Documentary- Booker’s Place- A Mississippi Story (found on Netflix)
This documentary explores Booker Wright’s choice to expose the true state of race relations in the 1960’s in Greenwood, Mississippi. Booker was born into working for a plantation, but eventually started working as a waiter in his later years. “Black people could pick cotton or be waiters” so Booker decided on the latter. He was separated from his mother early in his life because her planation owners moved up north and took her with them, while her son was required to stay in Greenwood and work for another planation.
The documentary crew came to Greenwood because it was known for treating black people cruelly- including unjust treatment of their workers, burning of black churches, and lynching. The crew wanted to interview white people in order to understand if they thought they could ever be reconciled with the black people. However the documentary quickly took a turn when Felitta and his crew saw the impact the KKK and other racist movements were having on the town, including the impact they were having on Booker. While many Greenwood citizens talked about “loving their blacks” their actions demonstrated otherwise. The crew saw this when they visited Booker’s place of work. Booker was a waiter, and guests at the shop would talk down to him, call him derogatory names, and refuse service from him if they thought he was undeserving. Booker then went on to open up his own store where he could make a name for himself. While he was respected in the black community, he worked in a menial capacity in the white community.
Meanwhile, the town continued to segregate the community based on race. The KKK had various meetings discussing racial purity, and the white citizen council met frequently to discuss school segregation, saying “the average colored child isn’t going to keep up with the average white child, and they will feel inferior when they can’t keep up.”
So Booker chose to expose these occurrences that were happening in the community when the documentary crew came to his business. He told the crew that he doesn’t want his kids to have to go through what he went through, the distrust, mistreatment, etc. After the documentary aired, Booker’s store was burned down, and he was beaten up and hospitalized. He later was murdered.
His family and friends, years later, reflect on the impact Booker’s life had on the civil rights movement. He spoke the truth and stood up for what he believed. While he was persecuted for his actions at the time, his brave story lives on through his friends and family who are proud to know such an intentional activist trying to make a change in his community. The documentary ends with hope that things can change in Mississippi and all over the world where discrimination and segregation exists.
This documentary allowed me to see another perspective of the civil rights movement. While this particular story isn’t featured in one of the lessons I wrote for this unit, it really informed me of various perspectives during this time of segregation and I could see myself incorporating his story in my future implantation of this unit. I was able to expand my knowledge of how the Civil Rights Movement doesn’t fit in a cut and dry timeline. While we as a class will cover the major events that occurred during the Greensboro Sit-Ins, it is also just as critical to include personal and lesser known stories to shed more light on real experiences that open our eyes to different perspectives. I thought this documentary was a great way of understanding the improvements that still need to be made for racial equality.
The Greensboro Sit-In
http://www.northcarolinahistory.org/commentary/299/entry
This article provides a commentary of the Greensboro Sit-Ins by the North Carolina History Project. It describes the event in detail, explaining that the first Greensboro sit-in was not spontaneous. The four students had read about non-violent protests, and studied their effectiveness. McNeil suggested the tactic of the sit-in as their nonviolent protest, and the other three students agreed. The protest occurred as planned on February 1, 1960. The students were refused service at Woolworth’s and after being asked to leave, they reported to the campus leaders at A&T what had happened. The next morning 29 students from the college sat at the lunch counter. The protest grew, even to other stores that refused service to African Americans. The sit-in began without the assistance of any organization, and made a huge impact on desegregation. It is known as one of the simplest and most successful protests of the Civil Rights Movement.
This article allowed me to reflect on how purposeful non-violent protests can be. These students didn’t spur of the moment decide to take a stand, they meticulously thought out the impact they wanted to make. I thought this article really shed light on how intentional and meaningful nonviolent protests can be. This article informed my thinking because it allowed me to focus on the nonviolent protest aspect of the sit-in. I decided to create a lesson about nonviolent protests so that students can understand how they are a safe and nonthreatening way to stand up for injustice.
The Greensboro Sit-In
http://www.history.com/topics/black-history/the-greensboro-sit-in
This article discusses how segregation was still the norm across the southern US despite advances such as the Brown v Board verdict and the Montgomery Bus Boycott. Because change still needed to happen, four college students led a non-violent protest in Greensboro North Carolina that spread throughout the region. These four students were influenced by non-violent protest techniques practiced by Mohandas Gandhi, and an early “Freedom Ride.” The Greensboro Four were led to action by the murder of a young black boy, Emmett Till, because he allegedly whistled at a white woman in a store in Mississippi. The protest was very successful, and others joined in for the cause.
This article made me realize that this protest occurred after significant advances had been made in the Civil Rights Movement, however there was still so much to be done. This is still true today. This made me want to incorporate the Eric Garner current event, because even though significant advances for race equality have been made even since the 1960’s, there is still so much to be done. This is why people continue to nonviolently protest today. I want to reinforce to students that advances and improvements can always be made, and that we should be standing up for the rights of others and ourselves.
List of Resources
· http://joannabrautigam.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/civil-rights-unit.pdf This website provided me with a lot of insight of how to create this unit. It also informed me how to teach various aspects of the Civil Rights Movement to 3rd graders.
