Task 1 should be done on Edmodo. All other tasks will be done in Google Docs or hand written.
Task #1 - Children's March
On Monday, we watched a video about the Children's March in 1963. Please open your Edmodo account and follow the instructions on the post about the Children's March. For those of you who were absent, please read the articles on the following sites to get an understanding of the event.
Task #2 - Birmingham
Excerpt from "Letter from Birmingham Jail" (1963) Read the following paragraphs and answer the following questions:
My Dear Fellow Clergymen,
While confined here in the Birmingham City Jail, I came across your recent statement calling our present activities “unwise and untimely.” Seldom, if ever, do I pause to answer criticism of my work and ideas … But since I feel that you are men of genuine good will and your criticisms are sincerely set forth, I would like to answer your statement in what I hope will be patient and reasonable terms.
You may well ask, “Why direct action? Why sit-ins, marches, etc.? Isn’t negotiation a better path?” You are exactly right in your call for negotiation. Indeed, this is the purpose of direct action. Nonviolent direct action seeks to create such a crisis and establish such creative tension that a community that has constantly refused to negotiate is forced to confront the issue.
My friends, I must say to you that we have not made a single gain in civil rights without legal and nonviolent pressure. History is the long and tragic story of the fact that privileged groups seldom give up their privileges voluntarily. Individuals may see the moral light and give up their unjust posture; but as Reinhold Niebuhr has reminded us, groups are more immoral than individuals.
I guess it is easy for those who have never felt the stinging darts of segregation to say wait. But when you have seen vicious mobs lynch your mothers and fathers at will and drown your sisters and brothers at whim; when you have seen hate-filled policemen curse, kick, brutalize, and even kill your black brothers and sisters with impunity; when you see the vast majority of your 20 million Negro brothers smothering in an airtight cage of poverty in the midst of an affluent society; when you suddenly find your tongue twisted and your speech stammering as you seek to explain to your six-year-old daughter why she can’t go to the public amusement park that has just been advertised on television, and see the tears welling up in her little eyes when she is told that Funtown is closed to colored children, ...when you take a cross country drive and find it necessary to sleep night after night in the uncomfortable corners of your automobile because no motel will accept you; when you are humiliated day in and day out by nagging signs reading “white” men and “colored” ...—then you will understand why we find it difficult to wait. There comes a time when the cup of endurance runs over, and men are no longer willing to be plunged into an abyss of injustice where they experience the bleakness of corroding despair. I hope, sirs, you can understand our legitimate and unavoidable impatience.
The Negro has many pent-up resentments and latent frustrations. He has to get them out. So let him march sometime; let him have his prayer pilgrimages to the city hall; understand why he must have sit-ins and freedom rides. If his repressed emotions do not come out in these nonviolent ways, they will come out in ominous expressions of violence. This is not a threat; it is a fact of history.
Yours for the cause of Peace and Brotherhood,
M. L. King, Jr.
Note: You can find the entire text of the letter here.
- Why does MLK say that people must act now and not wait as the clergymen would want?
- Based on what you learned from the video about the Children's March, do you agree or disagree with King's comments regarding the need for direct action?
My Dear Fellow Clergymen,
While confined here in the Birmingham City Jail, I came across your recent statement calling our present activities “unwise and untimely.” Seldom, if ever, do I pause to answer criticism of my work and ideas … But since I feel that you are men of genuine good will and your criticisms are sincerely set forth, I would like to answer your statement in what I hope will be patient and reasonable terms.
You may well ask, “Why direct action? Why sit-ins, marches, etc.? Isn’t negotiation a better path?” You are exactly right in your call for negotiation. Indeed, this is the purpose of direct action. Nonviolent direct action seeks to create such a crisis and establish such creative tension that a community that has constantly refused to negotiate is forced to confront the issue.
My friends, I must say to you that we have not made a single gain in civil rights without legal and nonviolent pressure. History is the long and tragic story of the fact that privileged groups seldom give up their privileges voluntarily. Individuals may see the moral light and give up their unjust posture; but as Reinhold Niebuhr has reminded us, groups are more immoral than individuals.
I guess it is easy for those who have never felt the stinging darts of segregation to say wait. But when you have seen vicious mobs lynch your mothers and fathers at will and drown your sisters and brothers at whim; when you have seen hate-filled policemen curse, kick, brutalize, and even kill your black brothers and sisters with impunity; when you see the vast majority of your 20 million Negro brothers smothering in an airtight cage of poverty in the midst of an affluent society; when you suddenly find your tongue twisted and your speech stammering as you seek to explain to your six-year-old daughter why she can’t go to the public amusement park that has just been advertised on television, and see the tears welling up in her little eyes when she is told that Funtown is closed to colored children, ...when you take a cross country drive and find it necessary to sleep night after night in the uncomfortable corners of your automobile because no motel will accept you; when you are humiliated day in and day out by nagging signs reading “white” men and “colored” ...—then you will understand why we find it difficult to wait. There comes a time when the cup of endurance runs over, and men are no longer willing to be plunged into an abyss of injustice where they experience the bleakness of corroding despair. I hope, sirs, you can understand our legitimate and unavoidable impatience.
