Contextualizing Period 8
- Rosie Jayde Uyola
- Mar 17
- 4 min read
Updated: Mar 18
Target: I can explain the context for societal change from 1945 to 1980 by analyzing the Black Panthers' community initiatives and Cold War propaganda videos.
Key Vocabulary
Contextualize: To look at the big picture of what was happening at a specific time in history to understand why an event happened.
Initiative: A new plan or action taken to achieve a goal or solve a problem in the community.
Paranoia: An unreasonable feeling or fear that people are trying to harm you or that you are in danger, which was very common during the Cold War.
Capitalism: An economic system where private individuals and businesses own property and try to make a profit.
Exempt: To be free from a requirement or rule that others have to follow.
Containment: The United States policy during the Cold War to stop the spread of communism to other countries.
Great Society: A set of programs started by President Lyndon B. Johnson in the 1960s aimed at eliminating poverty and racial injustice in America.
Disenfranchisement: The act of taking away someone's right to vote, their voice, or their power in society.
Restitution: Making up for an injury or restoring something that was lost or stolen.
Part 1: Do Now (5 minutes)
Directions: Read the prompt below and independently write a 5-8 sentence paragraph response.
Prompt: Imagine you are living in a time where the news constantly tells you a foreign enemy might drop a bomb on your city at any moment, and anyone around you could be a secret spy. HOW would this constant fear affect the way you treat your neighbors, what you expect from the police, and how you live your daily life? |
Part 2: Analyzing the Sources
Directions: Read the two documents below.
Document A: To Feed Our Children (The Black Panther, March 26, 1969)
The Free Breakfast for School Children is about to cover the country and be initiated in every chapter and branch of tile Black Panther Party. This program was created because the Black Panther Party understands that our children need a nourishing breakfast every morning so that they can learn. These Breakfasts include even nutrient that they need for the day. For too long have our people gone hungry and without the proper health aids they need. But the Black Panther Party says that this type of thing must be halted, because we must survive this evil government and build a new one fit for the service of all the people.
This program is run through donations of concerned people and the avaricious businessmen that pinch selfishly a little to the program. We say that this is not enough, especially from those that thrive off the Black Community like leeches. All of the avaricious businessmen have their factories etc. centered in our communities and even most of the people that work in these sweat shops are members of the oppressed masses. It is a beautiful sight to see our children eat in the mornings after remembering the times when our stomachs were not full, and even the teachers in the schools say that there is a great improvement in the academic skills of the children that do get the breakfast. At one time there were children that passed out in class from hunger, or had to be sent home for something to eat. But our children shall be fed, and the Black Panther Party will not let the malady of hunger keep our children down any longer. The Breakfast Program has already been initiated in several chapters, and our love for the masses makes us realize that it must continue permanently and be a national program. But we need your help and that means money, food, and time. We want to turn the programs over to the community, but without your efforts and support we cannot.
Document B: The Black Panther Party Ten-Point Program (see packet)
Part 3: Document Analysis (Turn and Talk)
Directions: Discuss Document A with your table group and answer the following questions.
1. What were the goals of this initiative?
2. Why did the Panthers think it was needed?
3. What prior knowledge do you have of the Black Panthers?
Part 4: Group Gallery Walk
Directions: As you walk around the room to visit the posters of Document B (The Ten-Point Program), use sticky notes to answer ONE of the following questions for each point you visit:
Does this point remind you of anything we have learned in the past?
Does this point remind you of anything during the present?
Part 5: Video Analysis & Collaborative Discussion (Choose 2 questions)
Directions: After watching the Cold War propaganda clips (Duck and Cover and How to Spot a Communist), discuss the following questions with a partner at your table. Come up with answers together, and then write down your thoughts.
1. The Black Panthers heavily criticize the U.S. government, yet in Point 10 they copy the exact words of the Declaration of Independence. Why would they use the government's own founding document to prove their points?
2. Connect the fear of secret spies in the Cold War videos to the hunger described in the Free Breakfast reading. How did the government's extreme fear of communism distract them from solving real problems at home, like poverty and racism?
3. President Johnson's "Great Society" government programs and the Black Panthers' local programs both tried to fight poverty. How were their methods completely different, and why did the Panthers feel the government's way was failing?
4. The U.S. policy of "containment" was designed to stop foreign enemies overseas. Make an argument: Did the U.S. government use this same "containment" idea against its own citizens by trying to stop the Black Panthers? Use evidence to support your claim.
Part 6: Exit Ticket (5 minutes)
Directions: Answer the following prompt in a complete paragraph (5-8 sentences). Use at least two Domain Vocabulary words in your response.
Prompt: Considering the historical context of the 1960s, were the requests made in the Ten-Point Program reasonable? Synthesize the attitudes seen in the videos today to construct an argument explaining what possible pushback the Black Panthers would experience from the American public or the government because of these points. |
