Say It Loud!: A Celebration Of Black Music In America Lessons for High School Music and Social Studies Classes Episode 4: Express Yourself Lesson 2 of 5 Part 1: Music Reflects History Part 2: Different Experiences, Different Views Part 3: Music, Musicians, and Social Change

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Objectives


• Students will demonstrate an understanding of the role music has played throughout African American history, from the days of slavery to the present.

• Students will identify and describe the major issues and events surrounding the civil rights movement of the '50s and '60s.

• Students will describe the influences of the civil rights movement on Black culture, and the influences of Black culture on the civil rights movement.

Curriculum Standards for Social Studies from the National Council for Social Studies
(http://www.socialstudies.org).

II. Time, Continuity & Change:
b. apply key concepts such as time, chronology, causality, change, conflict, and complexity to explain, analyze, and show connections among patterns of historical change and continuity
e. investigate, interpret, and analyze multiple historical and contemporary viewpoints within and across cultures related to important events, recurring dilemmas, and persistent issues, while employing empathy, skepticism, and critical judgment

V. Individuals, Groups, & Institutions:
b. analyze group and institutional influences on people, events, and elements of culture in both historical and contemporary settings

Materials

• Videotape of Say It Loud! A Celebration Of Black Music In America, Episode : Express Yourself
• Television
• VCR
• Internet access (optional)

Prior Knowledge

Students have had an introduction to Black history and the civil rights movement.

Procedures

Part 1: Music Reflects History

1. Tell students that they are going to watch a video that highlights the role of artists’ images throughout the history of Black music in the United States. Before watching, ask them to share what they know about the earliest African American musicians and musical genres.

Have students share what they know about the following:

• What music traditions did African slaves bring with them when they were brought to America?
• What role did music play in the lives of African slaves in this country?
• What are some examples of African American music during the following eras in American history: slavery, Abolition, Civil War, Emancipation, Reconstruction, “separate but equal” segregation, desegregation, civil rights, and affirmative action?
• If students created a timeline depicting historic events in African American history during “Image” Lesson 1 of 2, Part 2, then have them review their findings. If not, have students work in groups or individually to make a timeline depicting historic or sociopolitical events in African American history.
• Have students watch Episode 5: Express Yourself of Say It Loud! in part or in full. Ask them to pay special attention to the key artists and messages of the 1950s and 1960s, the eras before and during the civil rights movement, and note possible relationships between historic events and music styles and images.

Have students find a song or a type of music that was popular at a key point on their timeline and explain any connection between it and the events occurring at that time. Did the events inspire the song or music? Or did the songs or music inspire the events?

Reinforce this concept by stopping the video and making particular reference to artists’ comments such as, Sean “Puffy” Combs talking about hip-hop emerging as an expression and release of gang activity.

Part 2: Different Experiences, Different Views

1. After viewing the video, ask students to think about the rights of African Americans from the earliest times in American history to the present. How have these rights changed? What is the situation today? Ask them to compare the rights of Black citizens today to those in earlier times, and to describe the ways in which the artists shown have contributed toward the status of the rights of African Americans.

2. If students have not taken part in Lesson 1 of 2, Part 2, for the “Image” episode, have them conduct research on the civil rights movement and report their findings to the class. Ask them to find books or magazines at the library or magazine archives on the Web. Have them photocopy or download photos and annotate them. (Examples might include such things as Jim Crow signs in South, images of school desegregation in Alabama, the March on Washington, etc., in archived issues of Life or Newsweek.) Have students bring their findings to class and explain what the images depict.

Ask students to show these photos to older relatives or friends—ideally, from among a variety of backgrounds, races, and cultures—and ask them to relate them to their own lives. Have students ask their family members or friends what they were doing in the 1950s and 1960s and how the civil rights movement affected them. Suggest that students ask about their other memories of that era regarding dress, music, and entertainment.

Explain to the students that some of the reactions and views they may receive may differ from their own. Work with the students to identify reasons why others may have different viewpoints (background, upbringing, etc.)

Have them prepare and present oral reports on their findings.

Part 3: Music, Musicians, and Social Change

1. Have a class discussion and encourage students to make any connections they can between what they've learned about the civil rights movement to what was happening in Black music in the 1950s and 1960s, as shown in the video. Have them discuss the following:

• What was the status of the civil rights movement in this era?
• How did the music and/or the artists reflect the movement? How were they affected by it?
• How did black musicians and their music affect the movement and society as a whole at that time?
• How did the rest of society relate to the artists and their music?

