Educational resources for:
Leadership: Politics, Politicians, and Reform
Thematic Overview
From 1960 to 2000, Detroit's black community grew from 29% to 82% of the city's total population, becoming a political powerhouse that city, state, and national leaders had to court. ABJ shows highlight political leaders (especially Mayor Coleman Young, the colossus of Detroit politics during all but a few years of the existing ABJ archive), and their followers among the varied interests and neighborhoods that enlivened and complicated the city's politics.
Featured Show Segments
Comprehension Questions
Questions:
How does Bobby Seale distinguish what the 1960s were about from what he believes the 1980s should be about?
On what does Bobby Seale say he intends to focus his future efforts?
Questions:
What are the key issues Jesse Jackson believes need to be addressed in the upcoming presidential election campaign?
What does Jesse Jackson have to say about mobilizing African Americans around those key issues he identified?
Questions:
Why does Jesse Jackson believe it is important for African Americans to build coalitions with other groups in society?
Questions:
How does Jesse Jackson explain the continuing increase in the construction of prisons?
Questions:
What are some of the concerns raised by Ken Cockrel in the brief series of historical clips that begin the program?
What does the retrospective suggest about Kenny Cockrel’s political philosophy?
What are the qualities that the other interview subjects identify as Kenny Cockrel’s strengths?
Questions:
How does Mike Hamlin describe the focus of Kenny Cockrel’s life?
How does Mike Hamlin say Kenny Cockrel’s efforts affect the auto industry and the UAW?
Why does Dennis Archer agree that black male leaders are “walking time bombs?”
Questions:
Why did Erma Henderson stay in the mayoral election race, despite the adversities she faced in the campaign?
Questions:
What were some of the key issues Erma Henderson tried to advance in the campaign?
Questions:
Who are some of the famous figures that Erma Henderson met and got to know?
Questions:
What evidence does Ernest Dillard cite to show that blacks have equal legal and political rights with whites?
What is Ernest Dillard’s view on affirmative action?
Questions:
Where does Ernest Dillard see common ground between blacks and whites?
Why does Ernest Dillard believe it is essential for blacks to focus on working with whites on economic issues?
Questions:
Why does Jesse Jackson believe the problems of crime and other immoral behavior are increasing?
Questions:
How does Louis Farrakhan explain the self-destructiveness he sees in African American communities?
Questions:
What does Minister Rasul Muhammad say is the purpose of the halfway houses that the Nation of Islam is setting up in Detroit?
Questions:
Why does Farrakhan say the media has distorted his words?
Questions:
Why does Jesse Jackson believe it is important for African Americans to pay attention to Africa?
What does Jesse Jackson think of the efforts of American businesses to combat apartheid in South Africa?
Questions:
Identify at least two things that Nelson Mandela said to emphasize the connection between African Americans and black South Africans.
Questions:
How does Nelson Mandela describe the significance of Harlem to himself as a black South African?
What do Susan Watson and Emery King find most impressive about Nelson Mandela’s appearances in the United States?
Why do you think Susan Watson and Emery King responded so emotionally to Nelson Mandela’s visit?
Thematic questions
Do you see any common concerns in the ideas of such leaders as Erma Henderson, Bobby Seale, Jesse Jackson, Louis Farrakhan and Nelson Mandela? If so what are they?
What role do you see religion or spirituality playing in leadership among African Americans?
To what extent do African American leaders seem to be concerned with issues that might commonly be called “civil rights” and to what extent are they concerned with other issues?
Websites
Avoice: African-American Voices in Congress
http://www.avoiceonline.org
This site was developed by the Congressional Black Congress Foundation to document the work of African-American legislators in Congress. It contains video and audio clips of black legislators and activists, as well as exhibits focusing on subjects such as the Voting Rights Act and the Anti-Apartheid movement.
Civilrights.org
http://www.civilrights.org/
The site of the Civil Rights Coalition for the 21st Century. This organization is a collaboration between the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights and the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights Education Fund. It is a clearinghouse for civil rights news and information.
Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies
http://www.jointcenter.org/
A public policy institution devoted to issues of concern to the communities of African-Americans and other persons of color.
