr. King. Why do you think this name was chosen? 3. What does this film add to your understanding of the Civil Rights Movement? 4. What would you like to know more about? 5. How the world is better today because of what Dr. King and others fought for? 6. What are some ways in which we need to improve to become a more tolerant and inclusive nation? 7. What can you do among your friends and in your school to make sure that you and others are living up to what Dr. King was fighting for? Note: There is a lot of public debate about whether the film gave proper credit to President Lyndon B. Johnson for his involvement in Selma and his eagerness to sign the Voting Rights Act of 1965. A good family project could be to research Johnson’s role and compare your findings to what the film suggested. For a greater historical understanding of the Selma Marches explore this chapter from Facing History and Ourselves resource guide Eyes on the Prize. You will be asked to register on Facing History's website to view this FREE resource. Teachers, find more resources to bring into your classroom at our Facing Today blog. To learn more, visit facinghistory.org/memphis. .

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Viewer's Guide
SELMA T H E BRIDGE T O T H E BALLOT TEACHING TOLERANCE A PROJECT OF THE SOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER VIEWER’S GUIDE GRADES 6-12 Selma: The Bridge to the Ballot is the story of a courageous group of Alabama students and teachers who, along with other activists, fought a nonviolent battle to win voting rights for African Americans in the South. Standing in their way: a century of Jim Crow, a resistant and segregationist state, and a federal govern- ment slow to fully embrace equality. By organizing and marching bravely in the face of intimidation, violence, arrest and even murder, these change-makers achieved one of the most significant victories of the civil rights era. The 40-minute film is recommended for students in grades 6 to 12. The Viewer’s Guide supports classroom viewing of Selma with background information, discussion questions and lessons. In Do Something!, a culminating activity, students are encouraged to get involved locally to promote voting and voter registration. For more information and updates, visit tolerance.org/selma-bridge-to-ballot. Send feedback and ideas to [email protected]. Contents How to Use This Guide 4 Part One About the Film and the Selma-to-Montgomery March 6 Part Two Preparing to Teach with Selma: The Bridge to the Ballot 16 Part Three Before Viewing 18 Part Four During Viewing 22 Part Five After Viewing 32 Part Six Do Something! 37 Part Seven Additional Resources 41 Part Eight Answer Keys 45 Acknowledgements 57 teaching tolerance tolerance.org How to Use This Guide Selma: The Bridge to the Ballot is a versatile film that can be used in a variety of courses to spark conversations about civil rights, activism, the proper use of government power and the role of the citizen.
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Atlanta's Civil Rights Movement, Middle-Class
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Play Guide for the Great Society
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Martin Luther King Jr. Day Monday, January 21, 2019
Martin Luther King Jr. Day Monday, January 21, 2019 Find-a-Fact Bulletin Board Scavenger Hunt All day, January 21st – Across Campus This year for MLK Day and as a kick off to Black History Month, departments across campus are working to highlight the contributions of people of color through all aspects of our collective history. With this scavenger hunt activity, bulletin board displays will be available to view on MLK Day, and those interested in participating in the scavenger hunt will have the opportunity to view the displays, vote on their favorites, and turn in completed participation forms that day. Completed forms will be entered into a drawing for a prize to be awarded at the MLK Dinner. “How are you Moving the Dream Forward?” 10:30 AM-11:30 AM, Simon Center Lobby Stop by the Simon Center Lobby and share how you are moving the dream forward in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Grab a cup of coffee and a donut as well! Your dreams will be displayed in the Simon Center Great Room for the kick off dinner that evening. NEC Gives Back 11:30 AM-1:00 PM, Simon Center Pub Join us to put together kits for the Concord Coalition to End Homelessness and make fleece tie blankets for Project Linus, two amazing o rganizations in New Hampshire. Plus, we’re also collecting donations for the NH SPCA! Drop your donations off at the Simon Center or the Charter Coffeehouse to see if we can collect 50 pounds in donations in ONE day for this organization! Film & Popcorn Noon, Mainstage Theatre Showing the film Selma- Based on the 1965 Selma to Montgomery voting rights marches led by James Bevel, Hosea Williams, Martin Luther King Jr., and John Lewis, this 2014 historical drama film had four Golden Globe nominations.
