The March Reflection

 

TURN INTO YOUR CLASS’ BASKET BY THE BEGINNING OF CLASS ON ___________ Name:

Date:

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Reflection: The March Synopsis The 2013 documentary, The March, is the story behind the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. This program tells the story of the people and events leading up to one of the largest demonstrations in the history of the United States. The March on Washington came a century after the Emancipation Proclamation was first read, amidst racial violence and continued segregation in places like Birmingham, Alabama. Tired of the abuses of segregationist authority figures like Police Commissioner Eugene "Bull" Connor and Governor George Wallace, Civil Rights activists led by pioneers such as Philip A. Randolph staged a plan, centered on our nation’s capital, that aimed to end segregation once and for all. President Kennedy, elected in part due to his support for Civil Rights, was only a reluctant supporter of The March; he was worried, as were many others, about significant fears that the demonstration would incite racial violence, chaos, and disturbance. Organizers of The March had only eight weeks to put together a plan that would receive support from blacks and whites alike, as well as from the Hollywood and Broadway stars of the day. The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom was held on August 28th, 1963. Joan Baez kicked things off by singing the folk anthem We Shall Overcome, and by early afternoon over 200,000 demonstrators had made their way to the National Mall. The last speaker of the day was Martin Luther King, Jr., who gave the most famous speech that almost never was. King never intended to utter the words, “I have a dream.” Mahalia Jackson, seated behind King, cried "Tell them about the dream, Martin!” and the rest, as they say, is history. In 1963, Kennedy would be assassinated, but the following year President Lyndon B. Johnson would sign the landmark piece of legislation, The Civil Rights Act of 1964, which outlawed segregation and led the way for future laws and amendments which solidified and clarified our rights as people, irrespective of our race, origin, etc. The March and the changes that followed it were instrumental in making good on our Founders’ promise “that all men are created equal” and that they are endowed “with certain unalienable* rights.” * The word in the final version of the Declaration of Independence is “unalienable,” though it’s “inalienable” in earlier versions of the document.  Both mean the same thing. “Inalienable,” for whatever reason, is more common today.

Topic: Reflect on our viewing and discussion of the film. While every generation seeks change, few movements inspire events such as the March on Washington. Explain, in one full page, why the March was so successful and, in particular, what lessons do you believe can be learned about how to gain support for one’s ideas?

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