Nonviolence as a Tool for Change

The March for Voting Rights

Personal Voter Profile Packet (PVPP)

Distribute Packet w/ Instruction Most of the work you do in this unit

will be collected in this packet Required Final Products

A personal voter profile essay, editorial, letter or speech ( review first page of PVPP )

Interview of a community member focusing on voting

Step One

Four Corners - take a stand For each of the following question, take a

stand at one of the four corners. We will discuss your opinions and then

you will note your opinion under each question (Anticipation Guide PVPP pg 2)

We will conduct this activity at the end of the unit to track any changes in your opinions

Go back, back in time….

To when you were a freshman at the end of Mr Mee’s class and then as a sophomore at the beginning of my class

What can you remember about the Civil War and Reconstruction?

Can you remember which were Confederate and Union States?

Think about voting in the US

Who voted…Before the Civil War?During Reconstruction?After Reconstruction?

Where is the South?What are the differences between living in the North and in the South?

Move ahead to 1965..

The main question for today’s investigation is….

In 1965, why were less than 7% of Blacks living in Mississippi registered to vote?

Some of the other questions that you will think about are

What is the difference between having the right to vote and having the opportunity to vote?

Is suffrage important? Does voting matter? Why or why not?

Today and tomorrow you will answer these questions as well as practice these skills:

Gathering important details from primary sources

Using historical evidence to make a claim about what happened in the past

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/eyesontheprize/story/10_march.html#video

Watch the clip

Record what you see and hear Predict what events led up to the

moments you observed List any questions you might have from

watching these images. What do you think you need to know to

understand what you just watched?

You have just been hired as an investigative attorney for the Justice Department.

Congratulations!!

For first assignment with your team to analyze the evidence gathered by your clerks to determine what your bosses, John Doar and Gerald Stern should include in their report to Attorney General Robert Kennedy about voting practices.

You are responsible to complete the two graphic organizers and prepare at least one policy recommendation for the Attorney General to consider. (Complete the Question handout first)

For HW finish Step Two of PVPP

The March for Voting Rights, Part 2

Voting and Nonviolent Protest

Journal

Brainstorm a list of protests you have seen or heard about.

What does it usually look like when a group of people are protesting against injustice?

What might they be saying?

Complete your journal and be prepared to pair share.

View Clip Bridge to Freedom Eyes on the Prize

Pair share answering these questions

What did you see? What were the people in the film

doing? What were they wearing? Saying?

Consider your initial response to protesting..

Does witnessing the ‘Teachers March’ change your idea of what protest can be?

Violence and aggression are often a form of protest against injustice

Throughout history oppressed people have resorted to violence as a means of self-defense

Nonviolence

This unit will focus on nonviolent protest practices because many of the civil rights organizations and leaders involved in the civil rights movements in the South embraced a philosophy of nonviolence

“Nonviolence and Racial Justice,” Martin Luther King, Jr.

In this part of the unit we will read the above essay and focus on these questions:

What does it mean to protest nonviolently? What is the philosophy of nonviolence? Why do you think civil rights activists practiced

nonviolence? To what extent can voting be an effective nonviolent response to injustice and a vehicle for change You will also practice these skills: Paraphrasing difficult text Supporting an argument with evidence when taking a

stand on an issue

Working Definitions

In small groups, prepare definitions for violent protest and nonviolent protest

We will develop a class definition to and add to as we move through this unit.

Your philosophies.

In the essay we are about to read King describes the philosophy of nonviolence as a response to injustice.

What is a philosophy?

Philosophy

a belief system that people use to guide their behavior.

Consider, for a moment, what philosophies guide your life.

Distribute essay, organizers, and vocabulary sheet

Review vocabulary and organizer Number paragraphs Model steps each group will use

when examining the essay

Step One

Read text aloud:We will start by reading the second

and third paragraphs out loud, beginning with the sentence “…the basic question” and ending with the sentence “Five points can be made…”

Step Two

Identify important word and phrases:

What words or phrases stand out for you from this excerpt?

Step Three

Paraphrase the text:Summarize the main ideas of these

paragraphs in one or two sentences.

Step Four

Visually represent main ideasBrainstorm what this summary mightlook like if presented as an image

(picture or symbol).

Group work

Each group must finish reading the essay and complete the graphic organizer describing the five major points.

Each group will be responsible for summarizing the point, creating a visual and presenting to the class

Brainstorm

What are some methods of nonviolent protest?