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MARTIN LUTHER KING and the PHILOSOPHY of NONVIOLENCE Wikimedia Commons Wikimedia
Bill of Rights Constitutional Rights in Action Foundation SUMMER 2017 Volume 32 No4 MARTIN LUTHER KING AND THE PHILOSOPHY OF NONVIOLENCE Wikimedia Commons Wikimedia Martin Luther King, Jr. addressing the crowd of about 250,000 people at the March on Washington in August 1963. Martin Luther King, Jr. is remembered for his achievements The man, who turned out to be an American Nazi Party in civil rights and for the methods he used to get there — member, continued to flail. namely, nonviolence. More than just a catchphrase, more than just the “absence of violence,” and more than just a tactic, The integrated audience at first thought the whole nonviolence was a philosophy that King honed over the thing was staged, a mock demonstration of King’s non- course of his adult life. It has had a profound, lasting influ- violent philosophy in action. But as King reeled, and real ence on social justice movements at home and abroad. blood spurted from his face, they began to realize it was In September 1962, King convened a meeting of the no act. Finally, several SCLC members rushed the stage Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), the to stop the attack. main organizational force behind his civil rights activism, But they stopped short when King shouted, “Don’t in Birmingham, Alabama. King was giving a talk on the touch him! Don’t touch him! We have to pray for him.” need for nonviolent action in the face of violent white The SCLC men pulled the Nazi off King, who was beaten racism when a white man jumped on stage and, without so badly he couldn’t continue the speech.
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The History That Inspired I Dream
GUIDE: THE HISTORY THAT INSPIRED I DREAM Title Sponsor of I Dream The Story of a Preacher from Atlanta A fusion of classical and popular musical traditions and Rhythm & Blues Table of Contents Douglas Tappin: Composer 3 Birmingham Beginnings 8 Introducing I Dream 4 Selma 9 Remembering Childhood 5 End of Dreams 10 Remembering College 6 Timeline 11 Montgomery Years 7 I Dream’s focus is the last 36 hours of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s life and a series of dreams, premonitions, and reminiscences all leading up to the April 4, 1968 assassination at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee. Statement of Intent It is important for us to reflect on our history. We can’t talk about where we want to go as a society without understanding where we’ve been. The intent of I Dream and the community dialogues surrounding the performances is to explore our society’s recent history and struggle for equality for all citizens by examining the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and his family, all of whom continue to provide inspiration, courage and hope for the future. I Dream is a work about yesterday for today. Douglas Tappin is a writer and composer who was born and educated in the United Kingdom. A former Commercial Attorney and member of the Honorable Society of Lincoln’s Inn, he practiced as a Barrister in England for eleven years. Tappin earned an additional postgraduate degree from Atlanta’s McAfee School of Theology, culminating in the dissertation That There Might Be Inspiration – a critical examination and articulation of transformative music-drama, including through the historical and contemporary works of Handel, Wagner, Puccini, Sondheim, Lloyd Webber and Rice, Boublil and Schönberg.
