Perspectives and Perceptions of the Civil Rights Movement The Way I see It: Perspectives and Perceptions of the Civil Rights Movement

Look at the Following images Number from 1-5 and write your answer to each image on your sheet. Then share with your neighbor. Now, finish the following sentence: “The way I look at something _______________.”

Perspective What is the definition of perspective? Have you ever heard of this word? In what context have you heard this word used?

Perspective vs Perception Perspective is often referred to as a person's point of view or the way someone views something. A person's perspective can influence their perception or understanding of the world around them. Perception is a way of regarding, understanding, or interpreting something; a mental impression. Think about yourself or your friends. Has there ever been a time when you felt 'judged' by someone from an older generation because of the way you were dressed?

Guiding Questions 1. Does a person’s perspective influence their perception, or does their perception influence their perspective? Think about this for a moment and Turn and Talk (T and T). Make sure you write you answers on your sheet. 2. How does a person's perspective reflect their understanding? Record your answers and T and T. 3. How does an individual's perspective affect their perception? Record your answers and T and T.

Guiding Questions Continued 4. Does perception equal truth? Record your answers and T and T. 5. Can a person's perception of an event be changed? 6. How can an individual influence the understanding of others?

Vocabulary Look at the Knowledge Rating Scale. Mark your level of understanding for each word by using a checkmark. (Perspective and Perception are from yesterday’s lesson. Write the definition on your sheet) Let’s read the excerpt.

Context clues Now that we have read the text, if you were able to figure out the words meanings from context clues, write the definition in “WHAT IT MEANS” column. Turn to your partner and compare definitions with each other. If there are still unknown words, you may look them up or wait for the class discussion.

Vocab and TDQ’s VOCAB: Are there any words that need explaining? TDQ’s: Now let’s read the text and answer the text dependent questions. Use a highlighter to mark the answers to the TDQ’s.

How are the issues of perspective and perception demonstrated in the text? Let’s go back to our GQ: How can an individual influence the understandings and perceptions of others? How did Dr. King endeavor to influence others’ perception of their disregard for the law in light of the fact that he repeatedly emphasizes that others should obey the law?

Other ways to influence the Understandings/perceptions of others Besides using words, are there other ways to influence understandings and perceptions of others? Discuss

David Driskell “behold thy son” http://africanamericanart.si.edu/archive/fullsize/driskell_beholdthyson_ecee2720 38.jpg

About the Picture David Driskell demonstrates another way to influence the way others view events in the civil rights movement. While visiting relatives in Money, Mississippi, in the summer of 1955, fourteen-year- old Emmett Till was kidnapped, beaten, and murdered for allegedly speaking to a white woman. After his body was retrieved from a river and returned to his family for burial, Till's mother, Mamie, insisted that her son's body be displayed in an open casket, where the thousands of mourners and reporters who attended his funeral would see it. She also distributed a photograph of his mutilated corpse to the press, asking them, "Have you ever ... had [a son] returned to you in a pine box, so horribly battered and water-logged that someone needs to tell you this sickening sight is your son—lynched?" 

About the Picture Although the white media refused to publish the photograph in its coverage of the murder, the gruesome image was widely circulated by some African American periodicals, including Jet magazine. Till's mother later explained why she decided to put her son's body on public display: "They had to see what I had seen. The whole nation had to bear witness to this.

About the Picture Just weeks after Till's body was discovered, artist David C. Driskell moved from Washington, D.C., to the South with his young family. Driskell found Till's lynching to be a poignant wake-up call to the appalling violence borne of Jim Crow segregation and racism. He later said, "This crime awakened in most African Americans a sense of rage that helped prepare us for the revolutionary journey [to fight for justice and equality that] we would eventually take." Driskell decided to paintBehold Thy Son because he "was well aware of the power of social commentary art and its use to stir the consciousness of a people." He gained this insight largely from his training at the Skowhegan artists' colony and at Howard University.

OPTIC strategy