Civil Rights & Black Lives Matter
Wendy M. Christensen
Opening song: Pete Seeger’s We Shall Overcome
- Originally a union organizing song, brought to Highlander Folk School in 1946, and then picked up and sung by SCLC.
How do we remember the Civil Rights movement?
- What do we learn about the movement while we are in school?
- What is left out?
- Example: Rosa Parks
Seeding the Civil Rights Movement:
- Women’s work
- Misogyny in the movement
Strategic Nonviolence (example: Nashville sit ins)
- Activist education
- Civil disobedience
Crisis Moments:
- Creating crisis moments
- Using media coverage
“Whitewashing” movements and their leaders.
- Example: Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Black Lives Matter:
- Differences and similarities to the 1960s Civil Rights Movement.
- The pandemic.
Closing song: Marvin Gaye’s What’s Going On?
- Returning from Vietnam to racial tensions at home.
