African-American Histories Since the Civil Rights Movement ~ Video Segments

These brief video segments can be used alone or in combination, to introduce a topic or to spark discussion among your students. These videos are also used in the lesson plan “” (Grades ).

Excerpts from Episode Six, “A More Perfect Union (1968 — 2013)”  The African Americans: Many Rivers to Cross with Henry Louis Gates, Jr., selected segments.

Segment 1: “Black Power: Demanding a Brilliant Future”

In the wake of Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination, the Black Panthers advocated armed resistance and self-sufficiency for African Americans.

Segment 2: “Black is Beautiful: Afrocentricity”  

Black Power helped create a new African American cultural identity which resonated throughout American culture.

Segment 3: “The Rise of the Black Middle Class”

New political gains like affirmative action combined with changing social attitudes to nurture a growing African American middle class, but the government continued to fear a more extreme black nationalism.

Segment 4: “The Limits of Rights: Economic Injustice”

Despite growing political power in the 1970s, African Americans continue to face daunting economic challenges made worse by the deindustrialization of their urban communities.

Segment 5: “Casualties of the War on Drugs”

President Reagan’s “War on Drugs” fell disproportionally hard on black communities as new mandatory drug sentencing laws put a generation of young African Americans behind bars.

Segment 6: “Fighting the Power: Hip Hop”

Hip Hop gave voice to a new generation of African American youth disenfranchised from the American Dream enjoyed by a select few black celebrities.

Segment 7: “Yes We Can: Obama”

Barack Obama’s election to the presidency exemplifies changing attitudes about race even as problems of institutional racism persist.