Civil Rights Poems

A Brief History

The Rights movement began in 1954

It took so long to knock down the door

That shrouded the minds of those

who didn't have to fight for what was theirs

The minorities,
the people,

fought in the streets. 

For something that should have been theirs
in the first place. 

The Women

It was known as second-wave feminism.
Who would have thought it would still
be an issue.

The girls of the nation were denied
their rights
to active duty,
equal pay,
their own bodies.

NOW was established,
Friedan led the way
with her Feminine Mystique.

The women fought
for their rights
yet were denied
the right
to fight.

The African-Americans
Since the beginnings of the country
blacks fought for their rights
as people
and beings
and citizens of the states.

In various court cases,
peaceful protests,
marches, and papers,
they pleaded for what
should have been theirs.

It was cruel
and wrong
the things done to them.
Beat down by police,
arrested,
sentenced,
shot with fire hoses.

They fought and they asked
and the begged and they fought.
They deserved equality
and they were going to get it.

MLK Jr.
A voice broke out
among the rest.
Went by the name of King
and was so to the group
of minorities that still
fought for their rights.

Peaceful protests
and civil disobedience.
Led his battle
for quality among all.

He had a dream
of hand in hand friendship
of a world without
segregation
and Bird laws
and signs that banned those of color.

Children's March
The antagonist, Bull Connor
tantrumed, and jailed
several hundred children
during their march.

May 2nd
They left the school
they knew where they were going.
16th Street Baptist Church

The Children's Crusade
it was called
Malcom X didn't quite approve

The students remained non-violent
and casual about the whole ordeal
and showed they were people too
and no dog nor hose nor crowded jail cell
were any match for them.

Political Cartoons

The person in this image is suppose to be president Nixon. This cartoon is referring to the Watergate Scandal involving Nixon's administration in order to win the election. Nixon denied taking part in this scandal that is why he is holding a sign saying "I AM NOT A CROOK."

This cartoon is also from the Watergate scandal. President Nixon had secret tapes of all of his conversations with other people in the White House. This cartoon shows President Nixon getting tied up in all of his lies (literally).

This political cartoon is about Afghanistan, but also the Vietnam War. Most people agree that the Vietnam War was a bad war. The bad things that they saw happening in Vietnam are also happening in Afghanistan. That is why the people in the cartoon are saying that they've seen this bad movie before.

Interviews Part 2

Charlene LaClaire:

l.  I had just moved to California - living in the San Fernando Valley.

2. & 3. Yes, I did see much of the war on TV. I didn’t think of it as the first war on TV because I had seen films of other wars, but it was horrible. I remember the Napalm being dropped from planes and pictures of kids being burned. Seeing people executed, casualties, and streams of endless refugees walking along the muddy roads.  I remember spraying of the vegetation with “agent orange” which defoliated the jungle and the fields. Agent Orange later turned out to be very toxic to the soldiers and others who were there. The horrible pictures of the wounded, helicopters going down, hand grenades being thrown into the tunnels that the North Vietnamese had dug. People being blown to bits. There were stories of our soldiers being tortured and how the medics were absolute heroes in the war.  Rescues of men by helicopter and evacuations. We saw the reality of war. That war was covered much better than the Iraq war and others. I think the govt. found out that if people really saw what happens they will not support the war, so they don’t show this anymore.  They wouldn’t even show the coffins coming back in the Iraq war. That changed when President Obama was elected.

4.  My cousin was a pilot in that war, but I didn’t know it at the time, but since I was about the age of the young men who went to Viet Nam, I felt a closeness to them.

5.  I was absolutely against the war. At my college, we wrote letters against the war. We had sit-downs, signed petitions, called our representatives, etc. In college I had a black classmate who had been a medic in Viet Nam and had just gotten back. We talked about some of the things that went on.  He was absolutely an emotionally wounded person, (PTSD now). I remember thinking of how he tried too hard to laugh, as though it hurt him to laugh. I was absolutely against the war in every way. I read Nixon’s notes on China and how he thought we had to deal with China. North Vietnam was much controlled/influenced by China, just as it is today. The USA was afraid they would enter the war but they didn’t.

David LaClaire:

1. Where were you in the 1960's?  I was living in Orlando, Florida. During the war I was in Junior High School and High School in Orlando. The war continued into the early seventies when I was in college in New Orleans.

2. Did you watch the Vietnam War on TV? Yes. There were frequent spots on the nightly news explaining the progress in the war. 

3. What was that like, watching the first televised war? It was the first war of my lifetime, so it didn't seem that unusual to see it televised. As a young person it was surreal to see people my age in an offensive war in a  country where it was not clear who the enemy was. Television brought the violence of the war into our otherwise peaceful homes.

