Teaching Nonviolent Direct Action through Children s Literature Introduction: The philosophy of nonviolence is central to understanding the African American freedom struggle. As Martin Luther King, Jr. states, World peace through nonviolent means is neither absurd nor unattainable. All other methods have failed. In celebration of the King Holiday, we recommend the following children s literature for their theme of the nonviolent philosophy put into action. Each story illustrates through the eyes of children historic examples of nonviolent direct action, for example, the Greensboro sit-ins and the Montgomery bus boycott. We also recommend primary source documents and secondary resources to complement each book. Through an examination of primary sources, students develop critical thinking skills and begin to construct an understanding of the historical events and figures. Finally, by studying the historical context of nonviolent direct action, teachers are encouraged to identify with their students more recent examples of nonviolent direct action, such as the marches for a just federal immigration policy. Students may also identify issues in their community or school. Using the events of the storybook as a model, students may formulate a plan for addressing current injustice. There is also a bibliography of additional children s books on the African American freedom struggle. We hope these books and suggested resources are useful not only for the King Holiday, but throughout your school year. Non-violent direct action seeks to create such a crisis and establish such creative tension that a community that has constantly refused to negotiate is forced to confront the issue. It seeks so to dramatize the issue that it can no longer be ignored... I am not afraid of the word tension. I have earnestly worked and preached against violent tension, and there is a type of constructive tension that is necessary for growth. Martin Luther King, Jr. 1963
A Sweet Smell of Roses by Angela Johnson; illustrated by Eric Velasquez Type of Nonviolent Direct Action: Marches Historical Events: Selma to Montgomery March Birmingham; Children s Crusade March on Washington UN Peace March Suggested Primary and Secondary Sources: Powerful Days by Charles Moore The Civil Rights Movement: A Photographic History 1954-1968 by Steven Kasher Ellen Levine s Freedom s Children. Freedom on the Menu: The Greensboro Sit-Ins by Carole Boston Weatherford; paintings by Jerome Lagarrigue Type of Nonviolent Direct Action: Sit-Ins Historical Event: Greensboro Sit-Ins Suggested Primary and Secondary Sources: Photographs from The Civil Rights Movement: A Photographic History, 1954-1968 by Steven Kasher. Ellen Levine s Freedom s Children. Rosa By Nikki Giovanni; illustrated by Bryan Collier Type of Nonviolent Direct Action: Boycott Historical Event: Montgomery Bus Boycott Primary Sources: Parks arrest record (available in our Montgomery Bus Boycott lesson) Robinson s flyer (available in our Montgomery Bus Boycott lesson) She Would Not be Moved by Herbert Kohl Nobody Gonna Turn me Round: Stories and Songs of the Civil Rights Movement
By Doreen Rappaport; illustrated by Shane W. Evans Type of Nonviolent Direct Action: Music, boycott, sit-ins, speeches, education, marches, voter registration drives Historical Events and People: Murder of Emmett Till Montgomery Bus Boycott; Rosa Parks & Jo Ann Robinson Little Rock Nine; Elizabeth Eckford John Lewis Diane Nash Greensboro Sit-Ins Malcolm X March on Washington Fannie Lou Hamer Freedom Summer Selma to Montgomery March Primary Sources: Freedom songs from Voices of the Civil Rights Movement: Black American Freedom Songs 1960-1966 from Smithsonian Folkways Delivering Justice: W. W. Law and the Fight for Civil Rights By Jum Haskins; illustrated by Benny Andrews Nonviolent Direct Action: Organizing and Educating Historical Events: Desegregation of Savannah, Georgia Primary Sources: Photographs from The Civil Rights Movement: A Photographic History, 1954-1968 by Steven Kasher. Ellen Levine s Freedom s Children Additional Resources African American Freedom Struggle in Children s Literature Bridges, Ruby. Through my Eyes. NY: Scholastic.1991 Colbert, Jan. Dear Dr. King: Letters from Today s Children to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. NY: Hyperion Books for Children. 1998 Finlayson, Reggie. We Shall Overcome: The History of the American Civil Rights Movement. Minneapolis: Lerner Publications Company. 2003
Giovanni, Nikki. Rosa. NY: Henry Holt and Company. Illustrated by Bryan Collier. 2005. Haskins, Jim. Delivering Justice: W.W. Law and the Fight for Civil Rights. MA: Candlewick Press. Illustrated by Benny Andrews. 2005 Johnson, Angela. A Sweet Smell of Roses. NY: Simon and Shuster. Illustrated by Eric Velasquez. 2004 Jordan, June. Fannie Lou Hamer. NY: Thomas Y. Crowell Company. Illustrated by Albert Williams. 1972 King, Casey. Oh, Freedom!: Kids Talk about the Civil Rights Movement with the People who Made it Happen. NY: Alfred A Knopf. 1997 Levine, Ellen. Freedom s Children: Young Civil Rights Activists Tell Their Own Stories. NY: G.P. Putnam s Sons. 1993 Lucas, Eileen. Cracking the Wall: The Struggles of the Little Rock Nine. Minneapolis: Carolrhoda Books, Inc. 1997 Morrison, Tony. Remember: The Journey to School Integration. NY: Houghton Mifflin. 2004 Nelson, Marilyn. A Wreath for Emmett Till. NY: Houghton Mifflin. 2005 Pinkney, Andrea Davis. Let it Shine: Stories of Black Women Freedom Fighters. San Diego. Harcourt Press. 2000 Rappaport, Doreen. Nobody Gonna Turn Me Round: Stories and Songs of the Civil Rights Movement. NY: Jump at the Sun. Illustrated by Shane Evans. 2006 Parks, Rosa. Rosa Parks: My Story. NY: Dial Books. 1992 Parks, Rosa. Dear Mrs. Parks: A Dialogue with Today s Youth. NY: Lee & Low Books, Inc. 1996 Rochelle, Belinda. Witnesses to Freedom: Young people who Fought for Civil Rights. NY: Lodestar Books. 1993 Rochelle, Belinda (1993). Words with Wings: A Treasury of African American Poetry and Art. Harper Collins Publishers. 2001 Thomas, Joyce Carol (2003). Linda Brown, You are not Alone: The Brown v. Board of Education decision. NY: Jump at the Sun. 2003
Weatherford, Carole. Freedom on the Menu: The Greensboro Sit-ins. NY: Dial. Illustrated by Jerome LaGarrigue. 2004 Books for Educators Turck, Mary C. The Civil Rights Movement for Kids: A History with 21 Activities. Chicago: Chicago Review Press. 2000 Menkart, Deborah, Murray, Alana, & View, Jenice (Eds.) Putting the Movement Back into Civil Rights Teaching. (2004)