Jibreel Khazan, (Ezell) noted the murder of Emmett Till as a chilling moment for himself. Indeed, the
vicious murder of Emmett, a young man of only fourteen, was instrumental in giving new life to a
disheartened Civil Rights Movement. The 1955 killing was extremely brutal and the controversial decision
by Emmett’s mother to have her son’s funeral take place with an open coffin, unveiled the face of racial
hatred for all the world to see. These photos were printed in Jet Magazine, which inspired the Greensboro
Four and others to invigorate the struggle against institutional segregation in America.
Students are to create, a
poster, mural, mosaic, or
another form of art that
embodies the words
below into a visual image.
Or, assign each group a
stanza, and have them
complete one section of
the mural.
The lyrics below were written and sung by Bob Dylan, a folk
singer that wrote many protest and political activist songs
throughout this era.
T’was down in Mississippi not so long ago,
When a young boy from Chicago town stepped through a
Southern door.
This boy's dreadful tragedy I can still remember well,
The color of his skin was black and his name was Emmett Till.
Some men they dragged him to a barn and there they beat him up.
They said they had a reason, but I can't remember what.
They tortured him and did some evil things too evil to repeat.
There was screaming sounds inside the barn, there was laughing sounds out on the street.
Then they rolled his body down a gulf amidst a bloody red rain
And they threw him in the waters wide to cease his screaming pain.
The reason that they killed him there, and I'm sure it ain't no lie,
Was just for the fun of killin' him and to watch him slowly die.
And then to stop the United States of yelling for a trial,
Two brothers they confessed that they had killed poor Emmett Till.
But on the jury there were men who helped the brothers commit this awful crime,
And so this trial was a mockery, but nobody seemed to mind.
I saw the morning papers but I could not bear to see
The smiling brothers walkin' down the courthouse stairs.
For the jury found them innocent and the brothers they went free,
While Emmett's body floats the foam of a Jim Crow southern sea.
If you can't speak out against this kind of thing, a crime that's so unjust,
Your eyes are filled with dead men's dirt, your mind is filled with dust.
Your arms and legs they must be in shackles and chains, and your blood it must refuse to flow,
For you let this human race fall down so God-awful low!
This song is just a reminder to remind your fellow man
That this kind of thing still lives today in that ghost-robed Ku Klux Klan.
But if all of us folks that thinks alike, if we gave all we could give,
We could make this great land of ours a greater place to live.
Copyright © 1963; renewed 1991 Special Rider Music
18
The following web sites contain a vast amount of information on the Emmett Till murder, trial, and possible
reopening of this case. The form on the opposite page would be used by the students as they research the
sites to complete their analysis. Some of these sites contain the photo of Emmett Till after he was killed.
You may want to discuss this with your students before hand.
http://www.crimelibrary.com/notorious_murders/famous/emmett_till/
http://www.watson.org/~lisa/blackhistory/early-civilrights/emmett.html
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/till/
http://www.archipelago.org/vol6-1/hicks.htm
http://www.bobdylanroots.com/till.html
http://www.fortunecity.com/tinpan/parton/2/deathof.html
http://www.usdoj.gov/opa/pr/2004/May/04_crt_311.htm
http://www.emmetttillstory.com/index2.html#
The two web sites below contain great lesson plans with extremely relevant information for your classroom.
The transcripts of the confessions are linked as well as pictures of the defendants and their wives. They
are well constructed and ready for classroom use.
http://www.nytimes.com/learning/teachers/lessons/20040514friday.html?searchpv=learning_lessons
http://www.nytimes.com/learning/teachers/lessons/20021202monday.html?searchpv=learning_lessons
The 1967 Supreme Court Case of
Mr. & Mrs. Loving has been
brought up in discussion with the
new focus on “Same Sex Marriage”.
There is a video that depicts the case
well and the sites below go over the
specifics of the trial. This case is
about a white man that marries a
black woman in Virginia, which
stated that interracial marriages were
http://ameasite.org/loving.asp
banned.
http://www.multiracial.com/government/loving.html
http://www.4lawschool.com/loving.htm
http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/conlaw/loving.html
http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/ftrials.htm
http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/conlaw/home.html
19
Student: ______________________________________
Date: __________________
Directions: Complete each section as directed.
