U.S. Social Movements through Biography

Introduction

When did the Civil Rights Movement end? Did it end with the signing of the Voting Rights Act of 1965? Or was it after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr? What if the Civil Rights Movement did not end? How would we know?

During the first week of the 2020-2021 school year, one of my students shared a selfie of themselves protesting in Richmond, Virginia. This student, along with other activists in the city, took to the streets in response to the murder of George Floyd. Activists in Richmond toppled statues from the Confederates to Columbus, erected new historical markers showcasing marginalized histories, and created art representing Black voices.¹ Students actively participated with the George Floyd protests as they will actively participate in how it is shaped in our collective memory. Throughout the 2020-2021 school year, students continued to reference Black Lives Matter and other social movements in their work including the advancement of LGBTQIA+ rights.

Social justice is important to students, yet its study is often absent or consciously omitted from curriculum. Recently, Donald Trump’s 1776 Commission attempted multicultural curriculum erasure at the federal level. His effort to create a “patriotic” curriculum was driven by fear of the New York Times’ 1619 Project and continued through the actions of predominantly white communities.² These supporters of the 1776 Commission actively sought to suppress conversations that addressed systemic racism, disrupting school board meetings throughout the country. Some states, such as Oklahoma, responded by passing legislation to prohibit educators from teaching certain concepts around gender and race to combat unsubstantiated fears of Critical Race Theory.³ As these events illustrate, if we as educators are unwilling to study history in a manner that is open and critical, we allow it to be presented as a singular, white-washed memory.

This curriculum unit, titled “John Lewis: Examining the Past to Inform Understandings of the Present,” explores the complexity of history by placing recent social movements within the broader context of American history. Through examination of the George Floyd protests both locally and nationally, students will examine the evolution of social movements and their connection to other historical events. It also seeks to empower student voice by drawing on personal experiences.