Please post response paper 3 here. They are due by the last day of class.

Post a one or two paragraph response to one of the following questions by Monday:

“Consciousness-Raising”:
1. How would you define the phrase “the personal is political”? What were the advantages of exploring how personal life was shaped by power relations, many of which were informed by gender norms? Was consciousness-raising (CR) important? Why or why not?
2. What kinds of responses did CR invoke, and why did it spark these responses? Was this an effective way for women to analyze their position in society? What might be some limitations of this process?

“The Small Group Process”:
1. Think about the two assumptions that CR depended upon. Were these assumptions valid? Why or why not? Would other groups aiming to bring about social change benefit from something like CR? Why or why not?

Post your second response paper here. Don't wait until the end of the unit--you can do one at any time.

Select one of the questions below a write a brief (one or two paragraph) response to it.

“It Wasn’t Hard to be a Communist in Texas”:
1. What does Pardun mean by “communist” here? How does the meaning of this term change throughout? What are your reactions to this?
2. In what ways was the author changed by protest activity? How does he describe emerging criticisms of universities? To what extent had these been foreshadowed by the “Port Huron Statement?”
3. How did students from the South and Midwest change SDS? What effects did the counterculture have on activism in Austin? What remnants, if any, do you see of sixties-style activism and the counterculture in Austin?
4. What factors does Pardun identify in the unraveling of the new left? Compare and contrast the differences within SDS with those within the civil rights movement.

For Friday’s discussion of voter registration and the Selma to Montgomery March, select one of the following questions and post a brief (one or two paragraph) response to it. Just use the questions as a jumping off point; if you’d like to go in a different direction, feel free to do so. You can also use these questions to write a response paper.

“Selma Freedom Day”:
1. This first selection, from James Forman’s autobiography, gives some background on the ongoing voter registration work in Selma, AL. Why does Forman see the advertisement he begins the chapter with as evidence that the White Citizens’ Council was on the defensive? What analysis does he offer of the power structure of the South, and how, if at all, does it differ from common assumptions? From your own?
2. What were some of the effects of Freedom Day? Which seem most significant to you? What was the significance of shifting efforts from ending segregation to registering voters? Which goal do you see as more important, and why?

Please post response paper 1 here. Don't procrastinate! Respond to one of the readings, a class discussion, or one of the multimedia presentations.

Pick one of the questions below and write a brief response to it by Monday. I have also provided you with a key to the acronyms of some of the civil rights organizations you will be reading about. You will find this useful to refer to throughout this unit.

COFO – The Congress of Federated Organizations. This organization was formed in 1962 as a coalition between existing civil rights organizations.
CORE – The Congress of Racial Equality.
NAACP – The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. This organization was formed much earlier in the century and focused on using legal means to combat discrimination. Like the Urban Leagues, it was deemed too conservative and slow-moving by many young people.
SCLC – The Southern Christian Leadership Conference. This organization formed during the Montgomery Bus Boycotts and had Martin Luther King, Jr., as its most prominent member and leader. It was composed of southern ministers and church workers.