Taylor Branch, civil rights historian

Every ballot is a piece of nonviolence, signifying hard-won contest to raise politics above fire power and bloody conquest.

Paraphrase this quote and respond to it in a pair/share

Journal

In what ways is voting a effective way to challenge injustice?

What are the drawbacks to using the ballot to respond to injustice?

Be prepared for a pair share with a different partner and then to report back to the group.

Task

Complete Step Three of the PVPP

Curiosity questions Exit Ticket

List what questions you might have about nonviolence protest and philosophy

Journal: complete the following sentences

Nonviolence means… Nonviolent protest could lead to justice and social change

because… Nonviolent protest is not passive because… What I like about the philosophy is… I am unsure about the philosophy because… I disagree with the aspect of the philosophy that says… It would be easy for me to practice nonviolence if… It would be challenging for me to practice nonviolence if… The Beloved Community is…

Graffiti Wall

Around the room are the prompts from the last journal.

Please list your responses under each prompt.

This is a silent exercise

Pivotal Moments in history

Turning points or pivotal moments in history are moments when people or groups have to make important decisions and if they had made another decision than the one they did, they events would have turned out differently

“Bridge to Freedom – Eyes on the Prize”

View 30 minute clip Take notes on the 7 pivotal

moments Take notes on what happened and

what decisions people made Brainstorm different options that

were available to people Select and/or create an image to

represent moment

Review your notes

Identify one particular moment, image, or turning that stands out to you

It could be a decision you admired or it might be a quotation with which they disagree

Pair/share why this moment stands out to you.

If you were teaching this unit…

Brainstorm a list of the most important ideas about the march from Selma to Montgomery – the ideas that they would most want to emphasize if you were teaching someone else about this event

Exit Ticket

Read Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s explanation of the goals of the movement in Selma

Find evidence of the four factors HW – Step Four of PVPP – this will prepare

you for a graded class discussion about the different factors that influence your ideas about the importance of voting

HW – interview someone in your community about the voting

Voting Then and Now

Guiding Questions for today What is the legacy of the march

from Selma to Montgomery? Is voting important today? To

whom? How can you explain why so many people choose not to vote?

What does voting mean to you? To what extent do you feel a responsibility to vote?

Today you will practice these skills…

Using evidence from history and social science to support an opinion

Identifying the similarities and differences between different time periods and contexts; recognizing universal trends that span historical eras and particularities to a specific historical context

Lights, Camera, ACTION……

Premiere of your videos

Voting Then and Now

Two minute interview with Lynda Lowery

As you listen to Ms. Lowery’s testimony of her experience in Selma, record at least FIVE important details

Be prepared to discuss

Voting Then and Now

Journal and then report back Why many black citizens, as well as

whites, risked their lives fighting for the right to vote?

Voting Then and Now

Journal and report back How do citizens feel about voting

today? What percentage of the voting

population do you think turns out to vote today?

The Legacy of Selma

Many historians and activists believe that one of the most important legacies of the civil rights mv’t was the Voting Rights Acts

John Lewis of SNCC said, “The Voting Rights Act was literally

written on the highway between Selma and Montgomery”

Voting Rights Act of 1965

Outlawed practices that were applied to deny or limit the right of any citizens to vote account of race or color, such as literacy

Authorized federal officials to register voters in the South

Allowed for federal oversight of voter registration and election policies in areas that the federal gov’t identified as having a history of voter discrimination

Voting Then and Now

What is the legacy of the struggle for voting rights?

Who votes today?

Read “Voting Today”

Respond to each point What feels familiar to you? (I

already knew that) What surprised you? (I had no idea) What do you want to know more

about? (I am curious to know) Be prepared to discuss as a group

Take a Stand

All American citizens have the right to vote?

Taking a Stand

All American citizens have the opportunity to vote.

Taking a Stand

All American citizens have the obligation to vote.

Taking a Stand

All American citizens have the obligation to vote.

Taking a Stand

The march from Selma to Montgomery was a success.

Taking a Stand

Voting is a privilege that should be earned: it should not be a right that is automatically given all citizens.

Taking a Stand

Voting is one way that citizens can influence issues they care about?

Taking a Stand

Complete Step five of your PVPP Before you start review how you

answered the questions at the beginning of this unit.

Writing your Personal Voting Profile

Review Step Six in the PVPP You will be writing a personal essay. Review Rubric Begin your outline Final typed essay due: