To whom it may concern

You who have found this must be curious about my life.

You who have found this must be brave enough to find the truth.

You who have found this must be smart to learn from this truth.

If you accept the challenge, you must delve into the past and solve the

puzzle of my life story, before you can get to the treasure hidden at the

end of this adventure. For the life of my family has been an adventure

that future generations can learn from.

I bet that you can find all the clues for this quest you have set upon. Just

remember that every clue, every step you take, will bring you closer to

the truth.

I shall start from the birth of freedom and democracy in this country. No,

that was not when the 13 American colonies broke free from the chains

of the British Empire, to form a unified nation. For my own kind was

not free then.

Want to know more?

My father was born in a small town in Illinois, called Champaign. Just a

few hours’ drive from Chicago, and yet with a long history of its own.

Adjacent to the city of Urbana, Champaign is one of the towns into

existence because of the Illinois Central Railroad. As a young man, he

worked in the railroad construction sites. And he was proud of it. Not

only because he was making some dough, but because he served his

country by contributing to its progress. Do you remember Gast’s painting?

I bet you can find my copy of it somewhere in my desk. My dad used to

keep one in his bedside table drawer. Sometimes I could see him looking

at it in awe. “Son, I was part of this, in a way.”

And that is when it all began.

This painting was commissioned by a publisher of a travel guide series, George A. Crofutt.

John Gast created this petite painting in 1872, which was later turned into a color

lithograph poster, as well as included in travel guides. It became very popular, as it was

thought to portray many ideals of the US. Can you find signs of:

a. The American wilderness

b. American colonization

c. Technological progress

d. The distinction between the “civilized” and the “uncivilized”

The painting is very popular even today. In what ways did these ideals shape the history

of the USA from the 1860s until today?

The centralized female figure seems to dominate this painting. Why do you think this is

so?

The central female figure holds in her hands a school textbook. Why do you think this

was added/selected?

Compare the following artifacts with the “American Progress” painting. What are the

similarities and what are the differences? What dictates those?

Can you tell the story behind each of these artifacts?

“Liberty leading the people” by Eugene Delacroix (1830)

Statue of the Republic, Paris, France (1883)

A replica of the Statue of Liberty in Visnes, Norway

The Statue of Liberty, while constructed in Paris in the 1870s

Every person, black or white, living in Illinois was happy for the

railroad. It was hard work, from morn till night, but my dad and his

fellow-men felt that they had a role to play in American progress.

Every morning, they would wake up at the crack of dawn, and work

hard under the scorching sun. There were just a few breaks during the

day, for water mainly.

But in the afternoons, they would all gather around the fire to keep

warm, eating corn and maybe some pork that the women had prepared.

And they all sang, thinking about their enslaved brothers and sisters,

while somebody was strumming the banjo.

The Abolitionist Movement You find some newspaper clippings and an old LP record, it all seems to be connected to the

Abolitionist movement, a movement that fought for the end of slavery in the United States.

“Get off the Track” by the Hutchinson Family

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CfKsjeTvKLs

Questions

1. The abolitionist movement used several types of propaganda to create

awareness about the conditions for slaves in the south; many

northerners had no idea just how bad the situation was for many slaves

living on plantations, why was this so important?

2. Would you say that the song “Get off the Track” is a good propaganda

song? Why / why not?

3. The abolitionist movement ran something called the ‘Underground

Railroad’, what was it and what purpose did it have?

4. The abolitionist movement had strong ties to the suffragette

movement, who were the suffragettes and in what way did they have a

common cause?

In my desk, you will find an old map of the Illinois rail tracks. Just take

a look and marvel at what our forefathers made.

Can you find the city of Champaign there?

It was such a blessing that my father was in Illinois when important

things were happening in this country. Not just for the blacks, but for the

whites too. For this is the homeland of a great man.

These are his words when in 1861 he embarked from Illinois to establish

equality and strengthen democracy all over America:

Can you find the small city he left from in the map?

Here I have lived a quarter of a century, and have passed from a young man to

an old man. Here my children have been born, and one is buried. I now leave,

not knowing when, or whether ever, I may return, with a task before me greater

than that which rested upon Washington. Without the assistance of that Divine

Being… I cannot succeed. With that assistance, I cannot fail… To His care

commending you, as I hope in your prayers you will commend me, I bid you an

affectionate farewell.

My father would have liked to follow this man for the next four years.

But he could not. For during the war, he could not travel wherever he

wanted. He supported him, however, throughout his campaign, and

followed whatever was written about this man’s struggle for racial

equality. I am sure that he has kept photos, and newspaper clippings of

this man’s inspiring journey to free his people. I am sure you will find

them somewhere among his belongings.

Unfortunately, it was a journey to Uncle Abe’s own death too.

Take a look at this photo, where there are some clues that can help you answer

the following questions.

a. When was this photo taken?

b. The photo was taken in US territory. What was happening in the USA during

that time?

c. Who do you think is the main figure in this photo?

d. Based on your answers to the above questions, what do you think was

happening at the time this photo was taken?

e. What do you know about Jupiter so far?

The Gettysburg Address

Contemporary Reactions

Harrisburg Patriot and Union: "We pass over the silly remarks of the President; for the credit of the

Nation we are willing that the veil of oblivion shall be dropped over them and that they shall no more be

repeated or thought of."

Providence Journal: "We know not where to look for a more admirable speech than the brief one which

the President made at the close of Mr. Everett’s oration… Could the most elaborate and splendid oration

be more beautiful, more touching, more inspiring than those thrilling words of the President? They have

in our humble judgment the charm and power of the very highest eloquence."

Goldwin Smith: "Not a sovereign in Europe, however trained from the cradle for state pomps, and

however prompted by statesmen and courtiers, could have uttered himself more regally than did Lincoln

at Gettysburg."

Horace Greeley: "I doubt that our national literature contains a finer gem than that little speech at the

Gettysburg celebration, November 19, 1863… after the close of Mr. Everett’s classic but frigid oration."

Charles Sumner: "That speech, uttered at the field of Gettysburg… and now sanctified by the martyrdom

of its author, is a monumental act. In the modesty of his nature he said ‘the world will little note, nor long

remember what we say here; but it can never forget what they did here.’ He was mistaken. The world at

once noted what he said, and will never cease to remember it. The battle itself was less important than the

speech. Ideas are always more [important] than battles."

Chicago Tribune: "The dedicatory remarks by President Lincoln will live among the annals of man."

Chicago Times: "The cheeks of every American must tingle with shame as he reads the silly, flat, and

dishwatery utterances."

Springfield (Mass.) Republican: "Surprisingly fine as Mr. Everett’s oration was in the Gettysburg

consecration, the rhetorical honors of the occasion were won by President Lincoln. His little speech is a

perfect gem; deep in feeling, compact in thought and expression, and tasteful and elegant in every word

and comma. Then it has the merit of unexpectedness in its verbal perfection and beauty… Turn back and

read it over, it will repay study as a model speech. Strong feelings and a large brain are its parents."

Questions:

1. Read through President Abraham Lincoln’s speech and the contemporary reactions to his famous

speech, what seems to be the prevailing opinion on the speech?

2. On what grounds do some of the people commenting disagree with President Lincoln?

3. President Lincoln was a well-known abolitionist, and him becoming president sparked the

American Civil War, why was the right to own slaves so important to many southern states that

they were willing to go to war to retain it?

4. The American Civil War was the bloodiest war in American history, costing over 600000 lives

and decimating the infrastructure of many southern states, but President Lincoln felt it was still

worth fighting to keep the union together, and to end the horrific practice of slavery in the U.S.

- Do you think he was right, or would the southern states have come to the right conclusion

themselves, without having progress forced upon them?

5. In what way did the fact that the south was forced to end slavery affect the way they treated the

newly freed African Americans?

President Lincoln was an inspiration for all of us. Imagine the anger that

my father felt when he was assassinated! The man who had given my

father freedom, who had saved him from his Southerner master and the

Rebs, who had provided the blacks with a decent life as a breadwinner

of his own family, who had allowed me to have an education, was shot.

In a theatre hall.

That anger never left my father’s heart. But, now, he could speak about

it. And he could write about it. For he had learnt how to use his quill as

a sword.

And so he decided to write to the one person that he had suffered from.

And this was… well, I am sure you can guess. If you can’t, check his

notebook. He kept a copy of all his letters.