· African Americans- Many Rivers To Cross- a documentary by PBS. This documentary, consisting of six episodes, is narrated by Harvard scholar Henry Lous Gates Jr. as he recounts African American history. In doing this, he explores various cultural, religious, and social perspectives. This resource is good to gain a broader sense of what African Americans went through during this movement as well as how various perspectives impacted individuals and their actions.
· http://www.infoplease.com/spot/civilrightstimeline1.html This website provides a comprehensive timeline of the Civil Rights Movement that allowed me to order my thoughts in chronological order that correlated with the events of the Civil Rights Movement.
· Carson, C. (1972, April 10.) “Oral history interview with David Richmond.” University of North Carolina Greensboro Archive. Retrieved from http://library.uncg.edu/dp/crg/oralHistItem.aspx?i=671
· CBS News (2009.) “Legacy of the Greensboro four.” (Video file.) Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Rmjt0kJF0A
· Chafe, W. (1974, November 27.) “Oral history interview with Jibreel Khazan.” University of North Carolina Greensboro Archive. Retrieved from http://library.uncg.edu/dp/crg/oralHistItem.aspx?i=691
· Fox 8 News. (2010) “Greensboro Woolworth sit-in 50th anniversary.” (Video file.) Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=izl5LCFzKYM
· Sykes, M. (1960, February 1.) “Negro college students sit at Woolworth lunch counter.” The Greensboro Record. Retrieved from http://www.sitins.com/headline_sitdown.shtml
· Weatheford, C.B. (2005.) Freedom on the menu: The Greensboro sit-ins. New York: Puffin.
· Graphics by Classy Gal Design and Publishing: teacherspayteachers.com/store/classy-gal-designs-and-publishing (where I adapted the Primary Sources Lesson)
· “Freedom on the Menu” Reader’s Theater Script http://www.claycarmichael.com/documents/SitInReadersTheater.pdf
· Launch of a Civil Rights Movement” Website Includes links to many news articles written during the sit-ins http://www.sitins.com/media_hl.shtml
· http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Freedom-on-the-Menu-The-Greensboro-Sit-Ins-Read-Aloud-Reflection-Sheet-604914# (Freedom on the Menu Worksheet)
· http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/eyesontheprize/story/img_04_nonviolence_03.html pictures for non violent protests
· http://www.pbs.org/beyondbrown/history/fullhistory.htm (This webiste provides an explanation of “Separate but Equal” and explains Brown v Board of Education)
· http://www.history.com/topics/black-history/civil-rights-movement# (Provides a comprehensive timeline of events of the CRM)
This documentary explores Booker Wright’s choice to expose the true state of race relations in the 1960’s in Greenwood, Mississippi. Booker was born into working for a plantation, but eventually started working as a waiter in his later years. “Black people could pick cotton or be waiters” so Booker decided on the latter. He was separated from his mother early in his life because her planation owners moved up north and took her with them, while her son was required to stay in Greenwood and work for another planation.
The documentary crew came to Greenwood because it was known for treating black people cruelly- including unjust treatment of their workers, burning of black churches, and lynching. The crew wanted to interview white people in order to understand if they thought they could ever be reconciled with the black people. However the documentary quickly took a turn when Felitta and his crew saw the impact the KKK and other racist movements were having on the town, including the impact they were having on Booker. While many Greenwood citizens talked about “loving their blacks” their actions demonstrated otherwise. The crew saw this when they visited Booker’s place of work. Booker was a waiter, and guests at the shop would talk down to him, call him derogatory names, and refuse service from him if they thought he was undeserving. Booker then went on to open up his own store where he could make a name for himself. While he was respected in the black community, he worked in a menial capacity in the white community.
Meanwhile, the town continued to segregate the community based on race. The KKK had various meetings discussing racial purity, and the white citizen council met frequently to discuss school segregation, saying “the average colored child isn’t going to keep up with the average white child, and they will feel inferior when they can’t keep up.”
So Booker chose to expose these occurrences that were happening in the community when the documentary crew came to his business. He told the crew that he doesn’t want his kids to have to go through what he went through, the distrust, mistreatment, etc. After the documentary aired, Booker’s store was burned down, and he was beaten up and hospitalized. He later was murdered.
His family and friends, years later, reflect on the impact Booker’s life had on the civil rights movement. He spoke the truth and stood up for what he believed. While he was persecuted for his actions at the time, his brave story lives on through his friends and family who are proud to know such an intentional activist trying to make a change in his community. The documentary ends with hope that things can change in Mississippi and all over the world where discrimination and segregation exists.
This documentary allowed me to see another perspective of the civil rights movement. While this particular story isn’t featured in one of the lessons I wrote for this unit, it really informed me of various perspectives during this time of segregation and I could see myself incorporating his story in my future implantation of this unit. I was able to expand my knowledge of how the Civil Rights Movement doesn’t fit in a cut and dry timeline. While we as a class will cover the major events that occurred during the Greensboro Sit-Ins, it is also just as critical to include personal and lesser known stories to shed more light on real experiences that open our eyes to different perspectives. I thought this documentary was a great way of understanding the improvements that still need to be made for racial equality.
