The Civil Rights Movement for Kids A History with 21 Activities

by Turck, Mary C.

• ISBN13: 9781556523700
• ISBN10: 155652370X
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2000-06-01
• Publisher: Chicago Review Press

Summary

Surprisingly, kids were some of the key instigators in the Civil Rights Movement, like Barbara Johns, who held a rally in her elementary school gym that eventually led to the Brown vs. Board of Education Supreme Court school desegregation decision, and six-year-old Ruby Bridges, who was the first black student to desegregate elementary schools in New Orleans. InThe Civil Rights Movement for Kids, children will discover how students and religious leaders worked together to demand the protection of civil rights for black Americans. They will relive the fear and uncertainty of Freedom Summer and learn how northern white college students helped bring national attention to atrocities committed in the name of segregation, and they'll be inspired by the speeches of Martin Luther King, Jr., Medgar Evers, and Malcolm X. Activities include: reenacting a lunch counter sit-in; organizing a workshop on nonviolence; holding a freedom film festival followed by a discussion; and organizing a choral group to sing the songs that motivated the foot soldiers in this war for rights.

Author Biography

Mary C. Turck is the author of Haiti: Land of Inequality and is the coauthor of Guatemala: Land of the Maya.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	xi
Time Line	xii
Introduction	xv
Let the Children Lead
Early Days, the 1950s	1	(19)
Activities
Starting Somewhere Survey	15	(2)
Plan a Civil Rights Event	17	(3)
Tired of Being Mistreated
Montgomery Bus Boycott, 1955-56	20	(19)
Activities
Workshop on Nonviolence	32	(2)
Walk for Justice	34	(3)
Alternative Holidays	37	(2)
Nonviolent Resistance
Student Sit-Ins, 1960	39	(17)
Activities
Lunch Counter Play: What Is This World Coming To?	47	(6)
Freedom School	53	(3)
``If Not Us, Then Who?''
Freedom Riders, 1961	56	(17)
Activities
Write a Freedom Ride Journal	68	(1)
Musical Drama: From the Back of the Bus	69	(4)
Standing Up for Freedom
From Birmingham to Selma, 1963--1965	73	(15)
Activities
Freedom Film Festival	84	(2)
Dressing to Express	86	(2)
``I Have a Dream''
March on Washington, 1963	88	(15)
Activities
Recital Day	98	(3)
Demonstrate Your Commitment	101	(2)
``Praying with My Feet''
Religion and Civil Rights	103	(18)
Activities
Record Oral Histories	112	(2)
Freedom Singers	114	(6)
Love Beads	120	(1)
``You May Be Killed''
Freedom Summer, 1964	121	(15)
Activities
Food Drive	131	(1)
Letter Writing Campaign for Prisoners of Conscience	132	(1)
Freedom Feast	133	(3)
The Struggle Continues
Late 1960s, Keeping On	136	(13)
Activities
Express Yourself!	145	(2)
Tie-Dye Delight	147	(2)
Keep Hope Alive
Civil Rights Today	149	(33)
Civil Rights Act of 1964	159	(14)
Voting Rights Act of 1965	173	(4)
Additional Resources	177	(4)
Children's Books for Further Reading	181	(1)
Bibliography	182	(3)
Index	185