Lesson 4: Historical and Cultural Connections

National Standards Content Standard 6.0: Students will listen to, analyze and describe music. Content Standard 9.0: Students will understand music in relation to history and culture

Learning Objectives: • Students will develop a timeline for the Civil Rights Movement to coincide with important Stax milestones and to relate the impact of the music produced by Stax artists. • Students will be able to analyze and discuss how music can be a tool for desegregation and cultural understanding.

Materials: • Copies of civil rights events and Stax milestones (included at end of this lesson plan) • Stax song samples (from CD-rom or web site) • CD player • Posterboard • Markers

Teaching Procedures 1. Listening Warm Up: Choose any song from lesson four to play for the students. Post the following questions for the students to think about music and the civil rights movement: What is the main idea of the song? Who do you think wrote the song? Why did they write it? When do you think it was popular?

2. Divide students into four groups: a. Civil rights (8 people) b. Stax Milestones (8 people) c. “helpers” (1-4: to help move people around the room) d. “recorders” (1-3: to record the information on posters )

3. Pass Out Supplies: a. Each person in the Civil Rights Group should receive a sheet of paper with a civil rights event printed on it. b. Each person in the Stax Milestones Group should receive a large sheet of paper with a Stax event printed on it. c. Recorders should be given posterboard and markers.

Lesson 4: Historical and Cultural Connections 1 4. Activity: a. Explain the process to students: i. Students in the civil rights and the Stax groups are to try to put themselves in a timeline order. The groups should organize themselves in two lines, facing each other. They will not have any dates on their papers, so they must use prior knowledge from Stax Lesson One and from previous experience with the Civil Rights movement. Each group should have 1-2 helpers to help get people in the correct order. ii. Be sure to play some song examples while they work on getting in order.

b. Once the students have decided on what they think is the correct order, i. Ask the students why and how they came to the conclusions that they did. Through the discussion, try to get the students to reorganize themselves in the correct order on both timelines. Once they have the correct timelines, have the recorders copy the events onto the poster board. ii. Reveal the real timelines to the students. Have them reorganize themselves into the correct order. The recorders should re-copy the correct timelines onto the poster board. iii. Once both timelines are correct, reinforce the concepts by having students read off their cards in order.

5. Discussion: a. Put the poster-boards up in front of the class. b. Discuss the relations between the events on the Civil Rights timeline and the events on the Stax timeline. Look for both commonalities and differences. Play examples of any songs as the discussion goes along. c. Sample discussion questions: i. How do you think people were feeling at the beginning of the civil rights movement? Why? ii. How do you think people at Stax were feeling as the company got started? Why? iii. What was so unique about Stax for that era? iv. How did the civil rights movement change as the 1960’s went on? v. How did Stax change? What do you think happened to propel that change? vi. How did the songs at Stax reflect the mood of the Civil Rights Movement? vii. Why is music so important to people during difficult times? What purpose does it serve?

Lesson 4: Historical and Cultural Connections 2 6. Indicators of success: a. Either verbally or in writing, ask students what they feel were the most important concepts/ideas from the timeline. What will they take with them from this lesson?

7. Enrichment opportunities: The 16 events on the two timelines in this lesson are only small samples of important events that took place both during the Civil Rights Movement as well as in the life of . This lesson only scrapes the surface of many of the deeper issues that arose in the 1960’s. Students can be encouraged to research the events on the timelines, as well as look into other important milestones of the decade.

Lesson 4: Historical and Cultural Connections 3 Stax Lesson 4: Historical and Cultural Connections Songs for this lesson on the CD-ROM

Staple Singers: Long Walk to D.C. (Track 14) Respect Yourself (Track 16) When Will We Be Paid? (Track 17)

Otis Redding: Respect (Track 15)

Sam and Dave: Soul Man (Track 2)

Jesse Jackson I Am Somebody (Track 18)

Issac Hayes Theme from Shaft (Track 4)

Lesson 4: Historical and Cultural Connections 4 Lesson 4: Historical and Cultural Connections Milestones and correct dates

Stax 1961: Stax Records is formed by Jim Stewart and Estelle Axton: Although it wasn’t their original plan, the changing racial mix of the neighborhood created an integrated company that had a strong sense of family.

