Cynthia Morris

English 112B

Professor Warner

5/10/06

The Civil Rights Act of 1964

When North America was first colonized, people came from all over the world in search of freedom from religious persecution, political asylum, and financial gain; however, the promise of liberty was not extended to all� slavery. As colonies expanded, so did the need for slave labor on plantations, farms, households, etc. After the abolition of slavery, African-Americans were still considered and treated as inferior beings through segregation�separate bathrooms, schools, transportation, etc. Due to the inhuman treatment, the African- American community and other minorities pushed the Civil Rights Movement to secure equal rights and protection.

I chose to do my annotated bibliography on the turbulent history of the Civil Rights Movement because individual rights are still relatively new. About fifty years ago, individuals and groups fought and sacrificed for civil rights and their acts should be remembered. One of the more prominent figures that is remembered is Martin Luther King Jr. What about Medgar Evers? Rosa Parks? Malcolm X? All three of these individuals (in addition to countless others) made personal sacrifices and were harassed for their participation in the movement. The movies in my annotated bibliography represent the others who helped fight against discrimination. In the film Ghosts of Mississippi, the Assistant District Attorney reopens the 30-year-old assassination case of civil rights activist, Medgar Evers, and successfully tries and convicts the perpetrator. In Mississippi Burning, two FBI agents are assigned to find three missing civil rights workers. Both of these films emphasize the dedication to the civil rights movement.

The historical fiction novels in my annotated bibliography occur before or during the Civil Rights Movement. In some of the novels, the protagonists either meet or look to Martin Luther King Jr. as an example. Other novels are based on a historical event, such as the church bombing in Alabama. In The Watson�s Go to Birmingham- 1963, a family travels to Alabama to visit relatives around the same time a church is bombed. The novel centers on the protagonist, Kenny�s, reaction to the event and how his family sticks together. In Just Like Martin, the protagonist admires Martin Luther King Jr. idea of nonviolent protests and attempts to assemble his own after the church bombing. Both of the novels successfully recreate the atmosphere, attitudes, feelings, etc. that existed during the Civil Rights Movement.

I feel that the people who organized and made personal sacrifices for the Civil Rights Movement should be remembered.

Annotated Bibliography

Curtis, Christopher Paul. The Watsons Go to Birmingham- 1963. Bantom, 1997.

Kenny�s family is known in Flint, Michigan, as the Weird Watsons, for lots of good reasons. Younger sister Joetta has been led to believe she has to be overdressed in the winter because their folk (their mother is from Alabama) freeze solid and have to be picked up by the city. Kenny, the narrator, does well in school and tries to meet his hard-working parents� expectations. After a string of misdeeds, Mr. and Mrs. Watson decide that tough guy, older brother Byron must leave the bad influences of the city and his gang. They feel that his maternal grandmother�s way of life in Birmingham might make him appreciate what he has. Since the story is set in Alabama, the family must make careful preparations for their trip; for they cannot count on food or housing available on the road once they cross into the South. The slow, sultry pace of life has a beneficial effect on all the children until the fateful day when a local church is bombed. Although the horrific Birmingham Sunday throws Kenny into temporary withdraw, the novel is really about the strength of family love and endurance.

(Courtesy of Barnes & Noble.com)

Davis, Ossie. Just like Martin. Hyperion, 2006.

The year is 1963 and fourteen-year-old Isaac, the �Stone,� is not allowed to join the rest of his church group travel from Alabama to the civil rights march in Washington. His father, Ike, worries that something will happen to Isaac if given permission to go on the trip. The relationship between father and son is strained with Ike opposing Isaac�s admiration of Martin Luther King Jr. and commitment to nonviolence protests. However, after the church meeting room is bombed (killing two and maiming one of Stone�s friends) Stone organizes a peaceful demonstration. Through the incident, Ike learns to confront his misconceptions and support his son�s goal to become like Martin Luther King Jr.

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Ghosts of Mississipi. Dir. Rob Reiner. Perf. Alec Baldwin, Whoopi Goldberg, James

Woods, Craig T. Nelson, and Virginia Madsen. 1996.

The movie is based on the factual assassination of Medgar Evers in 1963 by a white supremist, De La Beckwith. The police did capture De La Beckwith (James Woods) and charge him with murder, but after two trials ended in hung juries, he went free. Thirty years later, Assistant District Attorney, DeLaughter (Alec Baldwin), reopens the case with the permission of Mrs. Evers (Whoopi Goldberg). After reopening the case, DeLaughter and his family are subjected to death threats and burning crosses on the front lawn. At first De La Beckwith treats the new trial with indifference and doesn�t try to hide his involvement, but after being found guilty he becomes indignant about the service he did for the sake of the South.

Krisher, Trudy. Spite Fences. Random House, 1996.

