Weekly-Journal-4-Freedom-Riders-minimum-300-word
Weekly-Journal-4-Freedom-Riders-minimum-300-word
Dear all,
The weekend before Martin Luther King Day, President Trump tweeted this about Georgia Congressman John Lewis: “Congressman John Lewis should spend more time on fixing and helping his district, which is in horrible shape and falling apart (not to mention crime infested) rather than falsely complaining about the election results. All talk, talk, talk – no action or results. Sad!” As you know this week’s readings focused on patriotism and civil disobedience. Given this focus and Trump’s criticism of John Lewis as “all talk, talk, talk – no action,” for this week’s journal I would like you to watch a documentary calledFreedom Riders (Links to an external site.)
, which happens to feature John Lewis pretty prominently. After watching the documentary I would like you to reflect on the following questions:
- Who were the freedom riders and what were they trying to accomplish? How would you assess the impact of the Freedom Rides?
- What is philosophy of nonviolent direct action and what is its logic? Do you agree with the nonviolent direct action of the Freedom Riders? Why or why not?
- Why do you think Diane Nash and John Lewis felt it was so important to continue the Freedom Riders after the riots in Birmingham and Anniston? What did the first group of Freedom Riders accomplish? What did the second group of Freedom Riders accomplish?
- What role did the news media play in the Freedom Rides? How do media shape our understanding of the issues of our time?
- What does the story of the Freedom Riders suggest about the role of citizens in shaping democracy? If you had been alive at the time, do you think you would have participated in the Freedom Rides? Why or why not?
- Would you characterize the Freedom Riders as patriotic? Why or why not?
- What do you see as the civil rights struggles of today? Are you involved in any of them? Why or why not? How might these issues be addressed? What lessons might people trying to address these issues learn from the Freedom Rides?
You do not need to answer all of the questions above, but I would like you to show me that you actually watched the documentary and attempted to connect it both to the reading assigned this week as well as current events (specifically Trump’s criticism of Lewis). Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns.
Tim
PS — In addition to the Freedom Rides, John Lewis was a leader in the Nashville sit-in movement (see here (Links to an external site.) if you are interested) and the March on Washington (listen here (Links to an external site.) if you are interested). There is also a three-part graphic novel series (Links to an external site.) about his life, which is quite good, if you are interested in reading more about his activism.
