The Civil Rights Movement: Leading Voices

Description

The Civil Rights Movement: Leading Voices
35 35 unread replies. 35 35 replies.
Background
The Civil Rights Movement was a direct response to Jim Crow laws in the South and institutionalized racism in the North. As the movement grew, two leaders emerged with different styles and methods, but a shared goal: equality for Black Americans. These two men, Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Jr had a huge impact on the struggle in other marginalized communities, including La Raza, The Asian American Movement, Sovereign Rights (Native American rights), LGBTQ+, and the Women’s Rights Movement; both men remain icons of resistance movements and inspire leaders of all kinds: even moderate and conservative organizations use the tactics of speeches, rallies, marches, and civil disobedience to express their frustration with society and/or government.

The language of this unit is sometimes antiquated and it’s important to recognize that all language changes over time and geography. Some of it is clear, like the n-word or “Negro” which we don’t use anymore, unless quoting directly from a text for a specific purpose. An example that might be less obvious, but will come up frequently in this unit, is the term “colored people” which is problematic because it puts skin color ahead of humanity. For this reason, the more appropriate phrase is “people of color,” where “people” can be replaced with person/community/student/etc. In online forums, you’ll sometimes see the abbreviation “POC.” For a humorous defense of how and why language has to be fluid, you can watch the TED Talk “What Makes a Word Real?” (Links to an external site.) or for a humorous defense of why some language is used in one community but not another, you can watch Ta-Nehisi Coates’ clip on YouTube. (Links to an external site.)

(Links to an external site.)Task

Read and listen to either Malcolm X’s speech “The Ballot or the Bullet” OR Martin Luther King Jrs, “Letter from a Birmingham Jail,” both of which are included in the Course Reader. I recommend printing out the pages so you can annotate. Also, audio recording of each can be found on YouTube. As with the Declaration of Independence, I want you to consider how the ideas and/or ideology of your chosen speaker applies to ONE of the two pandemics the US is currently struggling against: COVID-19 OR Racism.
Write a brief (1-2 paragraph) analysis of A) how specific words, lines, and/or passages are relevant in the current climate and B) how we might revisit and/or revise any of them to guide us in the current moment.
Suggestions for writing
You can take this in any direction you’d like, but I recommend getting pretty narrow and specific under the umbrella of whichever topic you choose. The examples from the Declaration probably apply here also: maybe thinking about access to voting during a pandemic, or the peaceful protesters, or the calls to reform police departments, or the fear of government overreach, or anything else that catches your eye. There are a wealth of ideas in each of these speeches!

Requirements
You must include at least one direct quote, whether from the original language or the annotation.

After you have posted, read through some of your peers’ posts and respond to at least two. You can ask a question, add to their ideas, or push back (gently and respectfully!!) on something you disagree with.

Note: It will be helpful to find at least one peer who chose the same or a similar topic to your own since you may decide to use this theme for the essay you’ll write at the end of this unit.

See the attached rubric for grading criteria.