It’s not just reading and ‘riting at the New York Public Library’s literacy programs — there’s reels too.
Teachers at NYPL’s adult literacy programs in Harlem recently took students out of the stacks and into the movie theater as part of a specially-designed lesson on America’s civil rights history.
The diverse classes — with members from all around the globe — braved frigid temps to get to the Magic Johnson Theater for a viewing of “Selma,” the sweeping saga that recounts Martin Luther King Jr.’s determined march for voting rights in Alabama in 1965.
“This will give people who watch the movie more hope. Oh my goodness, it is because they did all of that … I can say we enjoy life in USA,” said Jean-Eudes Gnonlonfoun, 32, an English as a Second Language student from Benin, West Africa.
“As a person, as an African American, that movie is so exciting to me,” said Haitian Richard Laurent, 35.
“It’s a story all the world should know about. This kind of movie is very important. It not only tells us about sad things, it teaches us that a lack of civil rights should not be accepted,” the ESOL student said.
Many of those who participated are students at the Aguilar Adult Learning Center at the NYPL’s East Harlem branch on 110th Street and Third Avenue.
Close to 200 students — studying English or taking literacy classes at NYPL branches — signed up for the session.
An anonymous donor provided the funds to purchase tickets for all of them.
Teachers wanted to use “Selma” as part of the program’s citizenship and civics curriculum.
Before each class saw the movie, they absorbed lessons on American history, black life during the Jim Crow days, and the emergence of the Civil Rights era that changed the trajectory of the country.
After the movie, over several days of classes, the students reacted to what they saw and learned.
“I used an entire tissue package… Seeing so many injustices and knowing that they really happened, I think it’s impossible to feel indifferent. I didn’t understand 100% of all dialogues, but I felt the full movie,” said a student named Camila, who posted to the NYPL blog about the “Selma” field trip.
“When it was over, the first question I asked myself was: ‘Sweet Home, Alabama,’ for whom? … Selma is a great movie, a slap in our faces… I think it should be seen by many people around the world … it is a mighty work,” Camila wrote.
Elaine Sohn, the NYPL’s site advisor for the Adult Learning Center at the Aguilar Branch, said many of her students were overwhelmed by the powerful imagery and message in the film — and the force of Martin Luther King himself.
“For many, the civil rights movement is only something they’ve heard a little bit about — many were not even born here, and many are too young to remember it,” Sohn said.
“They also said that they really appreciate all that has happened in this country before they arrived here; especially the fact that people lost their lives to make life possible for them today.”
To read more reactions from the Aguilar Adult Learning Center students, go to https://nycsnowday.wordpress.com.