The Martin Luther King, Jr., Research and Education Institute
http://www.stanford.edu/group/King/
Site of Stanford Project devoted to compiling and publishing a fourteen-volume collection of King’s personal and professional papers. The project also develops and promotes a variety of related educational activities. Among these activities is the Liberation Curriculum, including lesson plans and other educational resources.
Nation of Islam
http://www.noi.org/
Official site for the Nation of Islam. Provides institutional histories, program and policy information, as well as biographies of leaders including Louis Farrakhan.
Related Films
Finally Got The News.
VHS. 55 minutes.
New York: First Run/Icarus Films, 1970.
A documentary on the League of Revolutionary Black Workers from Detroit auto factories. It chronicles their efforts to build a black labor organization dedicated to solving problems facing both black and white worker such as speed-ups and low wages.
Getting Out.
VHS. 10 minutes.
New York: First Run/Icarus Films, 1993.
A film short focusing on three teenage gang members in rival Detroit gangs. Underscores the reality of urban life shaping Detroit’s youth.
Chisolm ’72: Unbought and Unbossed.
DVD. 72 minutes.
Directed by Shola Lynch. Los Angeles: Twentieth Century Fox, 2004.
A documentary on Congresswoman Shirley Chisolm’s campaign to become the Democratic Party’s 1972 presidential nominee. A champion of marginalized Americans she sought to draw more people to participate in the political process.
Books
Collier-Thomas, Bettye and V.P. Franklin, eds. Sisters in the Struggle: African-American Women in the Civil Rights and Black Power Movements. New York: New York University Press, 2001.
A collection of essays documenting the work of African American women in the Civil Rights and Black Power Movements. The collection explores the complicated roles women played in these movements as well as those in local, state, and national politics. Topics include: “Citizen Schools” in the South, the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party, the Black Panther party and the Free Joan Little Movement.
Johnson, Ollie A., III and Karin L. Stanford, eds. Black Political Organizations in the Post-Civil Rights Era. New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press, 2002.
A collection of eleven essays examining current black political movements and organizations. Some topics include: the National Urban League, the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition, black conservatism, black women’s community work, and the role of the black church in politics.
King, Martin Luther, Jr. A Testament of Hope: The Essential Writings of Martin Luther King, Jr. San Francisco: Harper and Row, 1986.
A collection of King’s work including interviews, personal reflections, speeches, writings and book excerpts. Contains bibliographical references for further reading and research.
Rich, Wilbur. Coleman Young and Detroit Politics: From Social Activist to Power Broker. Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 2003.
Part biography, part political analysis, the author follows Young’s movement from marginalized 1950s activist to major political figure in Michigan and National Democratic Party politics. This work focuses on three areas of Young’s political policies: affirmative action, economic redevelopment, and the city’s fiscal crisis.
West, Cornell and Kelvin S. Sealy, eds. Restoring Hope. Boston: Beacon Press, 1999.
Transcripts of scholar Cornell West’s interviews with Harry Belafonte, Bill Bradley, Charlayne Hunter-Gault, Rev. James A. Forbes, Jr. and Rev. Dr. James M. Washington, Wynton Marsalis, Patricia Williams, Haki Madhubuti, and Maya Angelou.
Additional show segments and comprehension questions
Questions:
What does John Conyers mean when he says that the struggle for civil rights is moving into the area of human rights?
What examples do John Conyers offers to illustrate the scope of human rights issues?
Questions:
What are some of the examples John Conyers offers of situations in which the idea of reparations has been used before?
Questions:
Why does Coleman Young not support Jesse Jackson for president?
Questions:
What does Julian Bond think is the most important aspect of the Eyes on the Prize documentary?
Questions:
What example does Julian Bond use to illustrate the importance of ordinary people to the civil rights movement?
Questions:
What was the purpose of the students’ trip to Atlanta?
Identify as many of the six principles of nonviolence as you can.
Identify as many of the six steps for nonviolent social change as you can.
Questions:
How does Coretta Scott King describe Martin Luther King Jr.’s vision of the Beloved Community?
What does Coretta Scott King say is needed to create that community?
Questions:
What does Coretta Scott King say is the purpose of the King Center?
Why does Coretta Scott King say that it is important to focus on values?
