Historical events are often lost on our youth because they
are unconcerned with our pasts, but only worried about their social media
status and the last selfie they posted on Instagram. It is a challenge to teach
the past without merely assigning pages to be read from a text and giving a lecture.
Patricia Hurby Powell and Shadra Strickland have created a Documentary of the
Landmark Civil Rights Case of Loving vs. Virginia in a new and fresh way; the
story is told in poetic form while incorporating text from Newspapers, quotes
from Civil Rights leaders and illustrations of what life was like in the 1950s.
Loving vs. Virginia: A Documentary Novel of
the Landmark Civil Rights Case also changes perspectives from Mildred
(Millie) Jeter and Richard Loving throughout the nine years of their
relationship. This black woman and white man fell in love, had children, but
could not live together in the state of Virginia. When they chose to do this,
they were convicted, sentenced and fined. Forced from their home in Virginia to
live in Washington D.C. were they were free from persecution.
Although the Emancipation Proclamation passed more than 100
years prior to Loving vs. Virginia, desegregation was still a problem in the
United States and a marriage of the Lovings' was scandalous. As a public we
know of the freedom riders, the sit-ins and the March on Washington, but the
case of Loving vs. Virginia did not get as much news time. Marriage should be
for those who fall in love and want to share in a union with one another; marriage
is not to be determined by the states as was argued in this particular case.
Each chapter brought a new date and changed perspective offering its audience a
perspective of the hurt, embarrassment and anguish these two endured all for
love.
In the Classroom:
In the Social Studies/History classroom: Give several days
worth of classroom lectures over a time period Unit. Once you have let several
days pass, and have several lectures complete, have your students create an
acrostic poem using one of the events which happened during the time period.
They must use specific examples including dates, places and people. This is a
simple poem, and depending on your English teacher, you could co-teach this
unit together assigning multiple poems each with a different type of poetry
used.