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Biographical Description for the Historymakers® Video Oral History with Reverend James Bevel
Biographical Description for The HistoryMakers® Video Oral History with Reverend James Bevel PERSON Bevel, James L. (James Luther), 1936- Alternative Names: Reverend James Bevel; Life Dates: October 19, 1936-December 19, 2008 Place of Birth: Itta Bena, Mississippi, USA Residence: Chicago, Illinois Occupations: Civil Rights Activist; Minister Biographical Note Civil rights activist Reverend James Luther Bevel was born in Itta Bena, Mississippi, on October 19, 1936. After a stint in the services, Bevel was called to the ministry and enrolled in the American Baptist Theological Seminary in Nashville, Tennessee. While in the Seminary, Bevel joined the Nashville chapter of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), then led by the Reverend James Lawson. (SCLC), then led by the Reverend James Lawson. In 1960, Bevel and other black students trained by Lawson, including John Lewis, Dianne Nash, Marion Barry, and Bernard Lafayette, organized sit-ins against segregated lunch counters. Eventually Bevel and his colleagues won a hard-fought, nonviolent victory; soon after, as chairman of the Nashville student movement, Bevel participated in Freedom Rides to desegregate interstate travel and public accommodations throughout the South. In his home state, Bevel created the SCLC Mississippi Project for voting rights in 1962. In 1963, Bevel was compelled to join the desegregation struggle being waged by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Reverend Fred Shuttlesworth in Birmingham, Alabama. When King was jailed, Bevel organized black children and marched against Commissioner Bull Connor's ﬁre hoses and police dogs. The "Children's Crusade," as the movement led by Bevel came to be known, turned the media tide in the favor of the desegregationists.
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At the Close of 1962, Martin Luther King Jr. and His Colleagues Looked Back on What for Them Was a Dispiriting Year with No Reso
HANDOUT 1 THE CHILDREN’S CRUSADE OF THE BIRMINGHAM CIVIL RIGHTS CAMPAIGN At the close of 1962, Martin Luther King Jr. and his colleagues looked back on what for them was a dispiriting year with no resounding successes to propel the civil rights movement forward in the new year. The Albany Campaign The campaign for desegregation in Albany, Georgia, had been a failure. Civil rights demonstrators were outmaneuvered by the city’s sheriff, Laurie Pritchett, who had prevented violent attacks by whites that would have brought demonstrators national attention and sympathy. Pritchett had moved arrestees to nearby towns, and, when King arrived hoping to use his imprisonment as a rallying point for civil rights forces, forced King’s release. The Cuban Missile Crisis and the Decline of the Civil Rights Movement November 1962 saw the world come within a hairsbreadth of nuclear catastrophe during the Cuban Missile Crisis. The crisis turned the nation’s and the Kennedy administration’s attention to the international sphere and away from the plight of black Americans. Civil rights was no longer the topic of the day in American politics. Given these circumstances, what could possibly resurrect the movement’s fortunes? The Birmingham Campaign of April–May 1963 The Birmingham Campaign of April–May 1963 had been preceded by more than seven years of petitions and lawsuits to end racial segregation in the city. This period was also punctuated by a number of beatings and bombings by segregationist forces. The Birmingham Campaign’s blueprint was drawn up in detail by Reverend Wyatt Tee Walker, who named it ―Project C (confrontation).‖ Using direct action tactics, the campaign sought to end racial segregation in public facilities such as schools, lunch counters, restrooms, parks, and drinking fountains.
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Court Documents Related to Martin Luther King, Jr., and Memphis Sanitation Workers. the Constitution Community: Postwar United States (1945 to Early 1970S)
DOCUMENT RESUME ED 462 357 SO 033 608 AUTHOR Perry, Douglas TITLE Court Documents Related to Martin Luther King, Jr., and Memphis Sanitation Workers. The Constitution Community: Postwar United States (1945 to Early 1970s) . INSTITUTION National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, DC. PUB DATE 2000-00-00 NOTE 16p.; Photographic images may not reproduce clearly. AVAILABLE FROM National Archives and Records Administration, 700 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, DC 20408. Tel: 866-325-7208 (Toll Free); e-mail: [email protected]. For full text: http://www.nara.gov/education/cc/main.html. PUB TYPE Guides Classroom Teacher (052) EDRS PRICE MF01/PC01 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS *Activism; *Black Leadership; *Citizen Participation; *Civil Rights; Legal Problems; *Primary Sources; Secondary Education; Social Studies; Teacher Developed Materials; *United States History IDENTIFIERS Bill of Rights; First Amendment; *King (Martin Luther Jr); National Civics and Government Standards; National History Standards ABSTRACT During inclement weather in Memphis, Tennessee in February 1968, two separate incidents caused black sanitation workers to strike for job safety, better wages and benefits, and union recognition. Mayor Henry Loeb was unsympathetic and opposed to the union. Martin Luther King agreed to lend his support to the sanitation workers and spoke at a rally in Memphis on March 18, 1968. He promised to lead the large march and work stoppage planned for later in the month. Unfortunately, violent disturbances at the march prompted the city of Memphis to bring a formal complaint in the District Court against King and his associates in the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. This lesson relates to two clauses in the First Amendment in the Bill of Rights, which ensure individuals the right to assemble peaceably and to petition the government for the redress of grievances.
