African Americans - Civil Rights

Turning 15 on the Road to Freedom

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Copies: 6

As the youngest marcher in the 1965 voting rights march from Selma to Montgomery, Albama, Lynda Blackmon Lowery proved that young adults can be heroes. Jailed eleven times before her fifteenth birthday, Lowery fought alongside Martin Luther King, Jr. for the rights of African-Americans. In this memoir, she shows today's young readers what it means to fight nonviolently (even when the police are using violence, as in the Bloody Sunday protest) and how it felt to be part of changing American history.

Author:

Lynda Blackmon Lowery

Lexile:

780L

Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson (2004)

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UNFORGIVABLE BLACKNESS: THE RISE AND FALL OF JACK JOHNSON tells the story of the first African-American boxer to win the most coveted title in all of sports and his struggle, in and out of the ring, to live his life as a free man.

Grade Level:

Middle

High

Length:

03:40

Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson

Little Rock Central: 50 Years Later (2007)

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In 1957, Little Rock Central High School became a symbol of the Civil Rights Movement when, in defiance of federal orders to integrate the school, the Governor of Arkansas called out the National Guard to prevent nine African-American students from entering the building.

Grade Level:

Middle

High

Length:

01:10

Nine From Little Rock (2005)

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The heroism of nine students in Little Rock, Arkansas
Pioneers of desegregation

Nine From Little Rock chronicles the Arkansas school integration crisis and the changes wrought in subsequent years.

Grade Level:

Middle

High

Length:

00:19

Freedom Riders (2011)

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In 1961, segregation seemed to have an overwhelming grip on American society. Many states violently enforced the policy, while the federal government, under the Kennedy administration, remained indifferent, preoccupied with matters abroad.

Grade Level:

Middle

High

Length:

02:00

The Watsons Go to Birmingham

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The Watsons are an African-American family that live in Flint, Michigan where they're raising three children in the 1960's. The oldest son, Byron, is hanging with the wrong crowd and his parents want to change his environment. The whole family piles into their old car for a trip to Birmingham, Alabama, where Byron's strict grandmother lives. While traveling in the South, they encounter overt racism and segregation, and a tragic event that will shake their world. They realize that the love of family gives them the strength to endure most anything.

Director:

Kenny Leon

Grade Level:

Middle

Length:

01:26

A Raisin in the Sun

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Dreams can make a life worth living, but they can also be dashed by bad decisions. This is the crossroads where the Younger family find themselves when their father passes away and leaves them with $10,000 in life insurance money. Should they buy a new home for the family? Perhaps a liquor store? Or even pay for medical school tuition? While no choice is easy, life on the South Side of Chicago in the 1950s is even harder.

Director:

Kenny Leon

Grade Level:

Middle

High

Length:

02:11

World War I (2004)

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Part I: The War in Europe: Uses archival footage to look at the roots of the war in Europe; the weapons of war including chemical warfare, air planes, and submarines; the United States enters the war; Support of the war including industrial production, rationing, government price controls, propaganda, and taxes and bonds.

Grade Level:

Middle

High

Length:

01:10

The Long Walk to Freedom (2004)

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Twelve civil rights activists share their experiences with San Francisco students. Includes brief video autobiographies of the activists and a section where students respond with questions, poetry, songs and essays.

Grade Level:

High

Length:

00:30

A History of Black Achievement in America, Vol. 4 (2005)

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Program 7: Civil Rights - Ralph Bunche wins the Nobel Peace Prize; Gwendolyn Brooks becomes the first black recipient of the Pulitzer Prize; Brown v.

Grade Level:

Middle

High

Length:

00:54

A History of Black Achievement in America, Vol. 4

African Americans - Civil Rights

Turning 15 on the Road to Freedom

Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson (2004)

Little Rock Central: 50 Years Later (2007)

Nine From Little Rock (2005)

Freedom Riders (2011)

The Watsons Go to Birmingham

A Raisin in the Sun

World War I (2004)

The Long Walk to Freedom (2004)

A History of Black Achievement in America, Vol. 4 (2005)

Pages