4: Rosa Parks and Company: Situating Historical Figures and Events Within the Larger Context of Civil Rights and Liberties

Epps and Harper turn from international topics to delve into historical figures and events positioned within the United States’ civil rights and liberties movement. The chapter begins with a review of selected acts and ideologies that catapulted America to their independence and then segues to the country’s post-Revolutionary War and contemporary pursuits of a more perfect Union. Connecting the past with the present, the authors identify civil rights and liberties as both a national and personal issue, one that may be examined with a fugitive pedagogy that forms relational and participatory learning engagements. Rosa Parks and Company: Situating Historical Figures and Events Within the Larger Context of Civil Rights and Liberties concludes with multidisciplinary learning ideas that include legislative, executive, and judicial actions, civil rights activists, White resistance to the civil rights movement, and the role of young people in the civil rights movement.