“What We Can Afford” Poem By: Shavar X. Seabrooks Like the rice fields of Charleston, the wind blows limitlessly. The slaves give peace to the land that hands they have touch. In the mist of blood, sweat and tears, still the heartbeat sticks in the sweetgrass of mercy. Gathered near the Stono River, they earned for freedom press against time which is not a companion. Fort Mose just in their reach, still time is not their companion. Looking back to the Ancient Civilization, were Dark Skin People were King and Queens. Wear Kenta cloths adorning the skin like silk. And were the land being harvest for love and not for gain. The children to grow and not wanting to be enslaved and the lips of the masters impales the dreams. Yet, the circle that remains the same, but the horizon is just to come. The wind shall tell the truth and the African Experiences will be a drum of remembrance. References Higginbotham, R. D., Wickwire, F., & Wickwire, M. (1970). Cornwallis: The American adventure. The Journal of Southern History, 36(4), 591. doi:10.2307/2206317 Morgan, E. S. (1972). Slavery and freedom: The American paradox. The Journal of American History, 59(1), 5. doi:10.2307/1888384 Video clips on Ancient African Civilizations, Kente Cloth Miranda Isabella Hurt 20 October 2020 Haiku about Emmett Till Just a young black boy Stripped of all his life and dreams Where is the justice Cinquain about the Civil Rights Movement A movement ignited by Parks A peaceful dream promoted by Dr. King An education organized by Clark A call to let freedom ring The first poem is about the murder of Emmett Till. Till’s tragic tale is described in the Eyes on the Prize: Awakenings and in the study guide. On August 28, 1955, “Emmett Till, a black boy from Chicago visiting his uncle Moses Wright in Mississippi, is murdered for inappropriately addressing a white woman (page 14).” Even though Till’s murderers eventually confessed to the crime, they were never charged for his murder (because of the no double jeopardy clause in the fifth amendment of the Constitution). This is one of many instances of injustice against African Americans in the south during the Civil Rights Movement. However, even now in the 21st century, African Americans are still facing prejudices and being killed by cops, the people who are supposed to protect them. The second poet highlights three big names of the Civil Rights Movement, Rosa Parks, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, and Septima Clark. The Eyes on the Prize videos mention King a lot, because he was quite a significant man, and The Awakenings and Ready from Within discusses Rosa Parks. Rosa Parks sparked the Montgomery bus boycott by refusing to give up her seat to a white person. Septima Clark’s impact on the Civil Rights Movement with her citizenship schools was the main topic of Ready from Within. Clark played a crucial role in educating many African American.

1. “What We Can Afford”
Poem By: Shavar X. Seabrooks
Like the rice fields of Charleston, the wind blows limitlessly.
The slaves give peace to the land that hands they have touch.
In the mist of blood, sweat and tears, still the heartbeat sticks in
the sweetgrass of mercy.
Gathered near the Stono River, they earned for freedom press
against time which is not a
companion.
Fort Mose just in their reach, still time is not their companion.
Looking back to the Ancient Civilization, were Dark Skin
People were King and Queens.
Wear Kenta cloths adorning the skin like silk.
And were the land being harvest for love and not for gain.
The children to grow and not wanting to be enslaved and the
lips of the masters impales
the dreams.
Yet, the circle that remains the same, but the horizon is just to

2. come.
The wind shall tell the truth and the African Experiences will be
a drum of remembrance.
References
Higginbotham, R. D., Wickwire, F., & Wickwire, M. (1970).
Cornwallis: The American
adventure. The Journal of Southern History, 36(4), 591.
doi:10.2307/2206317
Morgan, E. S. (1972). Slavery and freedom: The American
paradox. The Journal of American
History, 59(1), 5. doi:10.2307/1888384
Video clips on Ancient African Civilizations, Kente Cloth
Miranda Isabella Hurt
20 October 2020
Haiku about Emmett Till

3. Just a young black boy
Stripped of all his life and dreams
Where is the justice
Cinquain about the Civil Rights Movement
A movement ignited by Parks
A peaceful dream promoted by Dr. King
An education organized by Clark
A call to let freedom ring
The first poem is about the murder of Emmett Till. Till’s tragic
tale is described in the Eyes on the Prize:
Awakenings and in the study guide. On August 28, 1955,
“Emmett Till, a black boy from Chicago visiting
his uncle Moses Wright in Mississippi, is murdered for
inappropriately addressing a white woman (page
14).” Even though Till’s murderers eventually confessed to the
crime, they were never charged for his
murder (because of the no double jeopardy clause in the fifth
amendment of the Constitution). This is
one of many instances of injustice against African Americans in
the south during the Civil Rights
Movement. However, even now in the 21st century, African
Americans are still facing prejudices and
being killed by cops, the people who are supposed to protect
them.

