Complete the following assignments

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Sam Cooke Study Guide

This extra credit project is on the singing sensation Sam Cooke. You might be wondering what he has to do with Race and Racism and why we are taking time to study his life. He was much more than just a gifted singer and composer as you will soon see. The film is an hour and three minutes long and I want you to keep your eye out for a few things as follows, in chronological order as they appear in the film. Use this guide to make notes and observations of what strikes you about this film.

Imagine yourself living in this era, no matter what your ethnicity. How would it feel? How would your life be different than it is now? It may seem long ago but remember that Professor Charli was 16 years old when Sam Cooke was murdered. So, my generation has not even passed away yet, and Sam Cooke would be 88 years old now, so quite possibly still alive. What would he think of the world now? Have African Americans made some progress? How long do you think it will take before true equality is theirs?

1) First I would like for you to take note of some of the celebrities who are in the film and who are currently still active. These include: Smokey Robinson, Quincy Jones, Dionne Warwick, Kevin Powell, Billy Davis, and René Graham. Who most impressed you and why?

2) Note the cotton fields and sharecroppers: Do they remind you of any of today’s immigrant workers?

3) Listen when Sam Cooke says his great-grandmother was a slave. Does that help you visualize how close in time slavery actually is to all of us? How do you feel about that?

4) Pay special attention to the role of the church in black communities. What are a couple of ways in which they helped African Americans cope?

5) Why did they call it the “Chitlin Circuit”?

6) Pay particular attention to the images you see of segregation in the 1950s. Do you notice the signs that say “white” and “colored”? What else do you notice that is different from the way things are today?

7) Who is Emmett Till? What year was his funeral? Why was his brutal murder never forgotten do you think?

8) Who was Jesse Bellvin? How was he killed? Why did Sam Cooke boycott segregated audiences later? What was important about the Lorraine Motel?

9) What do you think Nina Simone meant when she wrote her song “Mississippi God damn”?

10) Take note of James Baldwin who speaks in the film. Why is he so famous and so relevant even today?

11) Why was natural hair such an unusual style in the 1950s?

12) Who was Cassius Clay?

13) Take note of Langston Hughes who is also seen in the film. Who was he?

14) Why is the second verse to the song “A Change is Gonna Come” so important?

15) What were the Watts riots and how are they discussed in this film?

16) Did this film help to change or reinforce your impressions of black history, black masculinity, or the struggles of African-Americans in the 20th century? Do you understand why there is still a struggle going on and why it is so important that all of us join together to eradicate racism?

17) What is the Black Lives Matter Movement and what does it represent? Would Sam Cooke support it?

18) And finally…do we live in a post racial American because of President Barack Obama?

Dear Class,

Thank you for watching this film and choosing to do the study guide as an extra credit project this semester. As you know, I am very proud of this class and feel that all of you are concerned and engaged in making this world a better place. I see all of you as agents of social change and it lifts my heart to know that the world is in your hands when my generation passes away. Although this film takes place many years before you were born, I felt it would help you more clearly understand how things were in those days. Many people my age were taught to be racist, including me.

We had to unlearn many of the things we were taught and overcome false impressions and ideologies. Can you imagine how conflicted many of us felt when we discovered as teenagers we loved everything about African-Americans but were often forbidden to participate in activities with them? I feel lucky to be of a generation that fought against those ideas. Even though many of our elders told us we were wrong, I always knew in my heart we were right. And so we were! And you will discover one day, that you are also right!

In love and solidarity,

Professor Charli