August 7, 1865

To My Old Master,

Sir: I got your letter, and was glad to find that you had not forgotten Jupiter, and that

you wanted me to come back and live with you again, promising to do better for me than

anybody else can. I have often felt uneasy about you. I thought the Yankees would have

hung you long before this, for harboring Rebs they found at your house. I suppose they

never heard about your going to Colonel Martin's to kill the Union soldier that was left by

his company in their stable. Although you shot at me twice before I left you, I did not

want to hear of your being hurt, and am glad you are still living. It would do me good to

go back to the dear old home again, and see Miss Mary and Miss Martha and Allen,

Esther, Green, and Lee. Give my love to them all, and tell them I hope we will meet in

the better world, if not in this. I would have gone back to see you all when I was working

in the Nashville Hospital, but one of the neighbors told me that Henry intended to shoot

me if he ever got a chance.

I want to know particularly what the good chance is you propose to give me. I am doing

tolerably well here. I get twenty-five dollars a month, with victuals and clothing; have a

comfortable home for Mandy,—the folks call her Mrs. Anderson,—and the children—Milly,

Jane, and Grundy—go to school and are learning well. The teacher says Grundy has a head

for a preacher. They go to Sunday school, and Mandy and me attend church regularly. We

are kindly treated. Sometimes we overhear others saying, "Them colored people were

slaves" down in Tennessee. The children feel hurt when they hear such remarks; but I tell

them it was no disgrace in Tennessee to belong to Colonel Anderson. Many darkeys would

have been proud, as I used to be, to call you master. Now if you will write and say what

wages you will give me, I will be better able to decide whether it would be to my

advantage to move back again.

As to my freedom, which you say I can have, there is nothing to be gained on that score,

as I got my free papers in 1864 from the Provost-Marshal-General of the Department of

Nashville. Mandy says she would be afraid to go back without some proof that you were

disposed to treat us justly and kindly; and we have concluded to test your sincerity by

asking you to send us our wages for the time we served you. This will make us forget and

forgive old scores, and rely on your justice and friendship in the future. I served you

faithfully for thirty-two years, and Mandy twenty years. At twenty-five dollars a month

for me, and two dollars a week for Mandy, our earnings would amount to eleven thousand

six hundred and eighty dollars. Add to this the interest for the time our wages have been

kept back, and deduct what you paid for our clothing, and three doctor's visits to me, and

pulling a tooth for Mandy, and the balance will show what we are in justice entitled to.

Please send the money by Adams's Express, in care of V. Winters, Esq., Dayton, Ohio. If

you fail to pay us for faithful labors in the past, we can have little faith in your promises

in the future. We trust the good Maker has opened your eyes to the wrongs which you

and your fathers have done to me and my fathers, in making us toil for you for

generations without recompense. Here I draw my wages every Saturday night; but in

Tennessee there was never any pay-day for the negroes any more than for the horses and

cows. Surely there will be a day of reckoning for those who defraud the laborer of his

hire.

In answering this letter, please state if there would be any safety for my Milly and Jane,

who are now grown up, and both good-looking girls. You know how it was with poor

Matilda and Catherine. I would rather stay here and starve—and die, if it come to that—

than have my girls brought to shame by the violence and wickedness of their young

masters. You will also please state if there has been any schools opened for the colored

children in your neighborhood. The great desire of my life now is to give my children an

education, and have them form virtuous habits.

Say howdy to George Carter, and thank him for taking the pistol from you when you were

shooting at me.

From your old servant,

Jupiter

Material adapted from: http://www.lettersofnote.com/2012/01/to-my-old-master.html

& http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/9057501/Letter-from-a-Civil-

War-slave-to-his-master-150-years-on.html

My father was an extraordinary man. Not because he had suffered the

Civil War and survived. Not just because he was a former slave who was

now able to make an honest living and support his children. But also

because he gave us an education.

My sisters, Milly and Jane, went to school until they were 12. They

learnt how to read and write, how to do basic arithmetic, how to cook

and sew. Back then, most girls did not go to school. In fact , I was the only

one to finish high school. A high school only for blacks. We were equal,

but the blacks and the whites were kept apart. It was the time of Jim

Crow laws…

Many people thought that I would become a preacher. But I liked music

too. Gospels, at first, and then blues. And jazz. As a young man, I used to

play the saxophone in one of those bands. Our family had moved in

Harlem, by then.

And that was when I first hang out with whites. That was when I first

fell in love, too.

Wasn’t she pretty?

*When do you think this picture was

taken? What are the clues you have

used to come to this conclusion?

*How is this photo related to the

terms “segregation” and

“miscegenation”?

*Write a caption for this picture.