4. Did you know anybody in the war?  No family or close friends, but some acquaintances. The people I met that came back from the war were messed up. One young man had lost his legs and was very angry. Another young man had gotten heavily into drugs and was also very angry and confused. None of them were greeted as heroes and were often looked down upon by my peer group unfortunately.

5. Were you for or against the war?  Strongly against. Students in my generation were almost entirely against the war; many of them left the country rather than fight in a war they did not believe in. There was a draft that gave you a number;  If they picked your number you went to war. My number was not picked.  Many students protested; there were bloody protests;  Some students lost their lives.

Interviews Part 1

Introduction

The 1960's to 1970's were a time of battle for equal rights, and just plain battle. Women's, homosexual's and African-American's rights movements were taking storm while the minorities attempted to get equal rights. On top of this, the Vietnam War was at its peak. In the US, the war became the first televised war as televisions became increasingly popular. A draft was issued on all able-bodied men. By the end of the war, America suffered a death count in the ten thousands. America was being lead by presidents Nixon and then Carter. Nixon, who was burdened with the Watergate scandal, resigned and Gerald Ford took office in his place.

Who Did What?

Ariel:

• sat in on 2 recorded interviews
• conducted 3 other interviews (interviews page 2)
• introduction page
• song lyric collages
• 5 W's of the Watergate scandal
• "Who did what" page
• the Great Society journal entries
• civil rights poems
• bibliography

Lesly:

• sat in on 2 recorded interviews
• interview video (interviews page 1)
• 3 political cartoons page
• essay on what Americans should learn

Essay Describing Lessons Americans Should Learn

     There were a lot of lessons to be learned from the 1960s. These lessons should be learned from both Americans and their leaders. Lessons that origin from civil rights, war, and presidential elections. A lot of horrible things have happened, but also great things. At the end of the day we learn from the mistakes that we have made and strive to be a great country.
     One of the complications that Americans have had in the beginning of the 1960s had to do with civil rights, mainly with African Americans. African Americans faced segregation and discrimination, mainly in the southern part of the United States. Schools were separated from black and white people. African Americans were forced to sit at the back of a public bus. On December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on the public bus, and that is was fueled the civil rights movements. The civil rights movement was lead by Martin Luther King Jr. People appealed to him for his non-violence protests that he held. He is most famous for his "I Have A Dream" speech. Although it took a while, Martin Luther King Jr. and all African Americans got the rights that they deserved. This should be a lesson to all that we are all equal and the color of our skin does not define us.
     One of the main things that we can learn from is the war. The Vietnam War was not a necessary war that the United States had to be involved in, and as a result from that the United States suffered from a great amount of casualties. The main reason the U.S. claimed to get involved in Vietnam was to prevent the spread of Communism. North Vietnam wanted to reunify South Vietnam under Communist control. In my opinion, the U.S. should have just stayed out of it. They should have gotten involved if North Vietnam wanted to takeover more countries. Americans can learn a great lesson from this. There is no reason to get involved in other countries business that has no effect on us.
     One thing that future American leaders can learn is to be honest with the American people. It is important to always be fair. When President Nixon was trying to win re-election, his administration broke into the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate complex. When they were caught it was later revealed that Nixon had a tape recorder in his office that recorded all conversations. Recorded conversations from these tapes revealed that Nixon had been trying to cover up the actions that had taken place in the break-in. Before Nixon could be impeached, he had resigned from office. It was a real shame because Nixon had done a lot of great things during his presidency, especially his foreign policy, but he will be remembered mostly for the Watergate scandal that had occurred. Future leaders can learn from this. It is always better to be fair and honest, then to lie to your people.
     Overall, the 1960s was a great learning experience for all of America. A lot of bad things have happened, but we have either overcome them or learned from them. Everything has happened for a reason. Today all races have equal rights because of the civil rights movement. All of the little things have added up to make a great country. We are all in this together.

Works Cited

"The 1960s." History.com. A&E Television Networks. Web. 17 May 2013. <http://www.history.com/topics/1960s>.

"American Cultural History 1960-1969." Lonestar College System. Web. 16 May 2013. <http://kclibrary.lonestar.edu/decade60.html>.

"Cartoon 1." Vietnam War. Web. 16 May 2013. <http://seriesess3.wordpress.com/4-political-cartoon/cartoon-1/>.

""I Am Not a Crook" (Herblock's History: Political Cartoons from the Crash to the Millennium, Library of Congress Exhibition)." "I Am Not a Crook" (Herblock's History: Political Cartoons from the Crash to the Millennium, Library of Congress Exhibition). Web. 18 May 2013. <http://www.loc.gov/rr/print/swann/herblock/crook.html>.

"Key Legislation to Create the Great Society." Weber State University. Web. 15 May 2013. <http://faculty.weber.edu/kmackay/greatsociety.htm>.

"LBJ and the Great Society." Northern State University. Web. 16 May 2013. <http://www3.northern.edu/marmorsa/greatsociety2010.htm>.

