Murder Mystery: Shining a Light on the Story That the Newspapers Left Out
Lesson by by Allyson Criner Brown, Deborah Menkart, and Jenice L. View
The murder of Mississippi voting rights activist Herbert Lee (Sept. 25, 1961), and subsequent murder of witness Louis Allen (Jan. 31, 1964), were key events in the history of the modern Civil Rights Movement. However, they were barely mentioned in the local press at the time and the story is missing from textbooks and public memory today.
And the Youth Shall Lead Us
Reading By Allison Acosta, Allyson Criner Brown, and Deborah Menkart
These stories demonstrate that young people have played a lead role ― standing on the shoulders of those who came before them ― throughout U.S. history. It helps dispel the “exceptional” narratives perpetrated by the corporate media when they highlight selected groups and individuals (generally white students) such as the Parkland students and Greta Thunberg. Their important and brave work needs to be presented in a fuller context.