If necessary, help students draw conclusions such as the following:

• That while art can draw from experience, it can also influence history.
• That each person sees things from their own unique perspective and that is shaped by their own individual experiences.
• That music and other arts can express and illuminate both the inequities and commonalties in life.

2. Assign students to write an essay about the contributions musicians make to society. Ask them to form a thesis specifically about musicians’, performers’ and other artists’ roles as agents of change in society. Before writing, they should first consider the influence on public opinion these individuals and groups may have. They should ask such questions as: "Can these artists bring about change and help shape history?" Ask them to support their views with examples.

Extensions

1. Have students find African roots for specific musical styles and traditions.

2. Have students think about the interrelationship of ethnic music genres in America today and make predictions about the future. They should think about the growth of various ethnic groups—demographic changes due to immigration or other events—and the music styles that might gain popularity as a result. Have them share their ideas with the class.

Resources

Websites:

• Heart and Soul: A Celebration of African American Music from World Book Online provides a basic introduction to African American music from spirituals to rock and roll and rap: http://www.worldbook.com/fun/aamusic/html/intro.htm.

• The Smithsonian Institute's site on its America's jazz heritage program includes information on jazz and jazz greats such as Duke Ellington and Louis Armstrong, along with photos, sound files, and links: http://www.si.edu/ajazzh/.

• The website for the Center for Black Music Research has a section on Musical Styles and Genres with detailed descriptions of several African American genres such as black rock, hip hop and jazz: http://www.cbmr.org/lib/genres.htm.

• The All About Jazz website contains information on jazz and over 3,600 profiles and biographies of jazz artists, including articles, photos, discographies, reviews, and sound files: http://wwww.allaboutjazz.com/. Check out the jazz timeline at: http://wwww.allaboutjazz.com/timeline.htm.

• Go to VH1's site for bios, photos, and sound and video files of contemporary artists: http://www.vh1.com.

• The following Web resources will help teachers who want to conduct classroom activities for fostering understanding of and sensitivity to the experience of prejudice, discrimination, and stereotyping:

• The Horizon Magazine article, "The Eyes of Jane Elliott" by Brigitta Kral, describes the now-classic 1968 experiment in which then-fourth grade teacher, Jane Elliott subjected her students to arbitrary discrimination. She divided her class into two groups: those students with brown eyes and those with blue eyes, then gave them "data" to make them believe that one group was superior to the other. Elliott is now a diversity trainer who has been featured on "Oprah" and "60 Minutes": http://www.horizonmag.com/4/jane-elliott.asp.

• "Blue-Eyed" is a training video produced by California Newsreel, a San Francisco documentary production company. It shows teachers, police, school administrators and social workers participating in an exercise devised to create prejudice and simulate the effects of racism. They are led by diversity trainer Jane Elliott, who in 1968 first devised the activity to enable her fourth grade students to experience discrimination. The video is offered at a special price for high schools and community groups: http://www.newsreel.org/films/blueeyed.htm.

• "Learning to Respect Each Other" is a Discovery Channel-developed lesson plan that is similar in design to the original "Blue Eye, Brown Eye" simulation lesson described above. It is aimed at elementary school students but can be easily adapted for use with older students: http://school.discovery.com/lessonplans/programs/respect/.

• BaFá BaFá® is a diversity simulation game that aims to challenge belief systems and provide insight into diversity issues. It enables two groups of students to become members of different cultures, then to experience bewilderment and hostility due to the differences between them. When participants finish the game, they understand better what it feels like to be the one person in a group who is different. They realize how easily stereotypes can be developed and what must be done to overcome them. The game is produced by Simulations Training Systems International: http://www.stsintl.com/schools/.

www.teachingtolerance.com

Publications

[Note: Unless otherwise indicated, these books are intended for adult readers and can provide teachers with valuable background information. Therefore, please review them before referring students to them.]

• Eyes on the Prize: America's Civil Rights Years, 1954 - 1965, by Juan Williams. Penguin, 1988. Companion to the PBS series, this book chronicles the men and women at the heart of the movement. Especially appropriate for high school students.

• Pillar of Fire: America in the King Years, 1954-1963, by Taylor Branch. Touchstone Books, 1999. Kingis the focal point of this survey of American history in one of its most tumultuous eras.

• The Children, by David Halberstam. Fawcett Books, 1999. Details the early days of the civil rights movement, focusing on its young heroes and heroines.

This lesson was developed by Heuristix: The Interactive Learning Company in collaboration with

and
MENC: The National Association for Music Education