"Lyndon B. Johnson." The White House. The White House. Web. 19 May 2013. <http://www.whitehouse.gov/about/presidents/lyndonbjohnson>.

"Lyndon Johnson's "Great Society"" U.S. History: Pre-Colombian to New Millennium. Independence Hall Association. Web. 17 May 2013. <http://www.ushistory.org/us/56e.asp>.

"Overview of the 1960's." Digital History. Web. 17 May 2013. <http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/era.cfm?eraid=17>.

"Richard M. Nixon." The White House. The White House. Web. 16 May 2013. <http://www.whitehouse.gov/about/presidents/richardnixon>.

"Richard Nixon Biography." Bio.com. A&E Networks Television. Web. 17 May 2013. <http://www.biography.com/people/richard-nixon-9424076>.

United States. Department of Commerce. United States Census Bureau. By Rockwell Livingston and Frederick Cavanaugh. Web. 18 May 2013. <http://www2.census.gov/prod2/popscan/p60-068a.pdf>.

"The Watergate Scandal." PBS. PBS. Web. 17 May 2013. <http://www.pbs.org/johngardner/chapters/6c.html>.

"Watergate Scandal." Princeton University. Web. 16 May 2013. <http://www.princeton.edu/~achaney/tmve/wiki100k/docs/Watergate_scandal.html>.

"Watergate: The Scandal That Brought Down Richard Nixon." Watergate.info. Web. 17 May 2013. <http://watergate.info/>.

"Watergate." Washington Post. The Washington Post, 08 June 2012. Web. 16 May 2013. <http://www.washingtonpost.com/watergate>. 

Diary Entries from the Great Society

Wednesday, March 13th, 1963-

     Johnson's doing splendidly as president. Ever since the Kennedy tragedy, he's taken over watching this country as well as Kennedy had been doing. Last month, in his first month of presidency, he announced his plan for this..."Great Society". It seems like a good idea, ending racial prejudice and poverty. Not to mention creating these new major spending programs that address education, medical care, urban problems, and transportation. Some people are saying it's in much likelihood with Roosevelt's New Deal. I could see it, the reform part of it and all. Well anyway, he's decided to include me in part of it. He says we need to start helping people get what they need instead of handing it to them. I am really curious to see where the President takes this. I'd like to see it reach a helping hand across the nation. The social and economic problems people are facing right now are unacceptable in the face of the nation, and they deserve a helping hand to get on their feet. I hope this doesn't end up being a bad idea because I'd like to see it prosper and change the nation. 

Sunday, September 6th, 1964-
     
      Last month, President Johnson issued a "War on Poverty" act called the Economic Opportunity Act. Its goal is to help those impoverished and unable to help themselves. If I remember correctly, it's going to provide aid and help in education, health, and general welfare. It includes a program called Head Start that is going to provide education, health, nutrition, and parent involvement services to low-income children and their families. The program's services are designed to create and keep stable family relationships. It also looks to strengthen children's physical and emotional well-being and establish a safe environment to promote cognitive growth. Along with this, another program being administered is the Job Corps. It will offer free education to young adults. The goal of the Job Corps is to help young people improve the quality of their lives, through training for jobs they could hold in the future. President Johnson's Great Society seems to be moving along seamlessly, it seems as though this was really a positive step in the fate of the nation. 

Friday, December 20th, 1968-

     Johnson's Great Society reforms and acts have been doing wonders for the country. With the introduction of the Social Security act in 1965, that authorized medicare and provided funding for medical costs to our older Americans, and several civil rights acts, the nation has been further secured and has improved greatly. Last year, in April, the Department of Transportation got to work on the bill Johnson passed, known as the Urban Mass Transportation Act, that provided millions of dollars for public and private rail projects. The most prominent result was the high speed rail from New York to Washington. On top of this, several acts have been passed in the preservation and conservation of the environment. The Great Society has created a noticeable difference in the amount of Americans living below the poverty line. In 1963, when all of this really started, the percentage of these Americans was around 22.2%, and now I'm happy to say it's around 14.2%. A 10% difference is momentous in this day, and no one can really say that the Great Society is not doing good for the country. 