The Greensboro Sit-In
http://www.northcarolinahistory.org/commentary/299/entry
This article provides a commentary of the Greensboro Sit-Ins by the North Carolina History Project. It describes the event in detail, explaining that the first Greensboro sit-in was not spontaneous. The four students had read about non-violent protests, and studied their effectiveness. McNeil suggested the tactic of the sit-in as their nonviolent protest, and the other three students agreed. The protest occurred as planned on February 1, 1960. The students were refused service at Woolworth’s and after being asked to leave, they reported to the campus leaders at A&T what had happened. The next morning 29 students from the college sat at the lunch counter. The protest grew, even to other stores that refused service to African Americans. The sit-in began without the assistance of any organization, and made a huge impact on desegregation. It is known as one of the simplest and most successful protests of the Civil Rights Movement.
This article allowed me to reflect on how purposeful non-violent protests can be. These students didn’t spur of the moment decide to take a stand, they meticulously thought out the impact they wanted to make. I thought this article really shed light on how intentional and meaningful nonviolent protests can be. This article informed my thinking because it allowed me to focus on the nonviolent protest aspect of the sit-in. I decided to create a lesson about nonviolent protests so that students can understand how they are a safe and nonthreatening way to stand up for injustice.
The Greensboro Sit-In
http://www.history.com/topics/black-history/the-greensboro-sit-in
This article discusses how segregation was still the norm across the southern US despite advances such as the Brown v Board verdict and the Montgomery Bus Boycott. Because change still needed to happen, four college students led a non-violent protest in Greensboro North Carolina that spread throughout the region. These four students were influenced by non-violent protest techniques practiced by Mohandas Gandhi, and an early “Freedom Ride.” The Greensboro Four were led to action by the murder of a young black boy, Emmett Till, because he allegedly whistled at a white woman in a store in Mississippi. The protest was very successful, and others joined in for the cause.
This article made me realize that this protest occurred after significant advances had been made in the Civil Rights Movement, however there was still so much to be done. This is still true today. This made me want to incorporate the Eric Garner current event, because even though significant advances for race equality have been made even since the 1960’s, there is still so much to be done. This is why people continue to nonviolently protest today. I want to reinforce to students that advances and improvements can always be made, and that we should be standing up for the rights of others and ourselves.
List of Resources
· http://joannabrautigam.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/civil-rights-unit.pdf This website provided me with a lot of insight of how to create this unit. It also informed me how to teach various aspects of the Civil Rights Movement to 3rd graders.
· African Americans- Many Rivers To Cross- a documentary by PBS. This documentary, consisting of six episodes, is narrated by Harvard scholar Henry Lous Gates Jr. as he recounts African American history. In doing this, he explores various cultural, religious, and social perspectives. This resource is good to gain a broader sense of what African Americans went through during this movement as well as how various perspectives impacted individuals and their actions.
· http://www.infoplease.com/spot/civilrightstimeline1.html This website provides a comprehensive timeline of the Civil Rights Movement that allowed me to order my thoughts in chronological order that correlated with the events of the Civil Rights Movement.
· Carson, C. (1972, April 10.) “Oral history interview with David Richmond.” University of North Carolina Greensboro Archive. Retrieved from http://library.uncg.edu/dp/crg/oralHistItem.aspx?i=671
· CBS News (2009.) “Legacy of the Greensboro four.” (Video file.) Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Rmjt0kJF0A
· Chafe, W. (1974, November 27.) “Oral history interview with Jibreel Khazan.” University of North Carolina Greensboro Archive. Retrieved from http://library.uncg.edu/dp/crg/oralHistItem.aspx?i=691
· Fox 8 News. (2010) “Greensboro Woolworth sit-in 50th anniversary.” (Video file.) Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=izl5LCFzKYM
· Sykes, M. (1960, February 1.) “Negro college students sit at Woolworth lunch counter.” The Greensboro Record. Retrieved from http://www.sitins.com/headline_sitdown.shtml
· Weatheford, C.B. (2005.) Freedom on the menu: The Greensboro sit-ins. New York: Puffin.
· Graphics by Classy Gal Design and Publishing: teacherspayteachers.com/store/classy-gal-designs-and-publishing (where I adapted the Primary Sources Lesson)
· “Freedom on the Menu” Reader’s Theater Script http://www.claycarmichael.com/documents/SitInReadersTheater.pdf
· Launch of a Civil Rights Movement” Website Includes links to many news articles written during the sit-ins http://www.sitins.com/media_hl.shtml
· http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Freedom-on-the-Menu-The-Greensboro-Sit-Ins-Read-Aloud-Reflection-Sheet-604914# (Freedom on the Menu Worksheet)
· http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/eyesontheprize/story/img_04_nonviolence_03.html pictures for non violent protests
· http://www.pbs.org/beyondbrown/history/fullhistory.htm (This webiste provides an explanation of “Separate but Equal” and explains Brown v Board of Education)
· http://www.history.com/topics/black-history/civil-rights-movement# (Provides a comprehensive timeline of events of the CRM)