Source: https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/a1/62/4a/a1624abcb98db959de1becd648cad19f.jpg

In a way, she was different too. She came from another country that had

little to do with slavery and racial inequality. And she understood

democracy.

She was such a free spirit! She couldn’t care less about “proper” behavior

or the alcohol prohibition. The rights of the modern woman were slowly

coming to the foreground at that time, and Angelica was a feisty advocate

of the equal rights of all people, regardless of gender, race or ethnic

background.

I have kept all her love letters, which abounded in love and fear for

what was happening around us. You may find them, tied with a white

hair ribbon. I am sure that they will be tattered. For I have read each of

them many times.

love, Harlem, 6/23/1932 It has been two weeks since we last met, and I can still hear your

soothing voice and the enchanting sound of your music in my ears. For you have cast a spell on me. And I relish in that thought. In secret, away from the petty words of the world around us.

Alas! I know. We must keep our romance secret, or we may both get lynched in a nearby tree. Our love is forbidden. And we act dangerously when meeting like fugitives in the darkness.

How ironic? I used to dream of coming to the land of the free to

find the freedom once promised to my people back in Greece. But it was a lie. There is no freedom here. And now my dream is slipping through my fingers. All because of hatred, all because of loving the right man of the wrong color. Why should it even matter? We are all humans, destined to love and be loved.

Why is it then that we can’t love in sincerity? I am dreaming of a day when I can walk down fourth avenue, holding

your hand, showing off my pride and joy, my hopefulness after reading Hughes’s poetry on your lap after a long day’s work.

I am proud that people call me a flapper. And I am proud of you because your strong hands and those of your people have made this land what it is. And yet you cannot savor the fruit of freedom. I still remember that day, after drinking moonshine in Cotton Club, when

a. What information do you get about the writer and the

recipient of this letter?

b. Find one aspect of the US history or culture that is related to

the following words from the letter:

lynched

fugitives

flapper

moonshine

c. How is the struggle for gender and racial equality related to

this letter?

d. Is society’s reaction to interracial relationships in your country

nowadays different from that in 1930s US? Has it always been

this way?

e. This letter was found torn in half. Can you finish it?

It was a romance that was sprang in the large hall of the famous Cotton

Club where I worked. I would play the sax next to other black musicians

like Cab Holloway and Duke Ellington. And next to the first ladies that

sang the blues, like Billie Holiday and Lena Horne. Everybody was

welcome in the Cotton Club. In that hall, everybody was free.

Angelica was there every night. She often bought me 78rpm records for

me to rehearse with. I have kept all of them.

I bet you have heard the blues too. Back then, though, the blues had a

different meaning. It was not just sad music, but a way to protest against

segregation and the sufferings of our brothers and sisters. Sometimes we

did that by devising clever lyrics which would hide our protest, without

risking getting into trouble. Yet, you could hear our sadness in the flatted

notes of Luis Armstrong. For back then we did not live in a wonderful

world. But it sure was jazzy…

Letter from the Cotton Club

My dear brother!

I have to tell you about this club I found, it is called the Cotton Club, and it is

unlike any place you have ever been. It is a club for white people, but

featuring mostly black jazz artists. It is a special place, where white people get

to experience a part of African American culture, and perhaps get a glimpse

into the life and realities of black people in America. One of the most

prominent artists to play the Cotton Club is Luis Armstrong, and even

though he wants to make a difference in the minds of white people, he is

constantly walking on eggshells not to offend his audience or the owners of

the club. I am sending you a record of his latest song, Black and Blue, so you

can hear for yourself how he quite overtly inserts social criticism in his art

without it being too explicit or offensive for his mostly white audience.

Your faithful brother,

Olly

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2LDPUfbXRLM

Questions

1. What role did jazz play in the fight for equal right

for African Americans?

2. In what way could jazz musicians help influence public

opinion?

3. Why did artist like Louis Armstrong have to be careful

how explicit their political commentary was?

4. In what way did artists and musicians in the 1930s

pave the way for the further push for equality of the

1960s?

5. Why was music important for African Americans in the

1860s? Which musical genres were considered ‘black’

music?

We did not have to hear the news from our brothers and sisters living in

the south to feel blue. Fear was everywhere. Freedom was sometimes in the

rulings of the Supreme Court. And even then, the people who supported

segregation did everything in their power to prevent our people from

democracy. We were not slaves, but we were not free either.