Thirteen-year-old Magnolia (Maggie) Pugh has lived a relatively normal life in Kinship, Georgia. The main concern for Maggie is avoiding her mother�s abuse and she is able to cope with the situation with the help of her friend Zeke. Life suddenly changes for Maggie when she witnesses something she can�t escape�a hate crime. After defying a segregation policy, a group of white men punish Zeke through humiliation: first by beating, then stripping and urinating on his naked body. In addition to the defilement, Maggie is horrified when her next door neighbor, Virgil Boggs, participates by masturbating throughout the encounter. Instead of confiding to anyone about what she witnessed, Maggie keeps the incident to herself and allows the images to haunt her. After life becomes unbearable at home, Maggie is thrilled when Zeke finds her a job keeping house. The employer moved to Kinship to organize nonviolence protests within the black community. Eventually a friendship develops between Maggie and her employer and she finally confides the brutal harassment of Zeke. Once she unburdens the secret, Maggie is able to come to terms with the incident. Also, Maggie understands hoe ignoring a problem will not solve it.

Malcolm X. Dir. Spike Lee. Perf. Denzel Washington, Angela Bassett, Delroy Lindo

Ossie Davis, and Al Freeman Jr. 1992.

In Spike Lee�s Oscar-nominated dramatization of the life of civil rights leader, Malcolm X, is chronicled from his early days as a gangster, to his conversion to Islam, and to his marriage to Betty Shabazz. The movie also shows how Malcolm X discovered the Nation of Islam writings of Elijah Mohammad. Near the end of his life, Malcolm X rejects the Nation of Islam following his pilgrimage to Mecca and becomes a murder target.

Meyer, Carolyn. Jubilee Journey. Harcourt, 1997.

The sequel to White Lilacs occurs some 75 years later after Rosa Lee and her family are forced to leave Freedomtown. The protagonist of the novel, Emily Rose Chartier, is thirteen-years-old and doesn�t know anything about her great-grandmother or her heritage. Emily lives in Connecticut with her multicultural family: white father, black mother and two brothers. At the beginning of summer, Emily Rose and her brothers go to Texas with their mother to visit Rosa Lee in Texas. Instead of enjoying her visit, Emily Rose is skeptical of the close African-American community. After talking to Rosa Lee, Emily Rose realizes how she has neglected her heritage and decides to stay the rest of the summer. The rest of the visit becomes a learning experience for Emily Rose as she pieces together the history of her relatives after the move from Freedomtown.

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Meyer, Carolyn. White Lilacs. Harcourt, 1993.

The novel is set in the historical incident of Freedomtown, Texas. During the 1920s, the voting residents moved an African-American community to a stretch of territory outside of the town. The lives of the protagonist, Rose Lee, and her family are contrasted with the white family they work for. Through the characters, Meyer gives an accurate portrait of the precarious existence of Americans in the South and how they are able to survive the hardships

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Mississippi Burning. Dir. Alan Parker. Perf. Gene Hackman, William Dafoe, Frances

McDormand, and Brad Douriff. 1988.

The movie is based on the factual event of three civil rights workers disappearing in Mississippi in 1964. Two FBI agents (Gene Hackman and Willem Dafoe) are assigned to locate the culprit(s)�presumably the Ku Klux Klan (KKK). The investigation proves to be difficult for the agents with the lack of witnesses and information. A possible breakthrough in the case is the testimony of the beautician (Frances McDormand) who is trying to break free from the influence of her husband (Brad Dourif). Eventually the agents locate the bodies of the workers and piece together the crime and the culprit(s).

Robinet, Harriet Gillem. Walking to the Bus-Rider Blues. Simon & Schuster, 2002.

The historical novel is set in June 1956 during the Montgomery bus boycott. The story is narrated by twelve-year-old Alfa who describes the experience of the boycott and what follows. Alfa lives in a tar-paper house with his great-grandmother, Mama Mayfield, and his sister, Zinnia. Although most of the town�s population respected Mama Mayfield, Alfa deals with discrimination on a daily basis. While working at the Greendale grocery store, Alfa is bullied by three white kids who try to steal his wags. Also, while cleaning a wealthy white woman�s house, Alfa and his family are accused of stealing. After the arrival of Martin Luther King Jr., Alfa applies the reverend�s philosophy of non-violence to his own experiences. Through the novel, Alfa embodies the hardships African-American endured during the Montgomery bus strike.

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Rodman, Mary Ann. Yankee Girl. New York: Farrar, 2004.

Alice Anne Moxley�s father works for the FBI and had been transferred from Chicago to Mississippi, in 1964 to protect civil rights workers and individuals registering to vote. At first Alice is startled by the way black people are treated and finds it next to impossible to make new friends. Most of the kids begin calling her �Yankee Girl� and the one friend Alice makes avoids her after school starts because of the town�s fear of integration. At school, Alice tries to befriend another loner student, Valerie Jackson�the one black student in the entire school. As the one black student, Valerie is forced to pass the initial protestors in order to attend school and then deals with constant insults from other students. Through Alice�s narrative, readers learn about the challenges against civil rights in the South: racism, intolerance, and the KKK.

(Courtesy of Barnes & Noble.com)