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Toolbox Library, primary resources thematically organized with notes and discussion questionsOnline Seminars, professional development seminars for history and literature teachersThe Making of African American Identity: Volume III, 1917-1968
The Making of African American Identity: Volume III, 1917-1968
Theme: SegregationTheme: MigrationsTheme: ProtestTheme: CommunityTheme: Overcome?
Protest Menu

PROTEST




March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, 28 August 1963

Framing Questions
  •  What forms did African American protest take?
  •  How did protest strategies and goals evolve over time?
  •  In what ways was African American identity shaped in opposition to the larger American society?


1.  Asking» Text Links / Note / Discussion Questions

- "Negroes Petition General Assembly," newspaper article, The State (Columbia, SC), 23 January 1919
- Letters to Lansburgh's department store, Washington, DC, Autumn 1945
- "Members of Your Race Are Not Admitted," Ch. 11 of Pauli Murray, Song in a Weary Throat: An American Pilgrimage, memoir, 1987 (publ. posthumously)

2.  Reasoning» Text Links / Note / Discussion Questions

- Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), "This Is the SCLC," brochure, ca. 1960, excerpts
- Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), Statement of Purpose, 1960
- Albany (Georgia) Nonviolent Movement, handbill, 1961
- Martin Luther King, Jr., "Where Do We Go From Here?" address to the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, Atlanta, Georgia, 16 August 1967

3.  Singing» Text Links / Note / Discussion Questions

- Bernice Johnson Reagon, "In Our Hands: Thoughts on Black Music," essay, Sing Out!, January 1976
- "We Shall Overcome," spiritual, ca. 1947 (with audio clip)

4.  Marching» Text Links / Note / Discussion Questions

- Reginald Gammon, Freedom Now, acrylic on board, 1963

5.  Boycotting» Text Links / Note / Discussion Questions

- Jo Ann Gibson Robinson, The Montgomery Bus Boycott and the Women Who Started It, memoir, 1987, Ch. 2, "The Boycott Begins"

6.  Arming» Text Links / Note / Discussion Questions

- Robert Williams, Negroes with Guns, memoir, 1962, Ch. 3-5

7.  Voting» Text Links / Note / Discussion Questions

- Anne Moody, Coming of Age in Mississippi, memoir, 1968, excerpts on the Mississippi Freedom Project, 1963

8.  Separating» Text Links / Note / Discussion Questions

- Malcolm X, "The Ballot or the Bullet," address, 12 April 1964 (audio and text of complete address)

9.  Connecting» Text Links / Note / Discussion Questions

- Bayard Rustin, "From Protest to Politics: The Future of the Civil Rights Movement," essay, Commentary, February 1965

10.  Writing» Text Links / Note / Discussion Questions

- W. E. B. Du Bois, "Criteria of Negro Art," essay, The Crisis, October 1926
- Alain Locke, "Art or Propaganda?" essay, Harlem, November 1928

11.  Poetry» Text Links / Note / Discussion Questions

- Claude McKay, "If We Must Die," 1919
- Gwendolyn B. Bennett, "Hatred," 1927
- Sterling A. Brown, "Strong Men," 1931
- Countee Cullen, "Scottsboro, Too, Is Worth Its Song," 1934
- Langston Hughes, "Ballad of the Landlord," 1943
- Gwendolyn Brooks, "The Chicago Defender Sends a Man to Little Rock," 1960
- Sonia Sanchez, "right on: white america," 1969

12.  Theater» Text Links / Note / Discussion Questions

- LeRoi Jones (Amiri Baraka), "The Revolutionary Theatre," essay, Liberator, 1965
- Douglas Turner Ward, Day of Absence, one-act play, 1965, excerpts

13.  Images» Text Links / Note / Discussion Questions

- Claude Clark, Slave Lynching, oil on canvas, 1946
- Charles White, lithograph in Wanted Poster series, 1970



Images: March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, 28 August 1963, photographs. Courtesy of the National Archives, Washington, DC (#542044, #542045, #542063).




PROTEST
1. Asking   2. Reasoning   3. Singing   4. Marching
  5. Boycotting   6. Arming   7. Voting   8. Separating
  9. Connecting   10. Writing   11. Poetry   12. Theater   13. Images








TOOLBOX: The Making of African American Identity: Volume III, 1917-1968
Segregation | Migrations | Protest | Community | Overcome?


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