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Year 11
AQA

Black Power and the Civil Rights Movement

I can explain the impact of the Black Power Movement in the USA in the 1960s and 1970s.

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New
New
Year 11
AQA

Black Power and the Civil Rights Movement

I can explain the impact of the Black Power Movement in the USA in the 1960s and 1970s.

Download all resources
Share activities with pupils

Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. Malcolm X helped develop many ideas which inspired the Black Power Movement.
  2. The Black Power Movement was radical.
  3. The Black Panther Party was one of the most well known Black Power groups.
  4. Membership of the Black Panther Party was relatively small.
  5. The Black Panthers provided many services to support African American communities.

Common misconception

Black Power groups only focused on the use of violence.

Groups such as the Black Panthers provided many services to support black communities, such as free breakfast programmes.

Keywords

  • Radical - the belief in the need for big social, political and economic changes

  • Separatism - the belief that people from different backgrounds should be kept apart from one another

  • Heritage - characteristics belonging to a particular culture, such as language or music

Get students to discuss why some athletes recently 'took the knee' before sporting events and how people reacted to this. Then share negative media and public reactions to Tommie Smith and John Carlos giving the black power salute. Ask why the athletes may have decided to act in this way.
Teacher tip

Content guidance

  • Depiction or discussion of discriminatory behaviour
  • Depiction or discussion of serious crime
  • Depiction or discussion of violence or suffering

Supervision

Adult supervision required

Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2024), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

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Starter quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
Write the missing word. A is an area of a city where people of a particular race or religion live, especially a poor area.
Correct Answer: ghetto, Ghetto
Q2.
Who is often considered the leader of the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s?
John F Kennedy
Lyndon B Johnson
Correct answer: Martin Luther King Jr
Rosa Parks
Q3.
What types of protest is the March on Washington an example of?
Correct answer: direct action
legal action
Correct answer: non-violent protest
violent protest
Q4.
In which city did Martin Luther King lead a freedom movement in 1966?
Birmingham
Correct answer: Chicago
Selma
Washington
Q5.
What did the actions of people during the March on Washington help to demonstrate?
disorganisation of the Civil Rights Movement
police brutality towards civil rights protestors
Correct answer: widespread support for the Civil Rights Movement
Q6.
Starting with the earliest, sort the following events into chronological order.
1 - Montgomery Bus Boycott
2 - Birmingham Campaign
3 - March on Washington
4 - Selma to Montgomery March
5 - Chicago Freedom Movement

Exit quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
What word refers to the belief that the people from different backgrounds should be kept apart from one another?
Correct Answer: separatism, Separatism
Q2.
Malcolm X was a spokesman for which radical group?
Correct Answer: Nation of Islam, the Nation of Islam, NOI
Q3.
Which of the following actions did Tommie Smith and John Carlos carry out at the 1968 Mexico Olympics?
Correct answer: gave the Black Power salute
refused to wear Team USA kit
covered their ears during the US national anthem
Q4.
Write the missing number. Over children were fed by the Free Breakfast for Children Program in the first year after it began.
Correct Answer: 20 000, 20000, 20,000, 20 thousand, 20k
Q5.
Which statement is most accurate?
The Black Panthers had no radical policies.
The Black Panthers only ever acted non-violently.
Correct answer: Membership of the Black Panther Party was relatively small.
Q6.
Starting with the earliest, sort the following events into chronological order.
1 - Malcolm X became a spokesman for NOI.
2 - Black Panthers were set up.
3 - Tommie Smith and John Carlos gave the Black Power salute.
4 - Free Breakfast for Children Program began.
5 - Black Panther Party split.

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