FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT:
January 27, 2005
Deborah Menkart
Tel: (202) 588-7205
Email: dmenkart@teachingforchange.org
Dr. King’s Words into Actions
Award-Winning Guide Gives Black History Month a Makeover
Can
you name five female civil rights leaders? Did the Civil
Rights Movement begin in 1954 and end in 1970? What were
the goals of the Black Power Movement? If you can’t
answer these questions, you may need our mythbusting quiz
that challenges conventional wisdom about the Movement.
This year marks the 40th anniversary of the Voting Rights
Act, even as we recount votes in Ohio and combat widespread
civic apathy. Now more than ever, Americans need to connect
with our legacy of social activism. To truly honor the spirit
of Martin Luther King Jr. during Black History Month, we
should be talking less about his dream and more about the
movement he helped to grow. This short month is often reduced
to Dr. King, Rosa Parks, and the summer of 1964, but everyday
citizens struggled to make the dream a reality. Where is
their chapter in U.S. history books? And how can we continue
their legacy?
Two non-profit organizations working for equity in education
have joined forces to create a thought-provoking quiz on
the Civil Rights Movement that motivates and inspires students
of all ages. Teaching for Change and the Poverty & Race
Research Action Council (PRRAC) are making this resource
available at www.CivilRightsTeaching.org
as an extension of their recent award-winning publication,
Putting the Movement Back into Civil
Rights Teaching: A Resource Guide for Classrooms and Communities.
Instead of offering easy answers, the questions are
crafted to inspire discussion and further inquiry. Supplemental
chapters and lessons are available during the month of February,
giving families, schools, and church groups the option to
delve deeper into these empowering stories.
The central themes of this publication focus the impact
of the Civil Rights Movement on: Citizenship and Self-determination,
Education, Economic Justice, and Culture. Each section emphasizes
the often-overlooked roles of women, young people, grassroots
organizing, and global connections. Putting the Movement
Back into Civil Rights Teaching recently won the Book
of the Year Award from the National Association for Multicultural
Education (NAME) and an honorable mention from the Gustavus
Myers Outstanding Book Awards. Wayne State University Dean
of Law and author Frank Wu calls it “as academically
rigorous as it is innovative.” He adds, “The
struggle is depicted here vividly and profoundly by a distinguished
roster of authors.”
Putting the Movement Back into Civil
Rights Teaching has been picked up by school districts
all over the country. When Pat Cooper, superintendent of
schools in McComb, Mississippi, encountered the book, he
“couldn’t put it down.” The success of
this endeavor is credited to a powerful advisory board,
who oversaw the production of this truly one-of-a-kind publication.
The advisory board for Putting the Movement Back into Civil
Rights Teaching is comprised of Bill Bigelow, Toni Blackman,
Elsa Barkely Brown, Elise Bryant, Clayborne Carson, Charles
Cobb Jr., Bill Fletcher Jr., James Forman, Danny Glover,
Juan Gonzalez, Lawrence Guyot, Suheir Hammad, Sylvia Hill,
Elizabeth Martinez, Nancy Murray, Charles Payne, Renee Poussaint,
Sonia Sanchez, Lynda Tredway, Stephen Ward, Debbie Wei,
Juan Williams, Yohuru Williams, and Howard Zinn.
Teaching For Change provides educational resources and workshops
for parents and teachers organizing for social justice through
public education. The Poverty & Race Research Action
Council (PRRAC) advances research, advocacy, and policy
changes that address the intersections of economic injustice
and racism. The Black History Month quiz can be downloaded
for free from www.civilrightsteaching.org. Putting the Movement
Back into Civil Rights Teaching can also be ordered there
for $25. Bulk discounts are available.
