Marian Howe-Taylor: The Beloved Community Project  |  ​ARTrageous Online

Marian Howe-Taylor grew up in Boston, and raised in a family that was active in the Black civil rights movement, starting in the early 1960’s. With a highly educated father and mother, who ran in circles with Rev. Dr. Virgil Wood -- a colleague and member of the Southern Christian Leadership Counsel with Martin Luther King -- Marian marched, protested, and was taught at a young age how to engage in nonviolent social change.  As an adult, Marian is an educator, an avid public speaker, a community leader, and the co-creator of Black Social Change Utah. 

In the following three modules, students will learn how Marian uses storytelling, film, and poetry in her activism.  Her stories of Black heroes round out our history books. With love and humor, she finds allies, and starts important conversations in her effort to build a “beloved community”– one that is civil, equitable, and harmonious.

Topics: Identity, Discrimination, Racism, Membership, Belonging
Class: English, Social Studies, Library Media, Art, Film Study
​Grades: 7-12  | Time: 4 Hours  
Platform: Online Learning Management System (LMS) with synchronous learning option (e.g., Zoom, Google Classroom) 
Tech Tools: Internet, Google Sheets or Excel

Quick Links

Watch Marian Howe-Taylor on YouTube

MODULE 1 CURRICULUM MAP: Includes Core Standards and Learning Intentions

MODULE 2 CURRICULUM MAP: Includes Core Standards and Learning Intentions

MODULE 3 CURRICULUM MAP: Includes Core Standards and Learning Intentions

Access Full Course on Canvas

Part I: Marian's Story: Calling Towards Equity

Part II: Missing Pages: Our Untold History

Part III: Pathways Towards Change: The Beloved Community Project

Introduction

Salt Lake activist and co-founder of Black Social Change Utah, Marian Howe-Taylor takes us on a personal journey of discovering what it means to be a black female in the United States.  Her awareness of the inequalities between blacks and whites began during the desegregation of the Boston public schools in the 1970s, and racism followed her to Utah where she moved in 1998.

Marian Howe-Taylor grew up in Boston, and was raised in a family that was active in the black civil rights movement, starting in the early 1960’s. Her highly educated father and mother, who ran in the circles of Martin Luther King and John Lewis, taught Marian history lessons that included Black U.S. history and tales of men and women upstanders, of whom she never studied in history class.  She didn’t approve of these stories being left out and still doesn’t.  An educator by trade, and storyteller at heart, Marian is committed to filling in the missing pages, telling the untold stories, and educating the world about Black History and Black experience.

The Beloved Community Film Project focuses on Dr. Martin Luther King’s articulation of the Beloved Community in that it is possible to create civil, equitable and harmonious communities through non-violent social change. It is a community in which everyone is cared for, absent of poverty, hunger, and hate. The idea began with Gandhi and was later embraced by Martin Luther King in the United States, who dedicated his life to realizing this ideal.

The Beloved Community project in Utah was started by two women who model the concepts of the Beloved Community.   In 2013, a friendship formed between Marian Howe-Taylor, a Black woman from Boston, living in Utah, working at the Salt Lake Community College, and attending Westminster college in a Master’s of Community Leadership (MACL) program; and Amy MacDonald, a white woman, and Founder and Director of Brolly Arts, whose mission is to create meaningful art and vibrant communities through artistic and civic collaboration. She co-created and taught the Arts, Culture and Communities track of the MACL program at Westminster. 

Marian’s Master's degree capstone project centered around researching, gathering, and documenting stories of Utah’s Black Social Change makers. The powerful stories prompted the two women to join forces to co-create Black Social Change Utah and the Beloved Community Project Film. Their friendship and partnership exemplify the Beloved Community concepts and ethos. The Beloved Community Project film, through storytelling, history, current events and movement, addresses global issues with local relevance and asks what each of us can do for change.

Quotes to Use Throughout Curriculum:

“Democracy is a process, not a static condition… easily lost, but never fully won. Its essence is eternal struggle.” Judge William Hastie

“The African American experience is the lens through which we understand what it is to be an American.” Lonnie G. Bunch III, Founding Director NMAAHC

“People make choices; choices make history.” Facing History

“Mankind has to get out of violence only by non-violence.” Gandhi

“Hatred can only be overcome by love.” Gandhi

What’s included in the course?

Module 1

  • Essential Questions

    • What motivates people to try to change the world?

    • How do people find connections with individuals who live and think differently than themselves? 

    • How can storytelling build trust and empathy?

    • Is history progress or patterns? Are we doomed to repeat history or does learning history lead to progress and change?

    Learning Intentions Upon completing this Module, students will:

    • Be more aware and supportive of those different than themselves;

    • Understand the importance of using humility when interacting with a diversity of others;

    • Listen with empathy;

    • Recognize patterns of discrimination;

    • Understand how art can raise awareness, and promote action toward positive change;

    Success Criteria

    • I can write poetry to take action against discrimination and racism.

    • I will use the windows and mirrors strategy to engage in direct discussion with people different from me.

    Learning Outline

    This 4-hour module is on the Marian’s Story: Callings Toward Equity video presentation by Marian Howe-Taylor. It can be taught as a whole learning experience, or in chosen sections as time allows:  

    • 75 minutes: Launch Activity– Exploring Identity: Window Or Mirror?

    • 15 minutes: While Viewing– Listening With Empathy.