1. Who?
Plaintiff/s? ____________________________________________________
Defendant/s? ___________________________________________________
2 What were the actions of the main players?
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
3. When did these actions take place? Trial date?
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
4. Where did the event/s happen? If different from event/s, where did the trial take place.
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
5. Why did the main players do what they did? Hypothesize.
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
6. What was the verdict? Was it a judge or jury trial? Explain how you think they arrived at their verdict.
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
20
February One is approximately 61 minutes in length. The following pacing guide is merely a
suggestion and has broken the video down into segments lasting 3 - 14 minutes. Words,
organizations, and topics in each segment that should be reviewed before viewing the video and
are outlined below.
1
Pre-viewing discussion/understanding: passive resistance, ventriloquist, NAACP,
KKK (Klu Klux Klan), segregation, Jim Crow, signs (white’s or black’s only).
10 minutes - The students will be introduced to the frustrations of the black community and the
stagnation of the Civil Rights Movement. The city of Greensboro, NC, a southern
city does not want to be associated with the violent acts that had thus far been
perpetrated in Montgomery and other Deep Southern cities. Jibreel Khazan, born
Ezell Blair, Jr., his sisters, and mother talk about his childhood and growing up
black.
Ø
Pause or Stop (suggested) When Jibreel’s father told his children, “Nobody’s
going to harm our family.”
2
Pre-viewing discussion/understanding, internalize, oppression, infuriated, “the
system”, Mahatma K. Gandhi, Walter Kronkite, Emmett Till, racism, Brown
decision, revolutionary, pariah, gauntlet.
14 minutes - The narrator opens with a discussion about Dudley High School, an all black school
in Greensboro. Jibreel meets Franklin McCain at Dudley. Frank is from DC and
the Jim Crow laws had been gone since the 50’s. Jibreel and Frank meet David
Richmond. Television opened eyes to the rest of the world. All three enroll in the
all black college of North Carolina A & T. Jibreel rooms with Joe McNeil, a
scholarship recipient who had spent his adolescence in New York City. The four
became inseparable. They began to consider doing something about segregation.
They decided to take action and all voted.
Ø
3
Pause or Stop (suggested) at Credit: February 1, 1960
Pre-viewing discussion/understanding, destiny, colored, Negro, Caucasian,
justification, hoax, acceptance, pandemonium, fray, UPI, AP.
11 minutes - They all dressed immaculately to go. They purchased items and then took their
seats. Different people try to get them to leave the counter. One elderly white lady
relates that she is disappointed that it took them so long to do what they are doing.
Curly, the store manager is frustrated and so are the police.
Ø
Pause or Stop (suggested) at Credit: February 3, 1960
21
4
Pre-viewing discussion/understanding: Media coverage, incitement, provocation,
non-resistance, national news.
3 minutes - The media’s role in the sit-in movement cannot be overstated. This is why you may
want to stop and discuss the media today and how it may mold thoughts and the
actual events themselves.
Ø
5
Pause or Stop (suggested) at Credit: February 4, 1960
Pre-viewing discussion/understanding, conscience dictates.
5 minutes - Women join the movement from various colleges. There were females from Bennett
College, Greensboro College, and Women’s College, white and black alike. Active
participants relate their experiences.
Ø
6
Pause or Stop (suggested) at Credit: February 5, 1960
Pre-viewing discussion/understanding, indoctrinated, inducted, enormity, caught
on like wildfire, heckling.
6 minutes - Tension was high on the 5th, 1,000 people were at Woolworth’s, watching and
waiting. Things were getting crowded, a racial slur was spoken, and an elbow was
thrown. It wasn’t long after that when Curly Harris, Woolworth Manger proclaimed
a bomb threat and closed the store. The students left and began to do a snake dance
back to A & T.
Ø
7
Pause or Stop (suggested) Shoop its all over. . . Shoop its all over. . .
Pre-viewing discussion/understanding, moratorium, “the end of downtown”, strip
malls, deterioration, white flight.
13 minutes - A moratorium was called to let the
officials work things out, but they
didn’t. When the college kids left
for summer break the Dudley H.S.
students took their places at the
counter. Curly Harris decided to
integrate on July 26th, 1960. The
impact and cost it had on all
involved and society in general
however, did not stop then.
22
W
W
ho committed the action?
he r
e d
i
plac d the
act
e?
ion
_________________________
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tak
e
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_
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__
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take
ction
a
e
h
id t
he n d
?
place
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W
W
hy did the event happen?
_________________________
_________________________
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_________________________
_________________________
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H
W
hat is the action?
__________________________
__________________________
__________________________
__________________________
__________________________
__________________________
__________________________
__________________________
__________________________
ow did the events happen?
___________________________________
___________________________________
___________________________________
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_____________________________________________________________________________
23
1.
Other sit-ins were attempted before the successful one in Greensboro. Discuss how the
following factors contributed to the success of the Greensboro Sit-in.
K
Q
J
¶
L
The determination of the four students involved
The role of the media in spreading the word
Greensboro’s image of itself as a moderate and progressive Southern city
The role of the police force
The rivalry between the historically black college in Greensboro
2.
Greensboro was home to many excellent black schools. Dudley High, Women’s College,
Bennett, and A & T encouraged students to value self-worth and fostered independent
attitudes, critical thinking, and self-discipline. How did these lessons serve the students
participating in the Sit-Ins?
3.
Discuss why youth were in a better position to start a movement like this, having few
responsibilities, no job, no family to support, etc.
4.
Discuss what happened to David Richmond in the years following the Sit-Ins, and weigh
the costs of taking action the way these four young men did.
5.
C. L. (Curly) Harris, the Woolworth’s manager, came to believe he was harshly judged
by history as a villain. Do you agree? Discuss his role in the Sit-Ins.
6.
Greensboro’s Woolworth lost more than $200,000 in sales during the demonstrations.
Explore this and other economic impacts of the Sit-ins throughout North Carolina and the
South.
7.
Jibreel’s sister, Jean Howard, makes an interesting point about segregation having ills,
but also advantages. Discuss the impact segregation had in the 1960’s, both good and
bad, and compare it to the type of racism that exists today. Does segregation continue? Is
it institutional, a choice, or both?
8.
Explore the Gandhian philosophy of passive and non-violent resistance. Make an
argument for why this was the right or wrong approach to the problem.
9.
Look at other movements during this time period and compare them to the Greensboro
movement. What lessons can we learn from this even today? Why is it important to
remember this event? Have there been any recent events that compare to this one?
10.
Ask students how would they have chosen to act if faced with issues similar to The
Greensboro Four.
11.
Do you think direct action protest would work today? Has it? Look at recent events.
13.
Why should this event be considered American History and not simply African American
History?
14.
Nelson Mandela commented that the thought of these four young boys from Greensboro
helped him get through many days in prison. The students at Tianneman Square also
cited the Greensboro protest as an inspiration. Explore the international impact of the
events of February One.
24
Below is an actual copy of the Students Executive Committee For Justice contract. This document was
written by The Greensboro Four, David, Franklin, Jibreel, and Joe the night before the first Greensboro Sitin, February 1, 1960. You may have your students create their own document for action, before they have
seen this one. Another interesting activity would be to make a classroom set (30 copies) of the contract and
have students complete the following Document Analysis Form. Letter printed on page 44.
25
Student: ______________________________________
Date: __________________
Directions: Complete each section as directed.
1. Type of Primary Document (circle one): Journal/Diary, Letter, Newspaper, Poster/Broadside, Print, Bill/
Declaration, Census, Trade Card, Drawing/Painting, Legal Document, Contract, Other
___________________.
2. Name or Title of Document: ________________________________________________________
3. Where Written: ________________________________________________________________
4. Date of Document: ______________________________________________________________
5. Author(s): ____________________________________________________________________
6. Summarize the document’s content:
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
7. What was its purpose? Why do you think the document was written?
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
8. What evidence in the document helps you know why it was written? Quote from the document:
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
9. List three things the author(s) state that you think are important and why.
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
10. List three things that the document tells you about life at the time it was created:
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
26