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Videos, Music, and Documentaries

This video is the audio from Martin Luther King Jr.’s I Have A Dream speech, which is a great source to bring to middle school students’ attention. This powerful and eloquent speech shows the desires of King and all African Americans to be equal to whites, especially concerning their rights. Giving students this speech could open up their eyes to the injustices that were faced at the time from the mouth of one of most powerful leaders of the twentieth century.

This documentary is a great tool to use in the classroom because it is easy to access, and

it provides students with personal accounts of the Civil Rights Movement. There are clips from the freedom rides and interviews with activists, as well as white people from the south, which present the sentiments of people at the time. These experiences are important to show to middle school students because they make the history truly come to life in their eyes. When watching this documentary, students should be able to feel the sentiments of the time, anger, fear, and joy by the end. This is a great look into the journey that Civil Rights activists went through because it is so personal and well researched. Showing this video also gives teachers the chance to put lecturing aside and utilize the video clips of the time period to communicate the hardships and struggles that African Americans went through during this period of history. By the end, students should see how far we have come as a society and some of the bitter remnants of that white supremacy that was so prevalent in the south. 

This YouTube video is a brief look into the impact of the march to Montgomery, Alabama to the Civil Rights Movement.  It is a great tool to use for middle school students because it is only three minutes in length, but still manages to let them hear a song of the Civil Rights Movement as well as testimonials from marchers who were there at the time. It also has a modern take on an song that was sung during the Civil Rights Movement, which could really get students engaged and excited to learn.

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