Before my students could march or act to help create positive change, they had to learn about the specifics of Black Lives Matter. Part of advocacy includes knowing the facts of what you are advocating for. It doesn't do good to yell for rights without any data, facts, or knowledge. By taking three days to introduce Black Lives Matter and what the movement stands for, scholars will have a truthful and comprehensive understanding of the movement. In addition to learning about the principles of BLM, scholars learned how to use these collective assets to challenge social injustices throughout the country.
Day 1: Black Lives Matter Principals
Black Lives Matter has 13 founding principals by which the movement thrives. These are the core of the movement, and define the beliefs and stances of the advocacy the group participates in. Before the lesson, scholars got to think, pair, and share about what they already knew about BLM. Scholars, as seen in the mini lesson below, were then split up into groups and analyzed each of the principals. They wrote the principals in their own words. The exit ticket then compiled their understanding of the principals and allowed them time to ask questions. It also asked how they, or if they, knew of a way to get involved already. This was a bit of a precursor to the March coming up the next week.
Scholars had some understanding of BLM before we discussed principles of the movement. This helped us dive deeper into the principles and advocacy work.
These responses highlight the increased pride in cultural identity of some of my female students! Scholars worked in small groups to define the principles in their own words. They then responded why they thought it was an important principle of BLM
The level of thoughtfulness to these questions shows that scholars were truly comprehending the principles and learning to advocate for themselves
* The exit ticket above demonstrates understanding of BLM, ways to get involved, and other questions they may have about the movement. Scholars practiced typing on computers for this exercise.
Day 2: Restorative Justice and Loving Engagement
On Day 2, scholars focused their efforts on restorative justice and loving engagement. This was important to learn about, so that it could be used during our time of action before and after the March. It was important for scholars to learn both sides and stances of the movement so that they could effectively advocate for themselves.
I specifically remember a news story about the video below on CNN. The clip was played in full and a debate ensued between the anchors as to how she responded. I felt it would be a great video to show my students to highlight the ways in which we have to confront prejudice in the real world. It set us up for a thorough discussion!
Scholars partnered up and read a New York Times article that focused on a black analyst who received a phone call from a white male. The man admitted that he didn't treat black people they way they should be treated, and asked for advice on how he can work on not being prejudiced. After they read the article, they watched the exchange between the two. Scholars then had a classroom conversation around their thoughts and answers to the following questions. Below are two samples of student quotations from responses.
-How do you think she handled the question? "She was nicer than I would be. If someone like that talked to me, it would be hard for me to be nice." "She really wanted to help him be nicer to people." -How do we help people acknowledge that there is a problem and then engage in respectful discourse? "We have to start being nice first. We don't attack them we have to listen. If we all the sudden get mad, they treat us like we aren't people."
On day 3, scholars listened to and watched a Ted Talk focused on the dangers of hearing only one story related to a cause. In this video, we hear a discussion of why it is so important to have more than one source of "fact" before determining something as truth. If we hear one story and then treat that story as absolute truth on the subject, we are doing ourselves a disservice and leaving out critical information on the subject. Many stories overlap, and it was important for my scholars to understand that one news story, one tweet, or one person doesn't define what Black Lives Matter is or who they are. I chose this because I had watched it during one of my Professional Development days as a teacher, and felt that it was pertinent to my students in today's atmosphere of judgement and cultural bias.
After watching the Ted Talk, scholars reflected and answered the following questions on computers to practice their typing. -What is there harm in reducing a person, group, or even continent to a single story? -Why do you think that we often only have a single story about people from foreign lands? -Think about your life. Can you recall a time when you felt someone reduced you to a single story? How did it make you feel? -How can we reject the single story?
* Scholars demonstrated their typing ability for this activity. Scholars, from these reflections, obviously understood the deeper meaning behind these videos and Ted Talks. They mention not wanting to be reduced to a single story, and can make connections to times when they have.