Commemorations-Sad and Happy

9/15/09

On Sunday, 15th September, 1963, a white man was seen getting out of a white and turquoise Chevrolet car and placing a box under the steps of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church. Soon afterwards, at 10.22 a.m., the bomb exploded killing Denise McNair (11), Addie Mae Collins (14), Carole Robertson (14) and Cynthia Wesley (14). The four girls had been attending Sunday school classes at the church. Twenty-three other people were also hurt by the blast.
http://www.english.illinois.edu/maps/poets/m_r/randall/birmingham.htm

Among the books written about the events are:

Juv. C978w 1997

The Watsons go to Birmingham--1963 : a novel Curtis, Christopher Paul. New York : Bantam Doubleday Dell Books for Young Readers, 1997, c1995. 210 p. ; 20 cm.
See here for a reader's guide and lesson plans
http://www.multcolib.org/talk/guides-watsons.html
http://webenglishteacher.com/curtis.html

Juv.811.6 .W3625b 2007
Birmingham, 1963 1st ed. Weatherford, Carole Boston, 1956- Honesdale, Pa. : Wordsong, c2007. 39 p. : ill. ; 21 cm.
see here for an authkor guide
http://www.kennedy-center.org/education/pwtv/studyguides/Weatherford.pdf

View 4 little girls by Spike Lee

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3302971953362876297

4 Little Girls (1997)
There are many remarkable things about the documentary 4 Little Girls. Spike Lee's striking, beautifully realized film is a cinematic lesson of what kind of material is better suited to the documentary format. In his first documentary, Lee shares an attribute of Ken Burns: the major event in his documentary is not seen on camera. Except for four quick glimpses of black-and-white autopsy photos, the picture stays clear from the bombing. Lee remains with the faces, the girls' friends, families, and the historic figures of the era. They've all grown up since the bombing but their memories haven't faded. The vital facts of the case are certainly here: the troubled history of Birmingham, the court proceedings, friends' last run-ins with the girls. What touches us deeper though are those witnesses telling us of living through the core era of segregation and bigotry: a father explaining to his child why she can't have a sandwich in a cafeteria and a woman offering up tears of past events. There's even an interview with George Wallace, the prince of segregation, that belongs in a David Lynch feature. Lee's film asserts the bombing energized the civil rights movement and when the voice of America, Walter Cronkite, echoes those sentiments, you believe he may have it right. From the director of ' 'Do The Right Thing' ' and ' 'Malcolm X' ' comes ' 'a masterpiece.' ' (Chicago Tribune) When a bomb tears through the basement of a black Baptist church on September 15, 1963, it takes the lives of four young girls. This racially motivated crime, sparks the nation?s outrage and helps fuel the civil rights movement sweeping across the country. There are many remarkable things about the documentary 4 Little Girls. Spike Lee's striking, beautifully realized film is a cinematic lesson of what kind of material is better suited to the documentary format. In his first documentary, Lee shares an attribute of Ken Burns: the major event in his documentary is not seen on camera. Except for four quick glimpses of black-and-white autopsy photos, the picture stays clear from the bombing. Lee remains with the faces, the girls' friends, families, and the historic figures of the era. They've all grown up since the bombing but their memories haven't faded. The vital facts of the case are certainly here: the troubled history of Birmingham, the court proceedings, friends' last run-ins with the girls. What touches us deeper though are those witnesses telling us of living through the core era of segregation and bigotry: a father explaining to his child why she can't have a sandwich in a cafeteria and a woman offering up tears of past events. There's even an interview w...all » There are many remarkable things about the documentary 4 Little Girls. Spike Lee's striking, beautifully realized film is a cinematic lesson of what kind of material is better suited to the documentary format. In his first documentary, Lee shares an attribute of Ken Burns: the major event in his documentary is not seen on camera. Except for four quick glimpses of black-and-white autopsy photos, the picture stays clear from the bombing. Lee remains with the faces, the girls' friends, families, and the historic figures of the era. They've all grown up since the bombing but their memories haven't faded. The vital facts of the case are certainly here: the troubled history of Birmingham, the court proceedings, friends' last run-ins with the girls. What touches us deeper though are those witnesses telling us of living through the core era of segregation and bigotry: a father explaining to his child why she can't have a sandwich in a cafeteria and a woman offering up tears of past events. There's even an interview with George Wallace, the prince of segregation, that belongs in a David Lynch feature. Lee's film asserts the bombing energized the civil rights movement and when the voice of America, Walter Cronkite, echoes those sentiments, you believe he may have it right. From the director of ' 'Do The Right Thing' ' and ' 'Malcolm X' ' comes ' 'a masterpiece.' ' (Chicago Tribune) When a bomb tears through the basement of a black Baptist church on September 15, 1963, it takes the lives of four young girls. This racially motivated crime, sparks the nation?s outrage and helps fuel the civil rights movement sweeping across the country.«

September 15, 2009-October 15, 2009
Hispanic Heritage Month
See here for activities
http://www.colorincolorado.org/calendar/celebrations/hhm
http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/lesson/lesson023.shtml
http://teacher.scholastic.com/activities/hispanic/
http://www.teachervision.fen.com/hispanic-heritage-month/south-america/6629.html
http://www.nps.gov/history/Nr/feature/hispanic/
and read some of these:

E184 .S75 L36245 2005 Latina legacies : identity, biography, and community /
edited by Vicki L. Ruiz and Virginia Sánchez Korrol

E184 .S75 H5653 2007 Hispanic Americans /
edited by Paul McCaffrey.