| Chico Seku Neblett (Original Freedom Singer) warms up his African drums for New Jersey's Inaugural Hamer program in 2003 |
| "DARE TO CARE" |
ROAR INTERNATIONAL
FANNIE LOU HAMER CURRICULUM STATE OF NEW JERSEY
| Giles R. Wright of the New Jersey Historical Commission-New Jersey Department of State worked on this curriculum for over a year under the leadership of former Secretary of State Regena Thomas. It consists of a VHS/DVD Documentary and Teacher's Guide. It has been distributed to every public Elementary, Middle and High School in the state of New Jersey. |
| Former New Jersey Secretary of State Regena Thomas and Patricia M. Thompson at New Jersey's Fannie Lou Hamer Inaugural Celebration in 2003 in which ROAR served as a Consultant. |
Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour Signs Bill Allowing Civil
Rights Curriculum in Schools
Mississippi has positioned itself to become a pioneer in offering civil
rights history lessons from kindergarten through high school.
Gov. Haley Barbour announced March 21, 2006 that he had signed
a bill that authorizes the state's public school districts to make civil
rights and human rights a part of the curriculum in all grades.
Under the bill, which becomes law July 1, a commission would be
appointed to help districts develop the curriculum and find
resources to offset the costs. Implementation would be left to
individual school districts.
Susan Glisson spearheaded the bill. As executive director of the
Winter Institute for Racial Reconciliation at the University of
Mississippi, Glisson said it was modeled after legislation passed in
several states, including Mississippi, that mandated that the
Holocaust be taught in public schools.
She further stated, according to the associated press, that the
institute had been unable to identify any other state that has set up
a similar program devoted solely to civil rights history. The idea for
the bill came from Glisson's conversations with history teachers
during civil rights workshops sponsored by the institute.
Currently, textbooks in the state refer to the civil rights movement
but schools usually don't devote an entire course to the subject.
"The reality is in the way that the civil rights movement normally
gets taught, we erroneously communicate to the students that one
person made it all happen," Glisson said. "So much attention gets
placed on Martin Luther King, for instance, that we do not see the
contributions made by grass-roots people, some of whose names
we may never know."
"The message that gets communicated is that we have to have a
savior to make our communities better when the reality of civil rights
is that we have the power to do it ourselves."
Governor Barbour said he thinks the broader the curricula and
history are, the better it is for the students. Additionally, Barbour
stated the more the students can learn the better citizens they can
become.
According to the Associated Press, House Education Chairman
Cecil Brown, D-Jackson, said it is important that young people fully
grasp the sacrifices people made for equality.
Brown - who witnessed the rioting that occurred when the University
of Mississippi was integrated in 1962 - said young people in the
state weren't around "to see what it was like to see Klansmen
marching, to have Jewish people and black people bombed. It was
a scary time. Certainly for African-Americans, they've lived in two
worlds."
But there are other aspects of civil rights - beyond black-and-white
issues - that will be taught in at least one of the school districts.
Pat Cooper, education superintendent for McComb Public Schools,
said his district's curriculum also will include struggles in other
states, such as "the sugarcane cutters in Louisiana and the
vegetable pickers in California."
Cooper's district already is working with the Washington-based
consultants, Teaching for Change, to develop a curriculum that
could be implemented next school year.
Cooper said teaching civil rights is just the next step in what has
been a nine-year effort to reunite his community. He said when he
became superintendent in 1997, most white students were in
parochial or private schools.
"There was a lot of misinformation and stereotypical thoughts. We
began several years ago trying to figure out a way to communicate.
We're trying to create a whole new generation of citizens who think
very differently about this issue," Cooper said.
McComb's 3,200-student district is 77 percent black and 23 percent
white. Cooper said nine years ago, it was about 15 percent white.
The bill is Senate Bill 2718.
Rights Curriculum in Schools
Mississippi has positioned itself to become a pioneer in offering civil
rights history lessons from kindergarten through high school.
Gov. Haley Barbour announced March 21, 2006 that he had signed
a bill that authorizes the state's public school districts to make civil
rights and human rights a part of the curriculum in all grades.
Under the bill, which becomes law July 1, a commission would be
appointed to help districts develop the curriculum and find
resources to offset the costs. Implementation would be left to
individual school districts.
Susan Glisson spearheaded the bill. As executive director of the
Winter Institute for Racial Reconciliation at the University of
Mississippi, Glisson said it was modeled after legislation passed in
several states, including Mississippi, that mandated that the
Holocaust be taught in public schools.