The Negro has many pent-up resentments and latent frustrations. He has to get them out. So let him march sometime; let him have his prayer pilgrimages to the city hall; understand why he must have sit-ins and freedom rides. If his repressed emotions do not come out in these nonviolent ways, they will come out in ominous expressions of violence. This is not a threat; it is a fact of history.
Yours for the cause of Peace and Brotherhood,
M. L. King, Jr.
Note: You can find the entire text of the letter here.
Task #3 - March on Washington
Visit this link to read about the March on Washington and answer the following questions.
Read the text of Martin Luther King Jrs famous "I Have a Dream" speech.
- Why was the March on Washington such an important event?
- How many people attended? What impact do you think it had to have so many people attend?
Read the text of Martin Luther King Jrs famous "I Have a Dream" speech.
- Why has this speech become one of the most famous ever given?
- Have we fulfilled MLKs dream as of 2014? Why or why not?
Task #4 - Civil Rights act of 1964
Click here to read a summary of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Here is another link to help you out.
- Why was this act called the "most important law on civil rights since Reconstruction?"
- What sorts of things are no longer allowed under this law?
Task #5 - I AM Poem
Write an "I am" poem as a person, place or object related to one of the following topics (Little Rock Nine, Montgomery Bus Boycott, Letter from Birmingham Jail, Children's March, March on Washington, 16th Street Baptist Church Bombing or Civil Rights Act of 1964). Note: The more creative the person, place or object, the better your grade. Some examples include:
You may use this link to generate the poem. Do not follow their instructions, but these listed below because you are not doing this about yourself. Once you have filled in the boxes, select "create poem." Then print the poem when it appears on the next page.
I am Poem Directions: Complete each line of the poem from the perspective of your chosen person, place or object.
Sample "I A" Poem:
Note: Sarah Collins was the only survivor of the 16th Street Bombing. You may NOT use her.
I am Sarah Collins
I wonder if I will ever receive compensation for the pain and suffering I have endured
I hear the deafening explosion of the bomb
I see my sister Addie tying Denise's sash as the bomb explodes
I want to be able to talk to my sister again
I am a survivor
I pretend that I can still see out of both eyes
I feel sad that innocent children died
I touch the scars from the shards of glass that entered my body
I worry that people will forget what happened
I cry when I think of the lives that never were
I am the face of tragedy
I understand that this bombing fueled the Civil Rights Movement
I say we should always just love each other...because we are all human beings
I dream of a world without hatred and violence
I try to take comfort in the fact that the murderers were found and convicted
I hope that churches will never again be bombed
I am the fifth victim
- Bull Connor
- The 16th Street Baptist Church
- The firehouse used on the children
- Bull Connor's tank
- Kelly Ingram Park
- The reflecting pool in Washington DC
- The Lincoln Memorial (in front of which King gave his speech)
- The jail cell in Birmingham
- The pen used to sign the Civil Rights Act of 1964
- A protester at the March on Washington
- Little Rock Central High School
You may use this link to generate the poem. Do not follow their instructions, but these listed below because you are not doing this about yourself. Once you have filled in the boxes, select "create poem." Then print the poem when it appears on the next page.
I am Poem Directions: Complete each line of the poem from the perspective of your chosen person, place or object.
- I am (please make sure to state who you are
- I wonder
- I hear
- I see
- I want
- I am
- I pretend
- I feel
- I touch
- I worry
- I cry
- I am
- I understand
- I say
- I dream
- I try
- I hope
- I am
Sample "I A" Poem:
Note: Sarah Collins was the only survivor of the 16th Street Bombing. You may NOT use her.
I am Sarah Collins
I wonder if I will ever receive compensation for the pain and suffering I have endured
I hear the deafening explosion of the bomb
I see my sister Addie tying Denise's sash as the bomb explodes
I want to be able to talk to my sister again
I am a survivor
I pretend that I can still see out of both eyes
I feel sad that innocent children died
I touch the scars from the shards of glass that entered my body
I worry that people will forget what happened
I cry when I think of the lives that never were
I am the face of tragedy
I understand that this bombing fueled the Civil Rights Movement
I say we should always just love each other...because we are all human beings
I dream of a world without hatred and violence
I try to take comfort in the fact that the murderers were found and convicted
I hope that churches will never again be bombed
I am the fifth victim