And the KKK spread terror all over the country.

You have seen the pictures. You know what that was like. I have kept a

letter that my cousin had sent my parents in my desk, so as never to

forget what it takes for a people to be free.

Dear Mother and Father!

I write to you to tell you about a recent run-in I had with some white folks. This

encounter scared me deeply, for I know what type of extremes these people have

gone to in the past. As you know, I traveled south to find work, since there was no

work to be found in the northern parts of Illinois. I felt very lucky to find a

plantation owner that was willing to share his land with those willing to give part

of their crops to him, and agree to work his land, as well as their own. It seemed

like a blessing, but we quickly learned that the system was rigged, and for every

harvest, we ended up deeper in debt to the plantation owner, and were allowed to

keep less and less of our own crops, while spending more and more time working

his land. You can imagine our frustration and anger, but when we tried to

organize a protest, we quickly drew the gaze of the dreaded Ku Klux Klan. In the

middle of the night, a group of men, white-clad and hooded, left a burning cross

in front of my house, making it clear that if we do not keep our heads down, we

will end up like many before us, strung up from the nearest tree. Of course the

Sheriff cares not one bit about this, more likely than not, he or some of his

deputies are part of the clan, for lynchings, though common enough, are never

investigated, and no arrest have been made.

I know not what to do, the situation is despairing, and I would appreciate any

advice you could give me in these desperate times.

Your beloved son,

Billy Bob

Questions

After the end of the Civil War and de jure slavery there were many attempts to keep

the African American population subjugated. Practices like sharecropping saw a lot of

former slaves working under slave-like conditions, with little or no civil rights. This

was especially bad in the south, where new laws were created, limiting the freedoms of

African Americans. Jim Crow laws were designed to keep the races separated, under

the creed of ‘separate but equal’, but there was no equality to be found, only

separation.

1. Why were conditions for African Americans worse in the south after the end of

slavery?

2. Why did many former slaves choose to stay in the south even though they were

still not afforded even the most basic human rights and liberties?

3. In what way can sharecropping be said to be a continuance of slavery?

4. Why was the Ku Klux Klan formed, and what were their main motivation?

5. What effect did the great depression of the 1930s have on racial relations in the

United States?

Fear was catching up. And so was the dream of freedom.

It would take some more time. And more conflict. Not warfare between the

Yankees and the Regs in the battlefields, but conflict in the cities of

America.

Not every black person living in the US could vote, attend school, feel

secure in this country. Even as soldiers in the second war, African-

Americans were kept apart.

It would take more time and more casualties. It would take more time for

the dream to come true.

Angelica’s last letter included just a poem titled “Harlem”.

“Harlem”

What happens to a dream deferred?

Does it dry up

like a raisin in the sun?

Or fester like a sore--

And then run?

Does it stink like rotten meat?

Or crust and sugar over--

like a syrupy sweet?

Maybe it just sags

like a heavy load.

Or does it explode?

Langston Hughes

What images and/or feelings come to your mind as you read this

poem?

What dream do you think the speaker is referring to? What helped you

come to this conclusion?

Which part of the poem answers the question posed in the first line?

Eventually, what happened to the dream the speaker is referring to?

Write a poem starting like this:

“Greece”

What happens to a dream deferred?

“Norway”

What happens to a dream deferred?

Does your poem refer to the same dream Hughes’s poem does? Why/

Why not?

The dream that our railroad workers, our poets and our musicians sang

about was about to explode. And the voices of our brothers were joined by

the voices of our sisters who had been fed up with seeing the black man

and the black woman become a good citizen with no citizen rights.

Women’s emancipation was on the rise. And one woman proved that she

could spark a fire.

This time the battlefield was a bus, and the story was soon reported in

all newspapers. Although, at first, the journalists failed to recognise its

significance for what was soon to come…

This is a newspaper clipping from 1955. Is there something

about this that you find insulting?

Based on this extract and this photo, what do you think

Rosa Parks was accused of?

Write an article reporting Rosa Parks’s story, as if it

happened now in your country. What changes would you make?

Why?

A hundred years after the Civil War, a lot of things had changed in

America. The 1960s were a time of social upheaval in the U.S. The times

they were a changing, giving agency to the new ideas of social justice for

women, for African Americans, and for the minorities.

