Civil Rights Training

Eyes on the Prize, Part 2 (55:00 for full movie; 32:00 to Ruby Bridges/Rockwell): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TNIwGhCMNII Alternate copy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CSRSUp-nTZM Highlander Folk School (9:20): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dAUCZH-r3KQ Some Details: The documentary Eyes on the Prize was originally 6 hours long; since its original broadcast, eight more hours have been added to cover the period from 1965 to the 1980s. Lesson: (1) Civil rights training photos; photos of attacks on trained workers (2) Eyes on the Prize (32 minutes) (3) The ability to do this didn’t come from nowhere; some roots of the civil rights movement (4) Gandhi and his disciples (5) Highlander Folk School documentary (6) Principles of non-violence (7) Discussion questions

In 1960, photographer James Korales recorded members of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) being trained in “passive resistance” in Atlanta.

The training aimed to prepare them for this...

Mohandas Gandhi’s principle of satyagraha (“holding to the truth”), sometimes wrongly labelled “passive resistance,” influenced many in the American Civil Rights Movement

War Resisters League PRINCIPLES OF NON-VIOLENCE We acknowledge the value of each person. We refuse to mistreat our opponent as an enemy. We recognize that we all have part of the truth; no one has all of it. No one is all right or all wrong. Our campaign of information gathering, education, and action should reflect this. Our actions emphasize openness to promote communication and democratic processes. We work for processes that express “power with” not “power over” others. Our means (behaviors and actions) are consistent with our ends (of affirming life, opposing oppression and seeking justice, valuing every person). We cannot justify a victory obtained through violent or deceitful methods. We are willing to undergo suffering rather than inflict it. We will not violently fight back if attacked.

Discussion Questions Would you have been on the front line of civil rights? Do a self-assessment of your skills and needs Willingness to suffer physical/mental injury Openness to those you disagree with Refusal to commit violence

Discussion Questions Would you have been on the front line of civil rights? Do a self-assessment of your skills and needs Willingness to suffer physical/mental injury Openness to those you disagree with Refusal to commit violence How was the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s similar to, and how was it different from, the movement for abolition of slavery before the Civil War? Complete a Historical Argument Worksheet, as if you were writing a long essay