Josh Davidson 6/16/23 Josh Davidson 6/16/23

A Documents-Based Lesson on the Voting Rights Act

Lesson by Emilye Crosby
This lesson uses a case study of Lowndes County, Alabama and three SNCC-related documents from the early 1960s—just before and after the Voting Rights Act—to explore the impact of the Voting Rights Act (and 1964 Civil Rights Act) on every day southern Black citizens: What did the legislation mean to them? Did they achieve their goals?

Josh Davidson 6/5/23 Josh Davidson 6/5/23

Lowndes County Freedom Organization (LCFO) Political Context

Reading by Emilye Crosby
Political context for the formation of the Lowndes County Freedom Organization (LCFO). This text is provided as background information for “A Documents-Based Lesson on the Voting Rights Act.”

Josh Davidson 6/5/23 Josh Davidson 6/5/23

Key Dates in Voting Rights History

Timeline by Emilye Crosby
This timeline of key dates in the struggle for voting rights is provided as background information for “A Documents-Based Lesson on the Voting Rights Act: A Case Study of SNCC’s work in Lowndes County and the Emergence of Black Power” by Emilye Crosby.

Allison Acosta 8/9/24 Allison Acosta 8/9/24

Introduction: Black Power

Introduction by Teaching for Change
If the nonviolence of the Southern Freedom/Civil Rights Movement frightened mainstream people in the United States, the Black Power movement confronted institutional racism with a youthful boldness and fearlessness unseen since enslaved Africans took up arms in the Civil War. In this section, important “founding documents” of the Black Power movement are examined. In addition, the section explores the impact of Black Power on other oppressed peoples in the United States.

Josh Davidson 6/1/23 Josh Davidson 6/1/23

From Civil Rights to Black Power: The Significance of the 1965-66 Alabama Freedom Movement

Reading by Abayomi Azikiwe
The application of independent politics transformed the African American struggle in Selma, Alabama.

Allison Acosta 3/8/24 Allison Acosta 3/8/24

Murder of Reverend George W. Lee

Reading by Zinn Education Project
Rev. George Washington Lee, one of the first African Americans registered to vote in Humphreys County, Mississippi since Reconstruction, used his pulpit and his printing press to urge others to vote. He was murdered on May 7, 1955.

Allison Acosta 1/9/24 Allison Acosta 1/9/24

Introduction: Voting Rights

Learning the full history of the fight for voting rights is especially important today, in light of the 2013 Shelby v. Holder U.S. Supreme Court decision that struck down the 1965 Voting Rights Act provisions requiring certain states to obtain federal preclearance before changing voting laws.

Allison Acosta 7/1/23 Allison Acosta 7/1/23

Voting Rights History Quiz

Quiz by Teaching for Change
We’ve all seen the iconic image of President Lyndon Johnson signing the Voting Rights Act of 1965. But what do we know of the history that led to the signing of the legislation? This quiz can challenge assumptions, deepen understanding, and inspire further learning about the voting rights struggle.

Josh Davidson 6/30/23 Josh Davidson 6/30/23

Selma in Pictures: Socratic Seminar

Lesson by Lynda Tredway
In a media driven age, visual images often provide access to important events and political struggles that may be more immediately accessible to students than written texts. This lesson includes two sets of images from the Selma voting rights struggle that promote critical thinking by SNCC photographer Matt Herron. The steps include observation (reading the text), forming a hypothesis, and dialogue—much like an inquiry model of teaching.

Josh Davidson 6/30/23 Josh Davidson 6/30/23

Ten Things You Should Know About Selma Before You See the Film

Reading by Emilye Crosby
Key points in the history of the Selma voting rights struggle to keep in mind as you view the popular film about the Selma-to-Montgomery March.

Josh Davidson 6/30/23 Josh Davidson 6/30/23

What We Want, What We Believe: Teaching with the Black Panthers’ Ten Point Program

Lesson by Wayne Au
Students read the Black Panther Party's 1972 Ten Point Program to understand the conditions the Panthers were attempting to identify and deal with, then analyze their world today and write their own Ten Point Program for social issues they would like to address.

Josh Davidson 6/30/23 Josh Davidson 6/30/23

Black Nationalism and Black Pride: The Ballot or the Bullet

Primary Document by Malcolm X
An excerpt from a speech given in Cleveland in April 1964. At this period of his life after Malcolm X (el-Hajj Malik el-Shabazz) had broken with Nation of Islam leader Elijah Muhammad, made a pilgrimmage to Mecca, and begun to develop his own movement, the Organization of Afro-American Unity. He was assassinated on February 21, 1965.

Josh Davidson 6/29/23 Josh Davidson 6/29/23

COINTELPRO: Teaching the FBI’s War on the Black Freedom Movement

Lesson by Ursula Wolfe-Rocca
Through examining FBI documents, students learn the scope of the FBI’s COINTELPRO campaign to spy on, infiltrate, discredit, and disrupt all corners of the Black Freedom Movement.

