The Rebellious Lives of Mrs. Rosa Parks
Lesson by Bill Bigelow
In this mixer lesson, students learn about Rosa Parks' many decades of activism by taking on roles from various times in her life. In this way, students learn about her radicalism before, during, and long after the Montgomery Bus Boycott.
A School Year Like No Other, Eyes on the Prize: Fighting Back: 1957–1962
Lesson by Bill Bigelow
Students write poetry or prose in reaction to viewing "Eyes on the Prize: Fighting Back 1957-62" and two readings.
Southern Tenant Farmworkers: Black and White Unite?
Lesson By Bill Bigelow
This lesson examines efforts by Black and white workers to overcome the deep divisions and suspicions of racial antagonism in 1934 Arkansas. Students are faced with a “What would you do?” assignment that helps them understand many of the difficulties in achieving some degree of racial unity. At the same time, they realize the importance of confronting and overcoming racist attitudes.
South African Unions Struggle for Justice
Lesson by Bill Bigelow
The South African anti-apartheid movement is often mischaracterized in the U.S. as simply a fight for political rights, culminating in the election of Nelson Mandela as the country’s first freely chosen president. However, Black unions linked their political objectives for an end to racial oppression to their campaigns for higher wages and better working conditions. This lesson invites students to imagine themselves as Black union activists at the height of the anti-apartheid movement in the 1980s and poses them problems that confronted real-life organizers at the time.