She further stated, according to the associated press, that the
institute had been unable to identify any other state that has set up
a similar program devoted solely to civil rights history. The idea for
the bill came from Glisson's conversations with history teachers
during civil rights workshops sponsored by the institute.
Currently, textbooks in the state refer to the civil rights movement
but schools usually don't devote an entire course to the subject.
"The reality is in the way that the civil rights movement normally
gets taught, we erroneously communicate to the students that one
person made it all happen," Glisson said. "So much attention gets
placed on Martin Luther King, for instance, that we do not see the
contributions made by grass-roots people, some of whose names
we may never know."
"The message that gets communicated is that we have to have a
savior to make our communities better when the reality of civil rights
is that we have the power to do it ourselves."
Governor Barbour said he thinks the broader the curricula and
history are, the better it is for the students. Additionally, Barbour
stated the more the students can learn the better citizens they can
become.
According to the Associated Press, House Education Chairman
Cecil Brown, D-Jackson, said it is important that young people fully
grasp the sacrifices people made for equality.
Brown - who witnessed the rioting that occurred when the University
of Mississippi was integrated in 1962 - said young people in the
state weren't around "to see what it was like to see Klansmen
marching, to have Jewish people and black people bombed. It was
a scary time. Certainly for African-Americans, they've lived in two
worlds."
But there are other aspects of civil rights - beyond black-and-white
issues - that will be taught in at least one of the school districts.
Pat Cooper, education superintendent for McComb Public Schools,
said his district's curriculum also will include struggles in other
states, such as "the sugarcane cutters in Louisiana and the
vegetable pickers in California."
Cooper's district already is working with the Washington-based
consultants, Teaching for Change, to develop a curriculum that
could be implemented next school year.
Cooper said teaching civil rights is just the next step in what has
been a nine-year effort to reunite his community. He said when he
became superintendent in 1997, most white students were in
parochial or private schools.
"There was a lot of misinformation and stereotypical thoughts. We
began several years ago trying to figure out a way to communicate.
We're trying to create a whole new generation of citizens who think
very differently about this issue," Cooper said.
McComb's 3,200-student district is 77 percent black and 23 percent
white. Cooper said nine years ago, it was about 15 percent white.
The bill is Senate Bill 2718.
Disclaimer: THE ROAR FOUNDATION, INC. provides information on this
web site for educational/informational and networking purposes only! Use
of any copyrighted materials must be approved by its owner. ROAR claims
no responsibility for misuse of information obtained on this web site.
(c) copyrighted THE ROAR FOUNDATION, INC. April 2006
Last Modified February 2007
web site for educational/informational and networking purposes only! Use
of any copyrighted materials must be approved by its owner. ROAR claims
no responsibility for misuse of information obtained on this web site.
(c) copyrighted THE ROAR FOUNDATION, INC. April 2006
Last Modified February 2007
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There are eleven columns at The Civil Rights Garden in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
Mrs. Fannie Lou Hamer shares column ten with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and
Rabbi Joachim Prinz.
It reads "All this on account we want to register, to become first-class citizens,
and if the Freedom Democratic Party is not seated now, I question America. Is this
America, the land of the free and the home of the brave where we have to sleep
with our telephones off the hooks because we want to live as decent human
beings, in America?"
Mrs. Fannie Lou Hamer shares column ten with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and
Rabbi Joachim Prinz.
It reads "All this on account we want to register, to become first-class citizens,
and if the Freedom Democratic Party is not seated now, I question America. Is this
America, the land of the free and the home of the brave where we have to sleep
with our telephones off the hooks because we want to live as decent human
beings, in America?"
Atlantic City, New Jersey
Atlantic City Deputy Mayor Earnest Coursey (left) NJ Secretary of State Regena
Thomas and Atlantic City Mayor Lorenzo T. Langford lead marchers down the
Boardwalk in October 2003 as part of a tribute to the Life of Fannie Lou Hamer
Thomas and Atlantic City Mayor Lorenzo T. Langford lead marchers down the
Boardwalk in October 2003 as part of a tribute to the Life of Fannie Lou Hamer
| New Jersey Historical Commission employee Giles R. Wright addresses crowd at Hamer 30th Anniversary Commemoration Celebration March 3, 2007 @ Hamer Memorial Garden. Far right Lenora and Jackie Hame, two of Mrs. Hamer's daughters. |