Teaching About Nonviolence and Self-Defense
Teaching Idea by Julian Hipkins III
The stories that emerge from the Southern Freedom Movement introduce a set of extraordinary heroes and heroines who need to be better known: small farmers, sharecroppers, day laborers, craftsmen, entrepreneurs, and church leaders. Many of these men and women, chafing under white supremacist rule, chose to fight back. They often traveled armed and kept their homes organized for self-defense as well.
In the article and the video clip used in this lesson, Charles E. Cobb Jr. talks about the role that self-defense and nonviolence played in the movement. The Civil Rights Movement is often taught as people who engaged in nonviolence as a way of life. Cobb explains that for many, nonviolence was a tactic rather than a way of life. People in communities across the south were prepared to use lethal force when necessary to protect themselves.
Grade Level: High School
Time Required: One Class Period
Materials
Procedure
Show the video clip.
Have students read the article. To facilitate group discussion of the article, we have used the Save the Last Word for ME protocol from the National School Reform Faculty/Harmony Education Center. It gives each participant equal time when sharing their thoughts about a text. A summary of the instructions for the protocol:
Separate the class into groups of four.
Participants read through the text, highlighting the most significant idea.
Once everyone has finished reading, a volunteer in each group will read out the part that was the most meaningful to them.
The other three participants have one minute to respond to what has been said. Once each person has spoken, the initial volunteer has three minutes to say why they chose that passage.
Follow the same process until each person has been able to have the last word.