This new reader comprises an extensive collection of primary and secondary documents of the American Civil Rights movement. These documents are complemented by analytical and interpretive essays by the editor, setting these documents in their historical, social, and political context. The seeds for the modern Civil Rights Movement were planted nearly a century ago within the black Baptist Church, labor unions, the black press, and organizations like the NAACP and the SNYC. Each of the seven sections of this book present a carefully chosen selection of newspaper, magazine, and journal articles, letters, speeches, reports, and legal documents, all chronicling the one aspect of the movement for black rights from the earliest days of post-Civil War segregation to the present. The works of eminent scholars, historians, legislators, and jurists alternate with the voices of movement leaders and followers, black politicians, black entertainers, and average citizens, all blending together to tell the story of struggle, failures, and successes on the road to equality for Black Americans.

The past fifteen years have seen renewed interest in the civil rights movement. Television documentaries, films and books have brought the struggles into our homes and classrooms once again. New evidence in older criminal cases demands that the judicial system reconsider the accuracy of investigations and legal decisions. Racial profiling, affirmative action, voting districting, and school voucher programs keep civil rights on the front burner in the political arena. In light of this, there are very few resources for teaching the civil rights at the university level. This timely and invaluable book fills this gap. This book offers perspectives on presenting the movement in different classroom contexts; strategies to make the movement come alive for students; and issues highlighting topics that students will find appealing. Including sample syllabi and detailed descriptions from courses that prove effective, this work will be useful for all instructors, both college and upper level high school, for courses in history, education, race, sociology, literature and political science.

A profile of the influential leader discusses his successes as a civil rights leader and his role as a husband and father as well as his failures and his unfailing faith through personal disappointment and triumph.

Unsung Heroes of the Civil Rights Movement and Thereafter offers students the opportunity to learn more about important and often overlooked figures of the Civil Rights Movement. This book features chapters on the Saint Augustine Four, the tragically murdered Emmett Till, the legacy-preserving Rachel Robinson, the stubbornly-seated Irene Morgan Kirkaldy, and the tireless leader Stokely Carmichael. Each chapter concludes with a set of discussion questions to deepen the conversation about these figures and their lasting impact on modern society.

Sidney Poitier remains one of the most recognizable black men in the world. Widely celebrated but at times criticized for the roles he played during a career that spanned 60 years, there can be no comprehensive discussion of black men in American film, and no serious analysis of 20th century American film history that excludes him. Poitier Revisited offers a fresh interrogation of the social, cultural and political significance of the Poitier oeuvre. The contributions explore the broad spectrum of critical issues summoned up by Poitier's iconic work as actor, director and filmmaker. Despite his stature, Poitier has actually been under-examined in film criticism generally. This work reconsiders his pivotal role in film and American race relations, by arguing persuasively, that even in this supposedly 'post-racial' moment of Barack Obama, the struggles, aspirations, anxieties, and tensions Poitier's films explored are every bit as relevant today as when they were first made.

This book explores the relationship between three African American women's dance-art-music sensibilities within the context of a Pan African aesthetic. Its purpose is three-fold: to show commonalities between Bessie Smith, Billie Holiday and Nina Simone's lives and original compositions; to codify, examine and evaluate their selected song performances in accordance with the Pan African aesthetic "Nzuri theory/model;" and to illuminate the vast sources of transformational values that aesthetic analysis of African American song performance can foster. Following concordant procedures and principles of Afrocentricity, the study focuses on Smith, Holiday and Simone's performances as part of a whole African artistic and cultural value system. The goal of the Afrocentric methodological structure is to locate relevant African dynamics in songs and to promote knowledge for cultural transformation and continuity. Its use in this study provides meta-criteria for analyzing African American music, which the author has used to uniquely argue connections between African cultural memory and African-derived cultural expression.

One of the most important African American leaders of the twentieth century and perhaps the most influential woman in the civil rights movement, Ella Baker (1903–1986) was an activist whose remarkable career spanned fifty years and touched thousands of lives. A gifted grassroots organizer, Baker shunned the spotlight in favor of vital behind-the-scenes work that helped power the Black freedom struggle. Making her way in predominantly male circles while maintaining relationships with a vibrant group of women, students, and activists, Baker was a national officer and key figure in the NAACP, a founder of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, and a prime mover in the creation of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. In this definitive biography, Barbara Ransby chronicles Baker's long and rich career, revealing her complexity, radical democratic worldview, and enduring influence on group-centered, grassroots activism. Beyond documenting an extraordinary life, Ransby paints a vivid picture of the African American fight for justice and its intersections with other progressive struggles worldwide throughout the twentieth century.