As part of their spring performance of June 3, 1992, the dance students of New Haven’s ECA (Educational Center for the Arts) danced down Audubon Street to music and to a student’s reciting Rodney King’s words. There were tears in the eyes of the audience. Speeches such as this one are excellent for oratorical exercises. Students who do little else might shine as they study and or memorize a speech or a poem that they love either in front of an audience or on tape.
When works of literature are so powerful, they lend themselves to other creative endeavors. Students should be led to find or write music to these words, choreograph dances to them, or illustrate them in drawing, painting or photography. The stimulus in this case is the speech. You can also have the students read newspaper and magazine articles about what happened in Los Angeles this year. Have them read materials about other city uprisings (Watts; Democratic Convention in Chicago; Miami, 1990; Sharpesville, South Africa; etc.). Speak to your resident historian for ideas) and have them compare the causes and discuss the ramifications. The articles are written in the third person. Have them try this person and also try exercises with the first person. Let them decide which they find most effective. Some more suggestions follow:
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Show the tape of the Rodney King beating, or to footage of the Los Angeles uprisings. Set them to music; write rap to them.
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Show photographs of the riots, Watts, Los Angeles. Have students read speeches as a student shows the still shots as slides. Students write their own commentaries.
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Show photos of children of New Haven from the local newspapers, from national magazines. Have students write poems, or lists of words, or essays about them. Have the students (or you do it first) set the photos to music, dance, mime.
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Use a camera to take photographs of the city. Have the students try the same. While doing so have your students get people’s permission to videotape them at play and at work so that they can return with a video camera (there are a few at Gateway) and have your students video scenes in the community, buildings, neighbors, people at work.
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Show movies about the city. For eighth graders and above, I recommend “Hester Street” (Jewish immigrants on the Lower East Side), Spike Lee’s “Do the Right Thing” (inner city racism), “Boys n the Hood” (growing up in the violence of Los Angeles), “E1 Norte” (a pair of siblings suffer as illegal aliens in California), “City of Joy” (a pocket of hope in Calcutta) and “Cinema Paradiso” (a cinematographer”s memory of growing up with films and his adult friend). Discussions about these movies will be heated and lengthy. Of course, be sure you see them first. The first four are highly controversial and different degrees of depressing.
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Show tapes of talk shows that deal with issues that interest you and the students such as Oprah Winfrey shows after the Los Angeles uprisings, and other city based shows.
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Show slides of reproductions of city art work such as the collages of Romare Bearden and paintings by other Afro-American artists of the city, Jacob Lawrence, William Johnson and Haden Palmer. Two sources for materials on city artists are the Museum of Harlem (1-212-864-4500) and E1 Museo del Barreo (1-212-831-7272). Both will send you collection listings and their museum stores will send book catalogues. Don’t forget to show city murals and graffiti in New Haven itself.
