Social Justice Activities:
Explore the terms, "generational wealth," and, "generational trauma," as it relates to this event.
Research together the Maroons, Trail of Tears and Black cultural folktales. Learn more about these topics and create a timeline or infographic to visually represent findings.
Gather other stories of enslavement resistance. Create a list with students and discuss why knowing the stories of resistance is important.
Justice 12. Students will recognize unfairness on the individual level (e.g., biased speech) and injustice at the institutional or systemic level (e.g., discrimination).
Justice 14. Students will recognize that power and privilege influence relationships on interpersonal, intergroup and institutional levels and consider how they have been affected by those dynamics.
Justice 15. Students will identify figures, groups, events and a variety of strategies and philosophies relevant to the history of social justice around the world.
Reading Strategies:
Perspective: Whose perspective is the story told from (the river's). Why do you think the author choose to tell the story from the river's perspective. How would the story be different it told by someone else's perspective?
Author's Craft: Why does the author choose to write this book? Why is this history important to know?
Genre: This book is considered Black cultural folklore. What does that mean? How is it different from mythology, oral story telling and fairy tales?
Comparing Genres: Compare this text with Black is a Rainbow Color which also discusses magnolia flowers.
Teacher Resources: