Main Attraction
Ask students to work in pairs to come up with a new set of inter-titles (written captions) for the newsreel, writing from the perspective of an official at the NAACP. Encourage students to think about how the NAACP might have exploited this footage decades later to appeal to black members of the audience as well as sympathetic white cinema goers. What kind of language might they use? What events, individuals, concepts might they mention?
After hearing some examples, watch the newsreel again. Divide the class in three, with each section writing from one of the following civil rights leaders' points of view:
- Martin Luther King
- Malcolm X- before or after his visit to Mecca
- Stokeley Carmichael
Ask students to write a short speech, in character, which:
- condemns the scenes witnessed in the film
- highlights the continuing challenge to the civil rights movement
- suggests what should be done to remedy matters
The proposals put forward should result in a broad range of political solutions, enabling students to better understand some of the differences between the various civil rights leaders.
At least one speech from each of the three political perspectives can then be read out to the rest of the class as a means of exploring the differences between the political outlooks of these men further.
Complete film (1:00)