Josh Davidson 6/28/23 Josh Davidson 6/28/23

What We Don’t Learn About the Black Panther Party — But Should

Lesson by Adam Sanchez and Jesse Hagopian
A mixer lesson introduces students to the pivotal history of the Black Panthers.

Josh Davidson 6/27/23 Josh Davidson 6/27/23

Elegy for Peter Norman

Reading by Josh Healey
Poem about Peter Norman, the white Australian athlete in the historic protest and iconic photo at the 1968 Olympics.

Josh Davidson 6/25/23 Josh Davidson 6/25/23

Why We Should Teach About the FBI’s War on the Civil Rights Movement

Reading by Ursula Wolfe-Rocca
Though COINTELPRO offers teachers a trove of opportunities to illustrate key concepts, including the rule of law, civil liberties, social protest, and due process, it is completely absent from most mainstream textbooks.

Josh Davidson 6/24/23 Josh Davidson 6/24/23

How the Black Panther Party Was Organized

Primary Document by John Hulett
Excerpts from a speech about how the Lowndes County Freedom Organization was organized and why they chose a black panther as their symbol. The speech was given in Los Angeles on May 22, 1966 at a meeting sponsored by a group of anti-Vietnam War committees.

Allison Acosta 6/20/23 Allison Acosta 6/20/23

Who Gets to Vote? Teaching About the Struggle for Voting Rights in the United States

Lesson by Ursula Wolfe-Rocca
Unit with three lessons on voting rights, including the history of the struggle against voter suppression in the United States.

Josh Davidson 6/17/23 Josh Davidson 6/17/23

Sheyann Webb: A Story for First Grade

Reading by Maggie Donovan
First-grade teacher and SNCC veteran Maggie Donovan wrote this story about Sheyann Webb to introduce her students to the role of young people (like themselves) in the Civil Rights Movement.

Josh Davidson 6/17/23 Josh Davidson 6/17/23

What We Want

Primary Document By Kwame Ture (Stokely Carmichael)
Separatism−the determination of a particular group of people to resist assimilating to the majority culture−has a long history in the United States. This excerpt from the “What We Want” speech offers a rationale for the notion of an independent Black community.

Josh Davidson 6/17/23 Josh Davidson 6/17/23

Stepping into Selma: Voting Rights History and Legacy Today

Lesson by Deborah Menkart
This lesson invites students to step into the long history of the freedom struggle in Selma, introducing them to people, turning points, and issues.

Josh Davidson 6/13/23 Josh Davidson 6/13/23

Sharecroppers Challenge U.S. Apartheid

Lesson by Sara Evers, Julian Hipkins III, Deborah Menkart, and Jenice L. View
This lesson explores one of the most important events in the fight for true democracy in the U.S., when a coalition of grassroots activists challenged the Mississippi political system, the federal government, and the national Democratic Party to abide by the U.S. Constitution.

Josh Davidson 6/7/23 Josh Davidson 6/7/23

Voices of Black Liberation

Lesson by Larry Miller
This roleplay is one way for students to become familiar with the writing and speeches of famous leaders of the Black liberation movement.

Josh Davidson 6/5/23 Josh Davidson 6/5/23

Civil Rights Act and Voting Rights Act

Reading by Emilye Crosby
This text explains how the Civil Rights Act and Voting Rights Act addressed distinct forms of racial discrimination. It is provided as background information for “A Documents-Based Lesson on the Voting Rights Act: A Case Study of SNCC’s work in Lowndes County and the Emergence of Black Power” by Emilye Crosby.

Josh Davidson 6/5/23 Josh Davidson 6/5/23

Civil Rights Movement Tactics

Reading by Emilye Crosby
This text explores how the Civil Rights Movement utilized a range of tactics to address different problems. It is provided as background information for “A Documents-Based Lesson on the Voting Rights Act: A Case Study of SNCC’s work in Lowndes County and the Emergence of Black Power” by Emilye Crosby.

Josh Davidson 6/5/23 Josh Davidson 6/5/23

Vernon F. Dahmer: Civil Rights Martyr and American Hero

Reading by Joyce Ladner
These remarks were prepared by sociologist and SNCC veteran Joyce Ladner for a commemoration of Vernon Dahmer on January 8, 2016, hosted by the Clarion Ledger in Jackson, Mississippi.

Josh Davidson 6/5/23 Josh Davidson 6/5/23

Teaching With Vanguard: How Black Women Broke Barriers, Won the Vote, & Insisted on Equality for All

Lesson by Ursula Wolfe-Rocca
Students engage in an interactive activity with short excerpts from Martha Jones’ book to learn about the leading role of Black women in the fight for voting rights throughout U.S. history.

Allison Acosta 6/1/23 Allison Acosta 6/1/23

A Short History of Voting Rights in Mississippi

Reading by Elizabeth Boyd
From Mississippi Statehood in 1817 to 1960.