Hi Huong, Here are the notes from our sessions last week. This was completed over 2 sessions. Huan did an amazing job! POWER OF WORDS AND IMAGES TO CHANGE SOCIETY Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. was a Christian preacher who loved to communicate with words. He used the power of words to persuade church-goers to treat others with kindness, just as the Christian Bible teaches. King also used his words to achieve equality for African-Americans. In King’s day he and other African American’s did not have the same opportunities as white Americans. African Americans could not attend the best public schools, get good jobs or patronize white owned businesses.
Reverend King knew inequality was wrong and wanted to end it. He worked to convince American leaders use the legislative process to remedy inequality. The legislative process includes a governing body which shepherds an idea from introductory bill to final law. Legislation has many purposes including regulate, authorize, grant, declare or restrict things in a society. The March on Washington in 1963 sought to end racial segregation in schools and provide new legislation to prohibit racial discrimination in employment. This march also sought to institute a $2.00 an hour minimum wage for all workers, and protect civil rights workers like Rev. King from police brutality.
The March on Washington featured over a quarter of a million people who stood between the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument. At the time, this was the largest gathering of people in Washington, DC’s history. This march is where Rev. King delivered his most famous speech, the “I Have a Dream” speech; where he sought to put civil rights advocacy at the top of the American governments agenda. Thanks to television, millions of viewers at home participated in this march from their home. With this, words + images worked to create a powerful message across the country.
Civil rights leader Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. waves to supporters on the Mall in Washington, D.C. during the "March on Washington," on August 28, 1963. King said the march was "the greatest demonstration of freedom in the history of the United States." (AFP/AFP/Getty Images) Retrieved from: http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2013/02/50-years-ago-the-world-in-1963/100460/ CREATIVE WRITING: In 1964, the United States Government would pass laws that gave civil rights to all Americans. Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr.’s words and images live on today as a reminder to treat everyone with kindness and ensure equality in society. Reflect on how Rev King used words and image to change the world. Imagine you are the consultant on a film project about RPM. How would you gather words of those using RPM. Would you….
Once you had the “words” you felt best represented RPM – what story would you want to tell? How would you tell this on film or in images? I WOULD ENJOY MAKING A DOCUMENTARY ABOUT RPM. THE WAY I WOULD START IS TO SURVEY PEOPLE WHO ARE INVOLVED IN SPECIAL EDUCATION ABOUT WHAT THEY KNOW ABOUT RPM. I WOULD ASK QUESTIONS ABOUT THEIR IMPRESSIONS OF PEOPLE WITH AUTISM. I WOULD PROBABLY ASK IF THEY THINK PEOPLE WITH AUTISM CAN LEARN. I WOULD ASK DOES SPEAKING EQUAL INTELLIGENCE TO YOU. JUST OUR OF CURIOSITY, I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW IF THEY BELIEVE THAT PEOPLE WITHOUT AUTISM ARE SMARTER TAHN THOSE WITH AUTISM. YOU ARE REALLY MAKING ME THANKFUL, OUTSIDE PEOPLE NEED TO KNOW MORE ABOUT AUTISM. NEXT, I WOULD SORT THROUGH THE DATA. I WOULD LOOK AT THE RESPONSES AND SEE WHICH WORDS WERE REPEATED. WHEN I HAD A LIST OF WORDS, I WOULD PAIR THE WORDS WITH AN IMAGE. THEN I WOULD PAIR THE WORDS WITH AN IMAGE. THEN I WOULD CREATE AN ART EXHIBIT WITH THE PHOTOGRAPHS. THE WORLD NEEDS TO SEE THIS EXHIBIT. I WANT THE WORLD TO KNOW THAT DISCRIMINATION AGAINST PEOPLE WITH AUTISM NEEDS TO END. What do you expect to learn? I EXPECT TO HEAR WORDS LIKE STUPID, UNEDUCABLE, FEAR AND PITY. So what images would you use? I WOULD PAIR THESE WORDS WITH PICTURES OF PEOPLE WHO USE RPM TO TALK SO THE HYPOCRISY SHOWS. |