4. The second poet highlights three big names of the Civil Rights
Movement, Rosa Parks, Dr. Martin Luther
King Jr, and Septima Clark. The Eyes on the Prize videos
mention King a lot, because he was quite a
significant man, and The Awakenings and Ready from Within
discusses Rosa Parks. Rosa Parks sparked
the Montgomery bus boycott by refusing to give up her seat to a
white person. Septima Clark’s impact
on the Civil Rights Movement with her citizenship schools was
the main topic of Ready from Within.
Clark played a crucial role in educating many African
Americans and getting them qualified to vote for
change. Dr. King said the words “let freedom ring” in his
famous speech at the march on Washington.
Sources:
Clark, S. (1990). Ready from Within.
Facing History and Ourselves. (2006). Eyes on the Prize:
America’s Civil Rights Movement 1954-1985, A
study guide to the television series.
Ancestral Africa poem S SeabrooksReading response poetry
Haiku and Cinquain
EYES ON THE PRIZE: ITS NOT EASY TO VOTE
IN AMERICA FOR FREEDOM
AFAM B201 – Intro to African American Studies
Najmah Thomas, Ph.D.

5. Admin / Module To-Do List
formal class session) on 11/3 or
11/10??
– Eyes on The Prize
Study Guide – Episode 6
– TBD….
esponse 5 Assignment
(due EOD 11/06)
Penn Center Heritage Days
Lecture Topics
Episode 6:
-

6. The Voting Rights Act
of 1965
3
Image source: brintannica.com
EOTP Episode 5: Freedom Summer Lessons
-
_____, _____, ______, _____=
COFO, Council of Federated
Organizations
Schools = Freedom Schools, Leadership
Development & Community Organizing
segregation’
students = undermining local Black
leadership development

7. drives yield 80,000 new Black
voters in MI
(& others…) murdered
brutalized at direction of state
law enforcement officials
to the DNC, denied full
recognition
Internal & external challenges Success & Set-backs
https://youtu.be/07PwNVCZCcY
Opening Discussion
EOTP Link
6
https://www.kanopy.com/en/richlandlibrary/watch/video/285132
/285144
It Ain’t Easy to Vote in America for
Freedom: timeline of events (II)

8. – Dr. King awarded the Nobel Peace
Prize (he is joined by Septima P. Clark in Oslo, Norway)
– SNCC and SCLC workers
begin voter registration campaign in Selma
– President Johnson
includes “We Shall Overcome” in SOTU
– Army vet Jimmy Lee
Jackson shot by Alabama state trooper
during nonviolent protest for voting rights
– Malcom X is
assassinated
– “Bloody Sunday”,
600 civil rights activists attacked by state
troopers at the Edmund Pettus Bridge
– “Turnaround
Tuesday” – Dr. King leads 2,000 on partial
march to Montgomery

9. – Dr. King
successfully leads 8,000+ (up to
25,000) across the Edmund Pettus
Bridge
– Activist Viola
Luzzio murdered while driving marchers
back to Selma
– President Johnson
signs the landmark Voting Rights Act of
1965 – most comprehensive voting
legislation since beginning of the
movement
– Black
neighborhood of Watts (Los Angeles)
experiences widespread riots, 34
residents killed during the rioting
7

10. Selma to Montgomery: “make witness
our determination to vote and be free”
–
protests continued and harsh responses
continued
organized response, SCLC, SNCC
capital
rch met with violent state
resistance – “Bloody Sunday”…and
public outcry
nationwide
-point plan:
injustice…
legislation

11. intervenes
Dr. King ends march before troopers
respond…3 white clergymen attacked, 1
(James Reeb, MA Unitarian) dies
as much as 25,000) marchers
and FBI agents, no violent response
March I March II & III
We Shall Overcome
“There is no Negro problem.
There is no Southern problem.
There is no Northern problem.
There is only an American
problem.”
“Because it’s not just Negroes,
but really it’s all of us, who must
overcome the crippling legacy
of bigotry and injustice. And we
shall overcome.”
-President Lyndon B. Johnson

12. (March 15, 1965)
in certain areas
al authorized to
investigate poll taxes in state/local
elections
– Identifies states &
localities with history of racial
discrimination (AL, AK, AZ, GA, LA, MI,
SC, TX, VA & counties in CA, FL, NY,
NC, SD, MI, others) *Shelby v Holder
Section 5 – ‘preclearance’ process
requires states & localities with history
of racial discrimination to get federal
permission to change voting laws
Overcoming…
– African American voter registration
doubled in one year (116,000 to

13. 228,000)
– African American voter turnout 6% in
1964, 59% in 1969
Senate; 1971 = 13 African Americans in
House, 1 in Senate
-1985, African Americans state
legislators in 11 former Confederate state
increased from 3 to 176
of the Federal Civil Rights
Division…
the state and local levels
remained in place
implementation of VRA
parties…

14. Successes… Struggles…
Discussion Question
the Supreme Court decided that
the preclearance formula is now
unconstitutional under the
10th Amendment, which gives
states the power to regulate
elections. The Court ruled that the
coverage formula was “based on
40-year-old facts having no logical
relation to the present day.” What
facts (if any) should be considered
at this point?
https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/799453-shelby-v-
holder.html
• TBA
Next Session: Thursday, November
3rd
RECAP: EOTP Episode 4

15. Boycott) – safeguard voting rights, DOJ
Civil Rights Division
-
ins) – stronger protections for voting
1962, ratified January 1963) – abolish
poll tax
passed July 1964) – Equal Employment
Opportunity Commission, Commission
on Civil Rights, non-discrimination for
federally-funded programs, DOE
empowered to enforce desegregation
– federal
examiners, abolish literacy tests,
establishes preclearance