Online project to teach civil rights history

RIO RANCHO, N.M. — The first attempt of the historic march from Selma to Montgomery, Ala., in 1965, led to police violence against peaceful AfricanAmerican demonstrators. The beatings, known as “Bloody Sunday,” generated anger across the nation 55 years ago this month and prompted President Lyndon Johnson to push the Voting Rights Act through Congress.

It was one of the most significant moments in U.S. history, but remains almost absent from public schools’ social studies lessons.

A new project by Harvard University and a coalition of foundations hopes to change that.

The coalition this month unveiled Selma Online — a free teaching platform that seeks to transform how the civil rights movement is taught in middle and high schools. The project uses footage from Ava DuVernay’s 2014 movie “Selma” and attempts to show students how events in 1965 shaped voting rights.

Harvard scholar and documentary filmmaker Henry Louis Gates Jr. helped create an interactive website with the Southern Poverty Law Center and Left Field Labs.

Its release comes as schools across the U.S. have closed because of coronavirus and many students are in need of educational material to learn at home.

“It’s perfect timing, unfortunately, because of the crisis we are in,” Gates told The Associated Press.

“Not only is the timing optimal for teachers who are developing online lesson plans but also for families.”

Gates said the website can be broken up into quick lessons or over a semester.

The idea for it followed the release of DuVernay’s film. William Lewis, cochairman of investment banking at New York Citybased Lazard, and other black business leaders raised money so 500,000 children in 33 cities could see the historical drama for free.

The film follows the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., played by David Oyelowo, as he and other civil rights leaders push for voting rights in Selma.