Grandmama's Pride

Grandmama's Pride

Author: Becky BirthaIllustrator: Colin BootmanPublisher: Albert Whitman ' CompanyCopyright: 2005Genre: Historical FictionTopics: Civil Rights movement, discrimination, equality, justice, segregation, freedom

Time line refresherof some major events

1963

Even though she spends a great deal of time in the South, Sarah Marie has never realized the segregation. But that's all about to change, since Sarah Marie has learned to read.

Sarah Marie reads everything-- "Whites only," "White women," etc.

Young Sarah Marie visits her Grandmama every summer, who lives in the segregated South.

I learned that racism could be challenged in peaceful ways.

1955

Rosa Parks is arrested for not giving up her seat on a bus. This sparks the Montgomery Bus Boycott which lasts for over a year. Eventually, segregation on the buses in Montgomery comes to an end

1957

Nine African-American students in Arkansas attend a previously all-white high school. Army troops are brought in to protect them.

1961

1964

The March on Washington by over 200,000 protesters occurs. Martin Luther King, Jr. gives his "I Have a Dream" speech.

The Freedom Riders protest by riding buses into the segregated southern states challenging their Jim Crow laws.

the Civil Rights movement

The Civil Rights Act is signed into law by President Lyndon Johnson. It outlaws discrimination based on race, national origin, and gender. It also outlaws segregation and the Jim Crow laws.

Why has it taken Sarah Marie so long to notice such segregation?

Simply because her Grandmama is too proud. Why would Sarah Marie want to take the bus when she has strong legs for walking? Why visit the rest stop when Grandmama packed her lunch? Why would Sarah Marie drink from the water fountain when her Grandmama will make fresh lemon-mint iced tea?

I also learned that being too passive in regards to racism would not form any solutions.