These people started demonstrating in the streets, rather than whispering

democratic ideals and the need for equal rights in their homes. They

began acting against war, protesting in peace against racial and social

inequality. Their leader was a man who believed in peace, and in the

right of a people to make their dream come true without violent conflict.

An eloquent peacemaker of modern times, who was respected around the

world.

The Nobel Peace Prize of 1964Furthers the

Struggle for Racial Equality

Oslo, Norway, Oct. 14--The Nobel Peace prize for 1964 was awarded today to

the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

The 35-year-old civil rights leader is the youngest winner of the prize that Dr.

Alfred Nobel instituted since the first was awarded in 1901.

The prize honors acts "for the furtherance of brotherhood among men and to

the abolishment or reduction of standing armies and for the extension of

these purposes."

The Norwegian state radio changed its program schedule tonight to broadcast

a 30-minute program in honor of Dr. King. In a broadcast from Atlanta, Ga.,

Dr. King said that he was deeply moved by the honor.

Dr. King said that "every penny" of the prize money, which amounts to about

$54,000, would be given to the civil rights movement.

"I am glad people of other nations are concerned with our problems here," he

said. He added that he regarded the prize as a sign that world public opinion

was on the side of those struggling for freedom and dignity.

Dr. King is the 12th American to be awarded the peace prize. Dr. Nobel, the

Swedish scientist who established it, was the inventor of dynamite. The

award is given by the Norwegian Parliament.

Watch MLK’s acceptance speech here:

- http://www.nobelprize.org/mediaplayer/?id=1853

Questions

1. What significance did the Nobel Peace Prize have for MLK and the Civil Rights

Movement?

2. The Nobel Peace Prize in 1964 amounted to about $54,000. How much money is that

in 2015 dollars?

3. What did MLK decide to use the money for?

4. Who decides who wins the Nobel Peace Prize?

5. Find three other Nobel Peace Prize winners that worked towards racial equality and

list when they got the Peace Prize, and why.

Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. and his followers paved the way for social

equality by marching. Those were glorious days. Our brothers and sisters,

all united, were able to find their own voice in the modern world. Selma

was history-in-the-making.

I wish I were there too… My younger brother, David, was…

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x6t7vVTxaic

I am sure Angelica was somewhere in the crowd in Selma too. The claim

for social justice was not just made by my people. It was made by every

disenfranchised person living in America. The Greek immigrants were

among those who supported our movement.

(I sometimes wonder: what would have become of the other ethnic

minorities if it weren’t for our movement? )

I believe I have kept the cover of Life magazine showing the two spiritual

leaders side by side. For a brief period of time, it seemed that tolerance

and non-violent protest would prevail…

What united Archbishop Iakovos and Matin Luther King, Jr.?

In what ways was the demand for social equality different/ the same

for Greek-Americans and African-Americans?

Why do you think the editor chose this picture for the cover of Life

magazine?

Rev. King was not the only voice of dissent during the Civil Rights

movement. There were other voices struggling for equal rights too. But

these voices were fierce, and regarded social unrest and rioting as the

way to convince lawmakers and the American society that our brothers

and sisters should not be denied of their rights any more.

When Malcolm X was assassinated, MLK spoke of evil forces in the

American society:

He was right. These evil forces have penetrated our family too. The letter I

received from my little brother that year was evidence enough that

democracy had failed to appease violence.

Dear brother!

I used to believe in Dr. King and his dream, but after seeing so many of

my friends beaten and oppressed, and the tragic assassinations of both

Dr. King and Malcolm X, I am no longer able to accept the tenants of

peaceful, non-violent protest. I have become convinced that if we as a

people are ever to have a measure of equality, our protest must be loud,

impossible to ignore or disregard. Yes, even violent, since that seems to

be the only language the white ‘masters’ understand. We must meet the

violence and degradation exercised upon us by of the police and KKK,

with the same measure, giving them a taste of their own medicine,

showing them that the black community will not tolerate being

harassed, beaten and killed anymore. If we do not fight back, we will

never get the respect we need to achieve equal rights for us and our

children, and the American Negroes will forever be oppressed.

So, it is for you and your children that I have decided to take up arms

against our oppressors, and join the militant group the Black Panthers.

We are armed, and we will use deadly force to protect the black

community from those who would beat us, humiliate us and kill us for

the color of our skin. We will revenge any acts of violence toward our

community, and if necessary carry out acts of violence to draw

attention to our just cause. In the name of Dr. Martin Luther King and

Malcolm X we will be victorious, God and justice is on our side.