Song Lyric Collages

"Paint It Black"

I see a red door and I want it painted black

No colors anymore I want them to turn black

I see the girls walk by dressed in their summer clothes

I have to turn my head until my darkness goes

I see a line of cars and they're all painted black

With flowers and my love both never to come back

I see people turn their heads and quickly look away

Like a new born baby it just happens ev'ry day

I look inside myself and see my heart is black

I see my red door and it has been painted black

Maybe then I'll fade away and not have to face the facts

It's not easy facin' up when your whole world is black

No more will my green sea go turn a deeper blue

I could not foresee this thing happening to you

If I look hard enough into the settin sun

My love will laugh with me before the mornin comes

I see a red door and I want it painted black

No colors anymore I want them to turn black

I see the girls walk by dressed in their summer clothes

I have to turn my head until my darkness goes

I wanna see it painted, painted black

Black as night, black as coal

I wanna see the sun blotted out from the sky

I wanna see it painted, painted, painted, painted black

"Good Vibrations"

I-I love the colorful clothes she wears

And the way the sunlight plays upon her hair

I hear the sound of a gentle word

On the wind that lifts her perfume through the air

I'm pickin' up good vibrations

She's giving me excitations (Oom bop bop)

I'm pickin' up good vibrations (Good vibrations, oom bop bop)

She's giving me excitations (Excitations, oom bop bop)

Good, good, good, good vibrations (Oom bop bop)

She's giving me excitations (Excitations, oom bop bop)

Good, good, good, good vibrations (Oom bop bop)

She's giving me excitations (Excitations)

Close my eyes, she's somehow closer now

Softly smile, I know she must be kind

When I look in her eyes

She goes with me to a blossom world

I'm pickin' up good vibrations

She's giving me excitations (Oom bop bop)

I'm pickin' up good vibrations (Good vibrations, oom bop bop)

She's giving me excitations (Excitations, oom bop bop)

Good, good, good, good vibrations (Oom bop bop)

She's giving me excitations (Excitations, oom bop bop)

Good, good, good, good vibrations (Oom bop bop)

She's giving me excitations (Excitations)

(Ah, my my, what elation)

I don't know where but she sends me there

(Oh, my my, what a sensation)

(Oh, my my, what elation)

(Oh, my my, what)

Gotta keep those lovin' good vibrations a-happenin' with her

Gotta keep those lovin' good vibrations a-happenin' with her

Gotta keep those lovin' good vibrations a-happenin'

Good, good, good, good vibrations (Oom bop bop)

(I'm pickin' up good vibrations) (Oom bop bop)

She's giving me excitations (Excitations, oom bop bop)

Good, good, good, good vibrations

Na na na na na, na na na

"House Of The Rising Sun"

There is a house in New Orleans
They call the Rising Sun
And it's been the ruin of many a poor boy
And God I know I'm one

My mother was a tailor
She sewed my new bluejeans
My father was a gamblin' man
Down in New Orleans

Now the only thing a gambler needs
Is a suitcase and trunk
And the only time he's satisfied
Is when he's on a drunk

Oh mother tell your children
Not to do what I have done
Spend your lives in sin and misery
In the House of the Rising Sun

Well, I got one foot on the platform
The other foot on the train
I'm goin' back to New Orleans
To wear that ball and chain

Well, there is a house in New Orleans
They call the Rising Sun
And it's been the ruin of many a poor boy
And God I know I'm one

"My Girl"

I've got sunshine on a cloudy day.
When it's cold outside I've got the month of May.
I guess you'd say
What can make me feel this way?
My girl (my girl, my girl)
Talkin' 'bout my girl (my girl).

I've got so much honey the bees envy me.
I've got a sweeter song than the birds in the trees.
I guess you'd say
What can make me feel this way?
My girl (my girl, my girl)
Talkin' 'bout my girl (my girl).

Hey hey hey
Hey hey hey
Ooooh.

I don't need no money, fortune, or fame.
I've got all the riches baby one man can claim.
I guess you'd say
What can make me feel this way?
My girl (my girl, mt girl)
Talkin' 'bout my girl (my girl).

I've got sunshine on a cloudy day
with my girl.
I've even got the month of May
with my girl [fade]

"Downtown"

When you're alone and life is making you lonely
You can always go downtown
When you've got worries, all the noise and the hurry
Seems to help, I know, downtown

Just listen to the music of the traffic in the city
Linger on the sidewalk where the neon signs are pretty
How can you lose?
The lights are much brighter there
You can forget all your troubles, forget all your cares

So go downtown
Things will be great when you're downtown
No finer place for sure, downtown
Everything's waiting for you

Don't hang around and let your problems surround you
There are movie shows downtown
Maybe you know some little places to go to
Where they never close downtown

Just listen to the rhythm of a gentle bossa nova
You'll be dancing with 'em too before the night is over
Happy again
The lights are much brighter there
You can forget all your troubles, forget all your cares

So go downtown
Where all the lights are bright, downtown
Waiting for you tonight, downtown
You're gonna be alright now, downtown

Downtown
Downtown

And you may find somebody kind to help and understand you
Someone who is just like you and needs a gentle hand to
Guide them along
So maybe I'll see you there
We can forget all our troubles, forget all our cares

So go downtown
Things will be great when you're downtown
Don't wait a minute more, downtown
Everything is waiting for you, downtown

Downtown (downtown)
Downtown (downtown)
Downtown (downtown)
Downtown (downtown)

Who, What, Where, When and Why of the Watergate Scandal

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