“I Am Not Your Negro”

Posted by Speakeasy News > Tuesday 09 May 2017 > What's On

In 1987, James Baldwin died without having finished his last book. He left just thirty pages of the manuscript. The book was intended to be a personal account of the assassination of three of his friends: Medgar Evers, Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Jr.  In the documentary film I Am Not Your Negro, Raoul … Continue reading ““I Am Not Your Negro””

Oscars 2017: NotSoWhite

Posted by Speakeasy News > Thursday 16 February 2017 > What's On

The 2016 Oscars received as much publicity for the people and subjects it didn’t honour as the red-carpet dresses or the tearful speeches. The #OscarsSoWhite campaign complained that the nominations to all four top categories only featured white faces and white stories. The 2017 nominations are a radical change. Even if the nostalgic musical La … Continue reading “Oscars 2017: NotSoWhite”

Fighting for the Right to Love

Posted by Speakeasy News > Thursday 16 February 2017 > Webpicks

Loving tells the astonishing true story of an American couple who married in 1958 and spent the first nine years of their marriage fighting the segregationist laws that found them guilty of the crime of loving someone who was a different colour. Richard Loving and Mildred Jeter were childhood sweethearts in Virginia. When Mildred became … Continue reading “Fighting for the Right to Love”

Martin Luther King Day on the Web

Posted by Speakeasy News > Monday 16 January 2017 > Webpicks

These videos will help you discuss Martin Luther King Day in class. The third Monday in January, close to MLK’s birthday on the 15th, is a federal holiday and a day of service when citizens are encouraged to volunteer in their communities. This 60-second Public Service Announcement for the day of service s simple – … Continue reading “Martin Luther King Day on the Web”

Women Unite

Posted by Speakeasy News > Monday 16 January 2017 > In the News

There will be a big event in Washington on 21 January. No, not the Inauguration. The day after Donald Trump enters the White House, women’s organisations are calling for women to mobilise to make it clear that they will defend their rights against any threat from the new administration. Donald Trump managed to offend many … Continue reading “Women Unite”

Montgomery Bus Boycott: A Victory for Civil Rights

Posted by Speakeasy News > Monday 28 November 2016 > Celebrate

Sixty years ago, on 20 December, 1956, Martin Luther King and his fellow campaigners won a first victory in the long battle for African-American civil rights. The Montgomery Bus Boycott, which had begun when Rosa Parks famously refused to move to the back of the bus, finally ended after 381 days, when the Supreme Court … Continue reading “Montgomery Bus Boycott: A Victory for Civil Rights”

Civil Rights: The Montgomery Bus Boycott

Posted by Speakeasy News > Friday 25 November 2016 > Ready to Use

Sixty years ago, the Montgomery Bus Boycott, which had started on 5 December, 1955, after Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to give up her seat, finally ended. It was the first victory for Martin Luther King on the road to civil rights for African Americans. This B1-level article recapitulates the beginnings of the Civil … Continue reading “Civil Rights: The Montgomery Bus Boycott”

African-American Artists and Segregation

Posted by Speakeasy News > Friday 25 November 2016 > What's On

“The Color Line” exhibition at Quai de Branly in Paris reviews the history of discrimination in the U.S.A. through the eyes of African-American artists. The show is an exploration of 150 years of American history from the end of the Civil War with the abolition of slavery, to segregation, the civil rights movement and the … Continue reading “African-American Artists and Segregation”

The Times They Are A-Changin’

Posted by Speakeasy News > Thursday 13 October 2016 > In the News

For the first time ever, the Nobel Prize for Literature has been awarded not to a novelist, playwright or poet, but to a songwriter: Bob Dylan. The 2016 Nobel was awarded to the 75-year-old folk-rock legend, “for having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition”. The singer-songwriter was born in 1941 in … Continue reading “The Times They Are A-Changin’”