1965: Sam and Dave join the Stax family . While their hit song, “Soul Man,” wasn’t written as a civil rights song, it later came to be known as a black anthem of pride.

1967: Dies His song “Respect” was recorded and released by in 1967, becoming yet another Stax song to fit the changing times of the civil rights movement.

1968: The mood at Stax begins to change: The Lorraine Motel went from being an integrated “STAX family hangout” to a place that was no longer comfortable for whites and blacks to hang out together. This tension carried itself into the company as well.

1968: sign with Stax: They move from singing protest music to “message music,” resulting in songs such as “Respect Yourself,” “I’ll Take You There” and “Long Walk to D.C.”

1971: Issac Hayes releases the soundtrack to Shaft. He becomes the first African American musician to go platinum and wins an Oscar, a Golden Globe and two Grammy Awards.

1972: The concert takes place. It showcases nearly every artist signed to the label and makes a positive contribution to the black community on the west coast.

1975: Stax is forced into involuntary bankruptcy. Their master tapes are eventually sold off at a fraction of the value: only $1.3 million.

Lesson 4: Historical and Cultural Connections 5 Civil Rights 1960: Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee is formed in North Carolina. It draws on the youth and energy of students to bring about social change.

1961: Activists conduct freedom rides throughout the south They test the outlawing of segregated seating on interstate buses and trains.

1963: March on Washington Martin Luther King Jr. gives his famous “I Have a Dream “ speech.

1964: The Civil Rights Act is signed by President Lyndon B. Johnson. It outlaws discrimination based on race, color, religion, or national origin.

1965: The “Bloody Sunday” march takes place in Selma, Alabama. Civil rights demonstrators are beaten by state troopers.

1965: The Watts Riots take place in California It leaves thirty-four dead and destroys forty-five square miles. It was one of many urban riots to take place in response to issues of racism, poverty and police brutality.

1967: The Black Panther Party is formed in Oakland, California. They adopt a more militant philosophy, symbolized by the phrase “black power.”

1968: Martin Luther King assassinated at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis.

Lesson 4: Historical and Cultural Connections 6 Stax Records is formed by Jim Stewart and Estelle Axton.

Although it wasn’t their original plan, the changing racial mix of the neighborhood created an integrated company that had a strong sense of family. Sam and Dave join the

Stax family .

Their hit song “Soul Man” was written after urban riots in Detroit and came to be known as a black anthem of pride. Otis Redding Dies

His song “Respect” was recorded and released by Aretha Franklin in 1967, becoming yet another Stax song to fit the changing times of the civil rights movement. The mood at Stax begins to change The Lorraine Motel went from being an integrated “Stax family hangout” to a place that was no longer comfortable for whites and blacks to hang out together. This tension carried itself into the company as well. The Staple Singers sign with Stax They move from singing protest music to “message music,” resulting in songs such as “Respect Yourself,” “I’ll Take You There” and “Long Walk to D.C.” Issac Hayes releases the soundtrack to Shaft He becomes the first African American musician to go platinum and wins an Oscar, a Golden Globe and two Grammy Awards The Wattstax concert takes place.

It showcases nearly every artist signed to the label and makes a positive contribution to the black community on the west coast. Stax is forced into involuntary bankruptcy.

Their master tapes are eventually sold off at a fraction of the value: only $1.3 million. Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee is formed in North Carolina

It draws on the youth and energy of students to bring about social change. Activists conduct freedom rides throughout the south

They test the outlawing of segregated seating on interstate buses and trains. March on Washington

Martin Luther King Jr. gives his famous “I Have a Dream “ speech. The Civil Rights Act is signed by President Lyndon B. Johnson

It outlaws discrimination based on race, color, religion, or national origin. The “Bloody Sunday” march takes place in Selma, Alabama

Civil rights demonstrators are beaten by state troopers. The Watts Riots take place in California

It leaves thirty-four dead and destroys forty-five square miles. It was one of many urban riots to take place in response to issues of racism, poverty and police brutality. The Black Panther Party is formed in

Oakland, California.

They adopted a more militant philosophy that was symbolized by the phrase “black power.” Martin Luther King assassinated at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis