Course Description

No fees/no required extracurriculars. Optional movies/productions may be encouraged, as available in  the community.  

This course reviews and explores the many events and roles played by many personages, often unknown or unheralded, who have influenced, impacted and contributed to the ongoing struggle to meet and achieve the goals of the Civil Rights Movement in the United States.  Not limited to exploration of the development of case law in the United States, this course challenges students to read, research and discover the various ways Black people, and their non-Black allies, devised methods to speak up and speak out, during times when society’s rules dictated that people of color and women should be ‘seen and not heard,’ and yet, their determined courage set forth waves and voluminous, impactful messages, declaring the injustices perpetrated by a nation that proclaimed its allegiance to the value of ‘liberty and justice for all.’ Challenging students to research and discover events in history that clearly preceded the traditional years of the Civil Rights Movement, i.e., as associated with the iconic figures of Mrs. Rosa Parks and the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., a century of struggle and fighting for civil and human rights, unveils a rich backdrop to the more commonly known events of the Movement, and beyond.  There is so much MORE.

Research and readings are revealing about the lives, historic triumphs and tragedies of Black men and women, and their allies of many races and cultural backgrounds, as they navigated America’s 400 year history of bias and prejudicial injustices, either through quiet, shadow orchestration or bold and loud voices.  Additionally, examination and critical assessment of contemporary events and issues continues the analysis of the continuing struggle for civil and human rights, decades beyond the traditional years of the Movement, and invites reflection on the struggles into the 21st century in America and beyond.

Texts

Brown-Nagin, Tomika,Civil Rights Queen:  Constance Baker Motley and the Struggle for Equality, 2022,  ISBN-13 978-1-5247-4718-3

Kendi, Ibram X., Blain, Keisha N., Four Hundred Souls: A Community History of African American, 1619-2019,  2021, Random House, New York

Wills, Shomari, Black Fortunes: The Story of the First Six African Americans Who Survived Slavery and Became Millionaires,  January 29, 2019, (Paperback )

Requirements

No Pre-requisites.  Assignments include Readings, Discussion Qs. and Peer/Instructor Interaction, Assessments (Oral presentation, PPT./Media Presentation, one (1) Research Paper; Final Project is a combination of Oral and PPT. presentation).  No traditional exams.  Text readings are supplemented by video clips and documentaries with occasional current news/media pieces.

About the Instructor(s): Marsha K. Hardeman

Marsha K. Hardeman, J.D., M.A.P.A., is a  graduate of the University of New Mexico’s School of Law and also earned a Master’s degree in Public Administration at U.N.M., plus a Double Major in Sociology and Psychology from Indiana University. Hardeman has worked in the City Attorney’s Office, Director of Personnel Services, Dept. of Human Services and the Albuquerque Convention Center’s Executive Director, all with the City of Albuquerque. Teaching, since 1999, in higher education, Hardeman has owned/operated her own Management Training and Consulting practice since1987, and has been a long-time activist in her community, a public speaker of varied topics in the public and private sectors, and has been privileged to travel across the United States and abroad as a teacher and trainer.  She says she loves it all!