    • 15 minutes: Post-Viewing– Safe To Brave.

    • 75 minutes: Demonstration– Poetry As A Pathway To Positive Change.

    75 minutes: Making Connections–Speaking Out With Spoken Word Poetry.

  • Suggested Videos: 

    The Hill We Climb (5:52 min) by Amanda Gorman

    Perception (4:08) by Jonathan Lykes

    Spoken Word Poem (3:19) by Amina Iro and Hannah Halpern

    Supplies for Pre-Viewing Activity: 

    Low Tech Activity: Shoebox or Plastic Mask; Markers; Magazines; Scissors; Glue and Tape

    High Tech Activity: Padlet

    Supplies for Art Integration Activity

    Paper and pen

    Spoken Word Poetry worksheet

    Other Worksheets

    Marian’s Story-Worksheet

    Suggested Articles;

    -Choosing a Teaching Strategy for Teaching Controversial Issues- iCivics (requires sign in)

    Teaching Strategies–Facing History and Ourselves

    -How to Hold A Classroom Debate– TeachHub

    -Community Inquiry Teaching Strategies– Learning For Justice

    -Teaching Controversial Issues: Taking Classrooms from Safe to Brave– iCivics

  • Launch Activity–Pre-Viewing: Exploring Identity: Window Or Mirror?

    [75 min]

    [Learning Intentions 1, 2, 5]

    Procedures:

    • Hook: 1 min chatstorm. Ask students, “What does our class/ group have in common?” Tell them to put their answers in the chat. Read some of them out loud and acknowledge their responses.

    • Tell Students: Just as we have things in common, all of us have things that are different, making us diverse. We are going to explore diversity by honoring each other’s lived experiences.

    • We’re going to call the things we have in common - that reflect our own identities and experiences “Mirrors.” The ways in which we are different, things that provide insight into the identities, experiences and motivations of others we will call “Windows.” This will help us practice understanding multiple points of view.

    • Explain that practicing “Humility” is critical when learning about diversity. It pushes us to recognize that our own ideas and opinions are only part of the story and that other people may have access to pieces of the puzzle that we don’t know about. (Refer to Appendix A for definitions of racism, discrimination, humility, etc.)

    • Activity: Introduce the activity by telling students: We are going to share our own identity and also learn about our peers’ identities by doing an art project. (It would be beneficial to create your own mask, shoebox, or padlet wall to model the activity.)

      1. Low Tech Modality: Have students decorate the outside of a shoebox or plastic mask with images, words or phrases that represent their culture and community. Examples can include things like “french ancestry,” “family of actors,” ``first-generation American citizen.” Inside the box or next to the mask can be real artifacts, images, or descriptions of objects that have shaped them and represent their unique background and experience. 

      2. High Tech Modality: In the Padlet platform, select the canvas template. Ask them to generate a representation of their culture and community using text, links, images, drawings, voice memos, etc.  Once they have a collection of ideas, they can rearrange as desired. 

      3. Explain that they are about to share their box, mask, or padlet canvas with their peers in small groups.  Peer Feedback: After each person has shared, the others will share things that were “Windows” for them (things they have not experienced and presented a new perspective) and things that were “Mirrors”(things they share with the presenter and too have experienced). 

      4. Put students into small breakout groups to share their identity art.

      5. After sharing have students answer the following questions

        1. What were the “Windows?” What did you learn about your classmates that you didn’t know before?

        2. What were the “Mirrors?” What do you have in common with your classmates?

        3. How are your classmates different from each other?

        4. Did you learn anything about them that might affect how you interact with or treat them? Why?

    • Tell students: When people don’t understand others and don’t exercise humility when interacting with people who are different from them, discrimination is often the result. 

    • Tell them we are going to watch a 15 min film called Marian’s Story: Callings Toward Equity.  Read the following out loud: Salt Lake activist and co-founder of Black Social Change Utah, Marian Howe-Taylor takes us on a personal journey of discovering what it means to be a black female in the United States.  Her awareness of the inequalities between blacks and whites began during the desegregation of the Boston public schools in the 1970s, and racism followed her to Utah where she moved in 1998. Now one of Utah's prominent change leaders and storytellers, Marian shares her harrowing tales of discrimination, using them as a call to action, with a message that these things are still happening and positive change requires that we all do our part.

    While Viewing: Listening With Empathy.

    [15 min]

    [Learning Intentions 3,4]

    Procedures:

    • Tell students that while watching Marian’s Story: Callings Toward Equity, they are to practice listening with empathy:. Empathy is the ability to understand and share the feelings of another. 

    • Give students “Marian’s Story- Worksheet.” Tell them: In the first column record any acts of racism and discrimination you hear while watching Marian’s Story. In column 2, record whether what the act is a “Mirror,” something in your lived experience,  or a “Window,” something that is new and giving you a new perspective. In column 3, imagine being in Marian’s shoes and record your feelings. Try to understand how Marian felt, and how you would feel if you were in her shoes.

    • In the space below the chart, have them write 2-3 things they found most surprising, disturbing, confusing, or memorable. 

    Post-Viewing: Safe To Brave.

    [15 min]

    [Learning Intentions 3,4]

    Procedures: 

    • You just heard Marian share some very intimate and brave stories of times when she was discriminated against.

    • Have students share (by raising their hand)

      1. How did you practice listening with empathy? 

      2. What did you find most disturbing, surprising, confusing, or memorable?

    • Ask students to pick one of the scenarios Marian described and discuss a resolution. Was there was a teaching moment in any of Marian’s stories of discrimination?  Discussion prompts (optional):

      1. What happened on the rioting streets in Boston during the public school desegregation? 

      2. What happened at Dillards after the woman mistook Marian for ‘the help’?

      3. What happened after Marian’s house got destroyed before moving in?

    • Tell students: Marian is very brave to tell these stories. We often try to sweep racism and discussing racism under the rug because it feels unsafe, makes us feel uncomfortable, or feels inappropriate. But being too safe can lead to an environment that is too polite, where we can’t ask difficult questions for fear they will hurt someone’s feelings or be labeled as racist, sexist, or homophobic. We need to be brave enough to discuss these issues, while actively listening to opposing views, practicing humility, and sharing lived experiences. 

    • (Optional) For more strategies you can share with students on how to discuss controversial issues in the classroom:

      1. Choosing a Teaching Strategy for Teaching Controversial IssuesTeaching Strategies- Facing History and Ourselves

      2. How to Hold A Classroom Debate- TeachHub

      3. Community Inquiry Teaching Strategies- Learning For Justice

    Would You Rather Questions- iCivics

    • Practice:  Practice with current events, or use this question as a discussion prompt: Is history progress or patterns? Are we doomed to repeat history or does learning history lead to progress and change?

    Demonstration: Art As A Pathway To Positive Change.

    [75 min]

    [Learning Intention 5]

    Procedures:

    • Tell the students: For our arts integration project we are going to write a spoken word poem. What about Marian’s Story and learning more about your classmates’ identities inspires you? 

    • Tell students: I am going to share a few spoken word poems with you, for inspiration.  We will start with Amanda Gorman’s, The Hill We Climb (5:52 min- this link includes a full transcript of the poem). She wrote and recited this poem to celebrate the 2021 inauguration of Joe Biden as 46th President of the United States. The poem celebrates the U.S. not as a "perfect union," but as a country that has the grit to struggle with its all-too-real problems. (Optional Discussion Questions) 

      1. What does she mean when she says, “History has its eyes on you.”? 

      2. Do you see yourself represented (Mirrored) within the lines of this poem? If so, where? *Note: Go to the “Dig Deeper” section in this module to access a full lesson plan (grades 6-12) based on this poem. 

    • In Marian’s Story: Callings Toward Equity video you heard Marian recite a poem called Midway, by Naomi Long Madgett that spoke to Marian at 14 years old and still inspires her today. Let’s revisit the poem again. (Optional: play the segment of Marian reciting Midway starting at 10 min).

    Naomi Long Madgett: Midway (1959)

    I've come this far to freedom and I won't turn back

    I'm climbing to the highway from my old dirt track

         I'm coming and I'm going

         And I'm stretching and I'm growing

    And I'll reap what I've been sowing or my skin's not black 

    I've prayed and slaved and waited and I've sung my song

    You've bled me and you've starved me but I've still grown strong

         You've lashed me and you've treed me 

         And you've everything but freed me

    But in time you'll know you need me and it won't be long. 

    I've seen the daylight breaking high above the bough

    I've found my destination and I've made my vow;

         So whether you abhor me 

         Or deride me or ignore me

    Mighty mountains loom before me and I won't stop now. 

    • 4. Discuss the poem by asking students: 

    • What is the central message of the poem?

    • After hearing Marian's experience, why do you think this poem spoke to her that day she found it in the school library?

    • Read a note out loud from Naomi Long Madgett: ["Midway was first published in Freedomways in 1959, but I think I wrote it in 1958. The poem grew out of a discussion with a friend that acknowledged that the Supreme Court desegregation ruling, which legalized racial justice for the first time, led to the determination of Black people to move forward and never again accept the status quo."]

    • Tell students: For our arts integration activity you are going to write a spoken word poem connected to the issues of identity, membership, and belonging. To inspire you, we are going to listen to two poems, written and delivered by youth.

    • Ask students to get out a blank piece of paper and a pen to be prepared for the “rapid-fire writing” exercise right after they listen to each poem. This exercise will help them process the poems.

    • Play Jonathan Lykes’ award-winning spoken word poem, Perception (4:08), which explores how prejudice influences our decisions about helping others. 

    • Think, Write, Read, Repeat- Using a timer, lead students through this series of steps:

      • 1 min: Quiet thought; no writing.

      • 3 min: Write (try not to stop writing the entire time).

      • 1 min: Read and circle three main ideas (words or phrases) from what you have written. No writing during this time. You can read, reread, and think, but do not start writing again.

      • 2 min: Write.

      • 30 sec: Read and put a square around one word or phrase.

      • 1 min: Write.

    • Wraparound (if you are in a classroom)/Chatstorm (if you are online): Tell students you would like to hear the single word or phrase that they boxed. Either have students say what they boxed around in a round robin rapid response; or invite them into a chatstorm with one minute to type their boxed word into the chatroom.

    • Play spoken word poem (3:19) by Amina Iro and Hannah Halpern who confront Muslim and Jewish stereotypes. They recited this poem onstage at the 2013 Brave New Voices quarter finals. Repeat the Think, Write, Read, Repeat exercise. Repeat Wraparound/or Chatstorm.

    • Tell students they are now going to create their own spoken word poetry.

  • Speaking Out With Spoken Word Poetry.

    [75 min]

    [Learning Intention 5]

    Procedures:

    • Tell students they are going to write their own spoken word poems.  Give students the Spoken Word Poetry worksheet and ask them to write a journal entry that responds to a line from Naomi Long Madgett’s Midway poem. 

    • (Optional) Replay the poems from the ‘Demonstration’ section or go to the Dig Deeper section and under poetry there are links to other poems.

    • Students can then use their journal entries as a starting place for their poems. You might include mini-lessons about literary devices such as imagery, figurative language, alliteration, consonance, dissonance, assonance, and repetition. 

    • After students have written, workshopped, and revised their poems, celebrate with an “author’s chair,” where students share their poems with the class. Other options to share:

      1. Publish them in a class book.

      2. Start a private YouTube channel and record and post students reciting their poetry.

      3. Hold a poetry slam (online or with a live audience).

  • Invite students to “dig deeper” on these topics by providing additional options for research and reflection about identity, membership, belonging and poetry as a pathway for change.

    Try-it-Out: Learning about others and understanding more about who they are and what they identify with is a great pathway to truly appreciating diversity. Try taking the time to learn about the grocer on the corner, or the restaurant owner in your neighborhood. What do “Windows” (things you learn that are new to you)  and “Mirrors” (things you share in your lived experiences) do for you? Does learning about other people who are different front you make you more distant; or does it do the opposite? Try it out. 

    Blog Posts

    Videos

    Poetry

    Lesson Plans

    • Hill To Climb- by 826 Digital. Students discuss the inaugural poem by Amanda Gorman and then write their own in response to it. 

    Articles (A few of these articles require a sign-in to Newsela but they are worth it!) 

    Websites

    • Victor Valley College Learning Resource Center- The information on this site will assist you with choosing a controversial topic and finding research materials presenting both sides of an issue. 

    • Newsela - Pro/Con section A great way for teachers and students to explore issues and look at multiple sides of an argument

    • Pro/Con.org- promotes civility, critical thinking, education, and informed citizenship by presenting the pro and con arguments to debatable issues in a straightforward, nonpartisan, freely accessible way.

    • Middle Ground School Solutionshelps educators face the challenges of a polarized society. Curriculum and programming position students to navigate lines of ideological divide, and customized workshops equip teachers to model the attitudes and behavior they wish to instill in students. Ultimately, Middle Ground School Solutions helps today’s young people grow into the tolerant, curious, and cooperative citizenry of tomorrow.

    • Facing History and Ourselvesis a global educational organization that reaches millions of students worldwide every year. Using the lessons of history — and history in the making — Facing History equips teachers to provide students with the skills to think critically and wrestle with difficult issues. 

    • The Aspen Instituteis a global nonprofit organization committed to realizing a free, just, and equitable society. Founded in 1949, the Institute drives change through dialogue, leadership, and action to help solve the most important challenges facing the United States and the world. 

    Documentary Films

    (Political films that are about moments of change have most defined the country’s evolution) 

    • Crip Nation- On the heels of Woodstock, a group of teen campers are inspired to join the fight for disability civil rights. This spirited look at grassroots activism is executive produced by President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama. 

    • Selma- (Trailer)Although the Civil Rights Act of 1964 legally desegregated the South, discrimination was still rampant in certain areas, making it very difficult for blacks to register to vote. In 1965, an Alabama city became the battleground in the fight for suffrage. Despite violent opposition, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (David Oyelowo) and his followers pressed forward on an epic march from Selma to Montgomery, and their efforts culminated in President Lyndon Johnson signing the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

    • Dolores- (Trailer) Raising 11 children while wrestling with gender bias, union defeat and victory, and nearly dying after a San Francisco Police beating, Dolores Huerta bucks 1950s gender conventions to co-found the country's first farmworkers' union.

Module 2

  • Essential Questions

    • Why does it matter who tells your story?

    • How can I make time/space to listen/read stories of those different than myself?

    • How can storytelling build trust and empathy?

    Learning Intentions – Upon completing this Module, students will:

    • Be able to describe the danger of a single story and the importance of many stories;

    • Recognize gaps in history education and the importance of extending the canon;

    • Evaluate the status quo and employ strategies to improve it;

    • Explain how how art is an important mode for communicating our human experience;

    • Employ art as an aesthetic tool to communicate messages about important historical and contemporary issues;

    • Be able to articulate the role of storytelling in building trust and promoting action for change.

    Success Criteria

    • I will contribute to filling in the gaps of U.S. history education by writing and publishing one lesser-known story about the contributions of a person of color. 

    • I will retell the stories I have learned in this module from Marian and others to my family members and friends to honor black history.

    Learning Outline

    This 4-hour module is on the Missing Pages: Our Untold History video presentation by Marian Howe-Taylor. It can be taught as a whole learning experience, or in chosen sections as time allows:  

    • 45 minutes: Launch Activity– The Danger Of A Single Story.

    • 20 minutes: While Viewing– Hearing New Stories.

    • 20 minutes: Post-Viewing– Historiography: Why Is It Important?

    • 110 minutes: Demonstration– Researching And Writing Our Untold History.

    • 60+ minutes: Making Connections– Arts Integration Project - Zinemaking

  • Suggested Videos: 

    The Danger of a Single Story (19:16 min) Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

    Historical Boston Church Reconciles With Its Ties to Slavery (2:47) -Newsy

    Who Will Write Our History (37:39 min) Facing History

    Suggested Books

    5 New Books on Black History and Life- Facing History

    Worksheets

    Our Untold History

    Tutorials for Zine Arts Integration Project:  

    How to Make A Zine

    A Beginner’s Guide to Making Zines

    Appendices

    Appendix A- Missing Pages Research Aid

  • Launch Activity–Pre-Viewing: The Danger Of A Single Story.

    [45min]

    [Learning Intention 1]

    Procedures: 

    • Ask students: Does it matter who tells your story? To initiate the discussion you the teacher might recount a time when someone told your story and it didn’t sit well. Describe how it made you feel (misrepresented, frustrated, betrayed…) Then have volunteers share. 

    • Watch The Danger of a Single Story (19:16) by Nigerian Author, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. Provide students with the following questions to answer while they watch: 

      1. According to Chimamanda, how do you create a single story? Show people as only one thing and one thing only, over and over again, and that is what they become.”

      2. What does the single story have to do with power? Power is the ability not only to tell the story (or not tell the story) of another person or group, but to make that story the definitive of that person or group. Power dictates how stories are told, when they are told, how many stories are told, which stories and by whom. 

    • Discuss a few student responses.

    • Repeat Chimamanda’s message: Stories matter. Many stories matter. Many stories provide multiple perspectives. Stories can be used to empower and humanize. Stories can be used to break the dignity of people, but can also repair that broken dignity. 

    • Add: Excluding someone or a group of people from the story all together is as dangerous as telling a single story. In a discussion, have students brainstorm why this could be dangerous. 

    While Viewing: Hearing New Stories.

    [20 min]

    [Learning Intention 2]

    Procedures: 

    • Read this introduction to students: Marian Howe-Taylor grew up in Boston, and raised in a family that was active in the black civil rights movement, starting in the early 1960’s. Her highly educated father and mother, who ran in the circles of Martin Luther King and John Lewis, taught Marian history lessons that included Black U.S. history and tales of men and women upstanders, of whom she never studied in history class.  She didn’t approve of these stories being left out, and still doesn’t.  An educator by trade, and storyteller at heart, Marian is committed to filling in the missing pages, telling the untold stories, and educating the world about Black History and Black experience. 

    • Give students the “Our Untold History” worksheet and tell students: As you watch Missing Pages: Our Untold History where Marian shares the stories her father taught her as a young girl on black people’s contribution and role in U.S. history, take notes on the story details you hear. 

    • *Note: These stories are how Marian remembers them. Students will use these stories as a jumping off point to do their own research using primary sources. 

    Post-Viewing: Historiography: Why Is It Important?

    [20 min]

    [Learning Intentions 2,3 ]

    Procedures

    • Tell students: Now that you have heard Marian’s story, we are going to continue to examine how history has been written/told, and especially at how certain stories have been left out. Ask them to share what they learned from Marian about stories that were left out. 

    • The name for studying both how history is written and how our understanding of this history changes over time is called “Historiography.” Write this on the board or type it into the chatroom. 

    • Why is Historiography important? 

      1. It helps us understand why historical events have been interpreted so differently over time. 

      2. Historiography lets us study history with a critical eye. It helps us understand what biases may have shaped the historical period.

    • 1 min Chatstorm: Ask students what they know about Paul Revere and to put everything they know into the chat. (If students don’t know who he is, give them a quick overview.) Acknowledge their responses and ask them where they learned all of this? Now let’s take a look at what you weren’t taught. Let them know that the name of the church where Paul Revere rode in on horseback heralding “The British are Coming; British are Coming!” and lit the two bell towers is called The North Church. Today, the North Church is looking at how they are telling their history with a critical eye (engaging in historiography) and seeing that telling only the story of Paul Revere is leaving a very big part of the church’s history out. 

    • Play Historical Boston Church Reconciles With Its Ties to Slavery (2:47) 

    • Ask students

      1. Why is the history currently taught at the 300-year-old church not a completely accurate portrayal of the church’s past?

      2. Why is this church synonymous with ties to American freedom and why is this ironic? 

      3. Why do you think this part of the church’s history hasn’t been told? Why do people think it is important to tell it now?

    • What did Marian say about why it is important to include Black stories in our history lessons? 

    • Tell students we are going to do our part and make a contribution to history education. 

    Demonstration:  Researching And Writing Our Untold History.

    [110 min]

    [Learning Intentions 4,5]

    Procedures: 

    • Tell Students: We are going to make a Zine that educates our readers (later in the lesson you will identify your readers) on Black History. In pairs, you are going to research, write, and contribute a ‘Black History bio’ page to the Zine on a Black upstander (a person who speaks or acts in support of an individual or cause) of your choice. 

    • Explain: A Zine is a self published, small circulation publication of original or appropriated texts and images. It is often a vibrant, volatile, thriving social practice that can describe deep currents and concerns within one’s culture. (Either share your screen and google zine examples; or have them google zines to explore a variety of examples.)

    • Tell them that one group of 3-4 students will be responsible for producing the Zine. Assign Zine Team production duties. They could include: 

      1. Study Zine-making by watching tutorials.

        1. How to Make A Zine

        2. A Beginner’s Guide to Making Zines

      2. Establish an overall design.

      3. Set submission expectations (size of paper; orientation of text; margins).

      4. Check-in with student pairs on making the deadline.

      5. Oversee the design of the front and back cover.

    • Zines can take on many forms. Here are a few suggested options:

      1. Option 1: Students can handwrite or type and print, design (color, add sketches, etc.), their ‘Black History bio’ Zine page. 

      2. Option 2: Students can send the Zine Team their ‘Black History bio’ digitally with digital design elements such as photographs. The Zine Team prints and compiles the Zine. 

      3. Option 3: The Zine Team can create a digital Zine using Canva (free) or Flipsnack (subscription) or other. 

    • *Note. For digital projects, have each student team create a ‘Black History Zine’ folder on a shared drive that is accessible to the Zine Team.  Students put all digital assets into the folder along with any instructions.

    • Present the Zine options above and have the class decide on the format of the Zine. The Zine Team will meet to begin studying Zinemaking and discussing logistics while in pairs the writers and researchers begin their research. Have them first explore Appendix A- Missing Pages Research Aid (optional) When they decide who they want to research and write about, have them pitch you through email. The pitch should include the upstander’s full name and a paragraph explaining why they think this individual’s history should be told. Avoid any overlap (make sure no one is writing on the same upstander).

    • Allow another class period for student pairs to research and write, and for the Zine Team to plan and design. Make sure the Zine Team provides submission guidelines to student pairs before the deadline. 

  • Zinemaking

    [60+ min]

    [Learning Intentions 5,6]

    Procedures: 

    • Ask Students: What was Marian’s message in the Missing Pages: Our Untold History video you watched?

    • Tell students: We are creating a Zine that honors Marian’s history and plight to have Black History acknowledged and shared. Our Zine will be about Black upstanders and their contribution as part of the history of our nation. Your work is to fill in a missing page in our history books. The goal is to educate and broaden perspective. 

    • Ask the class: Who is our audience? Who would they like to read this Zine? How can you reach this goal? Can it be housed in the school library? Are there other students doing this project and can it become part of a collection? Consider assigning each student pair to a distribution role. With whom and how will they share this history book?

    • The Zine Team collects all the ‘black history bio’ submissions from the students and compiles the Zine. *Note. If the Zine Team is working during class time you could engage other students with the following options: 

      1. 5 New Books on Black History and Life- Assign readings from one of these books and have students discuss, and /or write a review.

      2. Watch film: Who Will Write Our History (37:39 min) and do lessons (from Facing History)

    • Ask the class, “How can the stories in this Zine build trust and empathy?” 

    • Black History Zine Launch: Have the Zine Team present the final Zine to the class (consider inviting others to attend the ‘Black History Zine Launch.’ The Zine Team can present a few stories featured in the Zine or student pairs can talk about their entries or the process of learning about this history and why it is important to fill in the missing pages of our untold history.

  • Invite students to “dig deeper” on these topics by providing additional options for research and reflection about missing pages and our untold history.

    Podcasts

    • Good Trouble Media- Good Trouble Media is on a mission to make equitable schooling and high-quality education an international priority. By telling authentic stories of the people behind and within global education systems, they provide engaging digital content and tangible tools to help game-changers and budding leaders commit to and grapple with improving our education system.

    Lesson Plans

    Exhibits

    • The Oral History Institute of Salt Lake City created a photo-documentary exhibit from the Missing Stories Oral History Project, titled "Working Together: A Utah Portfolio." The photographs in the exhibit were selected to dramatize the way members of each ethnic and minority community in Utah lived, worked, and worshipped, from 1920 to 1985. These photographs are housed in the Photo Archives at the J. Willard Marriott Library. 

    Videos

    • Who Will Write Our History? - This educational version of the documentary tells the story of the Oyneg Shabes archive, created by a clandestine group in the Warsaw Ghetto who vowed to defeat Nazi lies and propaganda by detailing life in the ghetto from the Jewish perspective.

    • John Lewis: The Selma To Montgomery Marches | MLK | TIME

    • The Capitol Through Her Eyes- New Mexico Representative Deb Haaland becomes the secretary of the interior. She is the first Native American to lead a Cabinet department and lead the Bureau of Indian Affairs, which oversees the nearly 600 federally recognized indigenous tribes. She reminds us of the often ignored and forgotten contributions Indigenous people make to our country

    • Green Flake Movie (Trailer)

    Websites

    • King Center- In accordance with Dr. King’s nonviolent philosophy and methodology (Nonviolence365®), the King Center provides education and training, support advocacy, formulate policy and foster research in order to promote a world that reflects the Beloved Community where all people are valued, respected and treated with dignity.

    • NAACP Salt Lake Branch-NAACP Salt Lake Branch is a civil rights organization based in Salt Lake City, Utah. We focus on civil rights issues surrounding discrimination against United States citizens while providing college and youth scholarships that help our members avoid the traps of discriminatory loans and lending practices.

    Articles

Module 3

  • Essential Questions:

    • What strategies can we use to build a diverse, civil, equitable, and harmonious community?

    • Why is activism essential for a participatory democracy?

    • How can I engage as a member of my local, state, national and global community? What opportunities do I already have?

    • How does art provide a platform for those whose stories have historically not been included?

    • How can students use art to both bear witness and seek change?

    Learning Intentions–Upon completing this Module, students will:

    • Be able to describe the history and tenets of the Beloved Community;

    • Relay the foundations for living equitably and harmoniously in a diverse community;

    • Employ art as a tool to communicate important historical and contemporary issues;

    • Be able to identify pathways to positive change.

    Success Criteria

    1. I can teach others the history and tenets of the Beloved Community to others; 

    2. I will share the beloved community film and my art project with my family and come up with one way my family can contribute to bettering our community.

    Learning Outline

    This module is organized around Marian Howe-Taylor and Amy MacDonald’s Pathways Towards Change: The Beloved Community video presentation. It can be taught as one 4.5-hour learning experience, or in sections that combine as few or many of the activities as time allows. It is designed to be taught in the order below:

    • 20-35 minutes: Launch Activity: Pre-Viewing–The History Of The Beloved Community.

    • 25 minutes: While Viewing- The Beloved Community Project: Utah.

    • 45 minutes: Post Viewing–  The Beloved Classroom Community.

    • 60 minutes: Demonstration– The Beloved Community Project Film & Its Beloved Storytellers.

    • 90-120 minutes: Making Connections: Arts Integration Project- Sensory Disruption: 3 Parts; 3 Panels; 3 Acts.

  • Suggested Videos: 

    Gandhi, The Power of Nonviolence (4:31)- NBC Learn

    MLK Beloved Community (7:46)

    I will be a hummingbird (2:01)- Wangari Maathai

    The Beloved Community Project Film (21:50)-  Co-created and produced by Marian Howe-Taylor & Amy MacDonald 

    Worksheets

    The Beloved Community worksheet

    Suggested Articles

    Bringing the Beloved Community into the Classroom- Facing History. This suggested reading is to help teachers discuss difficult topics such as racism and current events in the classroom. How do educators walk the fine line between teaching and telling, between educating and indoctrinating? How do you create social and emotional safe places for discussion?

    Appendix A: Beloved Storytellers Profiles

    Supplies for Arts Integration Activity: Sensory Disruption: 3 Parts; 3 Panels

    For this activity, students, in groups of 3, are given their choice of artform, so supplies will vary. Artform options could include painting, music, acting, dancing, creative writing, etc.

    Jamboard is a suggested brainstorming tool.

  • Launch Activity–Pre-Viewing: The History of the Beloved Community

    [25+ min]

    [Learning Intention 1]

    Procedures:

    • Tell students: We are going to learn about the Beloved Community as it was originated by Gandhi, and perpetuated and popularized by Martin Luther King. 

    • Give students the Beloved Community Worksheet and review the definition of the Beloved Community as articulated by Martin Luther King: The Beloved Community is a global vision in which all people can share in the wealth of the earth. In the Beloved Community, poverty, hunger and homelessness will not be tolerated because international standards of human decency will not allow it.  Racism and all forms of discrimination, bigotry and prejudice will be replaced by an all-inclusive spirit of sisterhood and brotherhood. King believed that it is possible to create civil, equitable and harmonious communities through non-violent social change.

    • Tell students: Though Martin Luther King popularized the Beloved Community in the United States and whose name is the most closely associated with it, the Beloved Community was started long before Dr. King. The term Beloved Community was coined by philosopher-theologian Josiah Royce in the early 20th century. 

    • Mahatma Gandhi was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist who lived the tenets of the Beloved Community.  His nonviolent resistance led to India's independence from British rule.  

    • Play Gandhi, The Power of Nonviolence (4:31 min) and ask students to respond to this question and record their answer on their worksheet: How did Gandhi’s life of activism reflect the tenets of the Beloved Community? Have a few volunteers share their responses. Review the following: 

    • Satyagraha- A form of protest Gandhi employed to free 75,000 Indians living in South Africa. The term means “Truth and Force” (moral force)

    • He firmly believed people couldn’t win their rights through violence. 

    • Dressed like, lived with, and worked for the Dhoti- a group of Indians considered lower class. He believed in equality.

    • He held peaceful protests demanding independence from Britain.

    • Dreamt of an India where Hindus, Muslims, and Seek lived peacefully side-by-side. 

    • Gandhi inspired movements for civil rights and freedom across the world, including Martin Luther King about a decade later. (Optional: Play MLK Beloved Community (7:46 min) and discuss his vision and how he articulates the Beloved Community.)

    • Tell students they are going to watch Pathways Toward Change: The Beloved Community Project based on an interview with Marian Howe-Taylor and Amy MacDonald. If this is their first introduction to Marian and Amy, read students the introduction at the start of this unit. (Abridged Version: In this video the two women discuss how they met and how the project snowballed into an ever-growing diverse community of dancers, activists, and Utah community members who believe that love can change the world.) 

    While Viewing: The Beloved Community Project: Utah

    [25 min]

    [Learning Intention 2,4]

    Procedures:

    1. Tell students to take notes and respond to the following questions on their The Beloved Community worksheet as they watch Pathways Toward Change: The Beloved Community Project:

      • How do Marian and Amy model the tenets of the Beloved Community?

      • How do Marian and Amy use art in their efforts to build a Beloved Community in Utah?

      • Marian’s last words in the video were, “Love can change the world.” Can you share some examples from your life where you found this was true?”

    Post-Viewing: The Beloved Classroom Community

    [45 min]

    [Learning Intention 2]

    Procedures: 

    • Put students into small breakout rooms of 3-4 to discuss their responses. 

    • Ask them to prepare a response (record on their worksheets) to the following question: What does it look like to create a Beloved Classroom Community? 

    • As a class, have a spokesperson from each group share their response to the last question “What does it look like to create a Beloved Classroom Community?” 

    • Offer this definition: One which respects the dignity and worth of every human.

    Demonstration: The Beloved Community Project Film & Its Beloved Storytellers

    [60 min]

    [Learning Intentions 3,4]

    Procedures:

    • Tell students: In Pathways Toward Change: The Beloved Community Project video, Marian tells you how she got started recording stories of Black Change makers in Utah while doing her capstone project for her Master’s program. After teaming up with her instructor and community leader, Amy Macdonald, they made a film about the Beloved Community that integrates stories Marian had gathered, along with dance and film excerpts from the Brolly Arts Black Social Change, and more, to illuminate the Beloved Community. Project.

    • The film focuses on Dr. Martin Luther King’s articulation of the Beloved Community in that it is possible to create civil, equitable and harmonious communities through non-violent social change. The Beloved Community Project Utah—through film, storytelling, history, current events and movement—addresses global issues with local relevance and asks what each of us can do for change.

    • Tell students: The personal stories in the film are presented in chunks or acts and follow the structure of the 3-act story arc. It helps to visualize these acts. Imagine a tree. Picture the roots of your tree. The roots are Act I where we learn each person’s story of origin or background- where they came from and what they were doing.  Now envision the trunk of your tree- Is it long, short, stumpy, narrow, straight, or curvy? What color is it?  The trunk is Act II. Act II represents each person’s experiences, including how they made it to Utah, and what obstacles and major challenges they faced. The branches and leaves of your tree represent Act III. The branches are their resilience, perseverance. The leaves represent the growth– the rising above the challenges.

    • Tell students that for their arts integration project they will be creating art around one of six storytellers in the film. Have them fill out #5 on the Beloved Community Project worksheet. Tell them to take good notes as they will need to refer back to them for their final art project. 

    • Have students watch the 25 min Beloved Community Project Film.

    • Review each of the storytellers in the film (use Appendix A: Beloved Storytellers Profiles as a guide). Have volunteers share their notes with the class.

    • Ask students: Which of the storytellers most inspired you? Explain. Have them write down who most inspired them and then three bullet points on why. Ask a few students to share their responses.

    • Put students in groups of 3 for their arts integration project. (Put students together based on who they said inspired them most.) 

  • Sensory Disruption: 3 Parts; 3 Panels; 3 Acts.

    [90-120 min]

    [Learning Intention 3]

    Procedures:

    • For inspiration, play I will be a hummingbird (2:01)- Wangari Maathai. As a class, discuss the central message and how this relates to the Beloved Community– if everyone takes a slice, makes an effort, does what they can no matter how small, living in a diverse, harmonious, and equitable community can happen.

    • Play the Beloved Community Film (optional) again and ask students to jot down how dance is used and what it communicates in the film. This will also give students a chance to revisit with the storytellers before they start their art projects. (If time is short, play the film trailer and discuss how dance was used in the film.)

    • Tell students: The exercise is for your group to communicate your storyteller’s story through art. It will serve as your first contribution to the Beloved Community and an artifact of this unit. You will choose your own medium. Some suggestions are dance, painting, acting, music, poetry. Choose any of these or another artform to communicate this whole story and do it in 3’s to represent each act in the traditional story arc: do either 3 panels, 3 scenes, 3 dance or music segments, etc. 

    • Remind students of the 3 quotes from the children whose faces appeared in the film. 15:38 in Beloved Community Project Film. Have them record these in the on their Beloved Community Project worksheet in the space provided under #6, to use for inspiration as they create art:

      1. Find ways to engage with the beloved community.

      2. Hope is part of nonviolent protest.

      3. Want and hope for a better world and be willing to sacrifice for it.

    • Have students review their Beloved Community worksheets.  Tell them to think across all the artforms and brainstorm how through art they could best represent elements of the story. (Suggest that one group member record the brainstorm ideas either on the back of the worksheet or on a Jamboard.) Once they have something down for each element of the story, tell them that as a group it is time to decide what artform they will choose to communicate the whole story. 

    • As the teacher, consult with each group with regards to what supplies, resources, and support they will need to create in their chosen artform. Discuss the final exhibition with them and how their group will present their final project.

    • Have students revisit the three quotes from the children in the film. Ask them, “What 3 quotes can your group come up with to pass on to the Beloved Community? Tell them they can incorporate their three quotes into their art project or keep them separate and say them out loud at the final exhibition.

    • Hold an exhibition (school wide, to parents, or at an existing event) where a class member introduces the audience to the concept of the Beloved Community and each group then presents their art along with the 3 quotes they are contributing. 

    • Reflect on the exhibition and discuss impactful moments that brought the community together.

  • Invite students to “dig deeper” on these topics by providing additional options for research and reflection about the Beloved Community to build connections and compel people to action.   

    Exploring the Beloved Community and Teaching:

    Study Guide

    Videos

    • The Holy Heiress: A 23 min documentary on Katherine Drexel and the work she did to initiate the Beloved Community in the world. In 1891, as a nun, she founded the Blessed Sacrament Sisters for Indians and Colored People. 

    Websites

    • King Center- In accordance with Dr. King’s nonviolent philosophy and methodology (Nonviolence365®), the King Center provides education and training, support advocacy, formulate policy and foster research in order to promote a world that reflects the Beloved Community where all people are valued, respected and treated with dignity.

    • The 1619 Project- New York Times Reframing of US History

    News Articles

    Lesson Plans