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Ralph David Abernathy 1926–1990
Name _____________________________ Class _________________ Date __________________ The Civil Rights Movement Biography Ralph David Abernathy 1926–1990 WHY HE MADE HISTORY Ralph David Abernathy was a civil rights leader and Baptist minister. He was chief aide to Martin Luther King Jr. and helped organize the Montgomery bus boycott. He also served as president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference after King’s death. As you read the biography below, think about how Abernathy worked with Martin Luther and Prints Congress, of Library Division Photographs King Jr. What role did he play as King’s chief aide? During the 1970s the focus of the civil rights movement shifted. African Americans had won many of the rights they fought for in the 1960s. Segregation was illegal, and African Americans had the right to vote. Now Martin Luther King Jr. and others viewed poverty as the most important social issue for African Americans. When King was assassinated, his chief aide, Ralph David Abernathy, set out to finish King’s work. Ralph David Abernathy was born in Linden, Alabama, in 1926. He was ordained as a Baptist minister in 1948. Two years later he received a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Alabama State University. He earned a master’s degree in sociology in 1951 from Atlanta University. Abernathy became a pastor of the First Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama, in 1951. A few years later he met Martin Luther King Jr., who was also a preacher in Montgomery. In 1955 the two men teamed up to organize a bus boycott in Montgomery. This event signaled the beginning of a new phase of the civil rights movement in the United States.
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Investigating Jewish Activism in Atlanta During the Civil Rights Movement
University of Pennsylvania ScholarlyCommons Undergraduate Humanities Forum 2014-2015: Penn Humanities Forum Undergraduate Color Research Fellows 5-2015 "The Implacable Surge of History": Investigating Jewish Activism in Atlanta During the Civil Rights Movement Danielle Rose Kerker University of Pennsylvania Follow this and additional works at: https://repository.upenn.edu/uhf_2015 Part of the Jewish Studies Commons, and the United States History Commons Kerker, Danielle Rose, ""The Implacable Surge of History": Investigating Jewish Activism in Atlanta During the Civil Rights Movement" (2015). Undergraduate Humanities Forum 2014-2015: Color. 5. https://repository.upenn.edu/uhf_2015/5 This paper was part of the 2014-2015 Penn Humanities Forum on Color. Find out more at http://www.phf.upenn.edu/annual-topics/color. This paper is posted at ScholarlyCommons. https://repository.upenn.edu/uhf_2015/5 For more information, please contact [email protected]. "The Implacable Surge of History": Investigating Jewish Activism in Atlanta During the Civil Rights Movement Abstract Existing works on southern Jewry illustrate how most southern Jews were concerned with self- preservation during the Civil Rights Movement. Many historians have untangled perceptions of southern Jewish detachment from civil rights issues to explain how individuals and communities were torn between their sympathy towards the African- American plight and Jewish vulnerability during a period of heightened racial tension. This project draws connections among the American Civil Rights Movement, the southern Jewish experience, and Atlanta race relations in order to identify instances of southern Jewish involvement in the fight for acialr equality. What were the forms of activism Jews chose, the circumstances that shaped those decisions, and the underlying goals behind them? Studying Atlanta’s Jewish communities during the 1950s and 1960s helps broaden the conversation on Jewish activism, raise questions of southern Jewish identity, and uncover distinctive avenues for change.
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