POV | The Barber of Birmingham: Exploring the Heroes of Social Justice Movements - Lesson Plan
POV | The Barber of Birmingham: Exploring the Heroes of Social Justice Movements - Lesson Plan
POV often presents stories that express opinions and perspectives rarely featured in mainstream media; stories like that of James Armstrong, a barber in Birmingham, Alabama, who was one of thousands of unknown and unsung heroes of the civil rights struggle of the 1960s. In this lesson, students will identify and research participants in social justice movements or other types of movements or communities. Students will select images, quotes, pieces of art or videos to represent such figures and organize these items in walls or digital "pinboard" displays that will be presented to the class. This activity is inspired by a wall display in the barbershop of civil rights veteran James Armstrong, as seen in a clip from the documentary The Barber of Birmingham: Foot Soldier of the Civil Rights Movement. For more information on James Armstrong, the civil rights movement and how to use digital "pinboards" in the classroom, please see the Resources sections of this lesson.