Your faithful brother,

David

Questions 1. Who were the Black Panthers? What did they stand for?

2. What sort of protests did they carry out?

3. Does the Black Panther Party still exist? What do they do today?

4. Who was Malcolm X? How did his ideology differ from MLK and his message?

5. Can violence and acts of terrorism ever be justified? Why / why not?

My hope is that violence and racial hatred will not exist in modern

America. Lincoln’s struggle to end slavery has made this nation what it is

today. And it was both men and women, people of all races, people of

diverse ethnic origin that have contributed to American progress. Has a

span of 150 years been enough to instill in us democratic ideals and the

values of social justice?

If not, we have failed. And the struggle has to continue.

Obama in Selma On the 50

th anniversary of the Civil Rights March across Edmond Pettus Bridge in Selma,

Alabama, President Obama held a speech remembering Bloody Sunday and the importance of

the bravery of those that stud up to oppression and tyranny, and risked their lives to change

America for the better. This is considered one of his best and most important speeches.

Excerpts from Obama’s speech:

The Americans who crossed this bridge were not physically imposing. But they gave courage

to millions. They held no elected office. But they led a nation. They marched as Americans

who had endured hundreds of years of brutal violence, and countless daily indignities — but

they didn’t seek special treatment, just the equal treatment promised to them almost a century

before. What they did here will reverberate through the ages. Not because the change they

won was preordained; not because their victory was complete; but because they proved that

nonviolent change is possible; that love and hope can conquer hate.

Republicans love to say that Obama does not love America, and that he does not believe in

American Exceptionalism, but Obama corrected the record at Selma, making the case that we

are not exceptional in the perfection of our virtue, but rather, exceptional in our relentless

struggle to live up to our ideals:

For we were born of change. We broke the old aristocracies, declaring ourselves entitled not

by bloodline, but endowed by our Creator with certain unalienable rights. We secure our rights

and responsibilities through a system of self-government, of and by and for the people. That’s

why we argue and fight with so much passion and conviction, because we know our efforts

matter. We know America is what we make of it.

Obama uses historical references and current references to make his message more powerful

and accessible for those listening. He consistently refers to the American people as “We” a

clear rhetorical device to talk to, not at the crowd.

We’re the immigrants who stowed away on ships to reach these shores, the huddled masses

yearning to breathe free—Holocaust survivors, Soviet defectors, the Lost Boys of Sudan. We

are the hopeful strivers who cross the Rio Grande because they want their kids to know a

better life. That’s how we came to be.

We’re the slaves who built the White House and the economy of the South. We’re the ranch

hands and cowboys who opened the West, and countless laborers who laid rail, and raised

skyscrapers, and organized for workers’ rights.

We’re the fresh-faced GIs who fought to liberate a continent, and we’re the Tuskeegee

Airmen, Navajo code-talkers, and Japanese-Americans who fought for this country even as

their own liberty had been denied. We’re the firefighters who rushed into those buildings on

9/11, and the volunteers who signed up to fight in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Obama readily observed that Ferguson wasn't an isolated case, but also noted that these racist

acts are no longer "endemic" in America. He also refused to accept that Ferguson meant that

the struggles of Bloody Sunday were for naught. "If you think nothing’s changed in the past

fifty years, ask somebody who lived through the Selma or Chicago or L.A. of the 1950s," he

said to applause.

He also commented on the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and the failure of Congress to renew

the law. Also criticizing the laws that limit peoples right to vote, like the Voter ID laws that

some states have. He also comments on the low voter turnout in American Elections.

Questions

1. Why do you think Obama uses allusions and historical references in his speech?

What effect does this have?

2. Does Obama think progress has been made in regards to racial tolerance in

America?

3. What was the Voting Rights Act of 1965?

4. Find out what Voter ID laws are, and what effect they can have on ethnic minority

voters.

5. Compare the rhetoric used by Abraham Lincoln, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and

Barack Obama, in what way are they similar?

If the modern world has not conquered the truth about the journey to

social justice, there remains only one solution in our hands. That you,

who have by now reached the truth, who have staggered along the path

of my story, who have sympathized with our frustration, pain and joy,

will foster this family and its struggles.

As you have reached the end of this adventurous quest in the meanders

of history, I welcome you to my group of peaceful warriors and fervent

advocates of equality and human rights.

For you must have realized by now.

This is your own story too.