Resources

AP African American Studies Collection

This collection contains films and lessons for use in the AP African American Studies course. All of the resources fit within Unit 4: Movements and Debates, and they connect to three of the four course themes, including “Intersections of Identity,” “Creativity, Expression and the Arts,” and “Resistance and Resilience.”

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Sections

Topic 3.5 Disenfranchisement and Jim Crow Laws Topic 4.3 African Americans and the Second World War: The Double V Campaign and the G.I. Bill Topic 4.4 Discrimination, Segregation, and the Origins of the Civil Rights Movement Topic 4.5 Redlining and Housing Discrimination Topic 4.6 Major Civil Rights Organizations Topic 4.8 The Arts, Music, and the Politics of Freedom Topic 4.11 The Black Panther Party for Self-Defense Topic 4.13 The Black Feminist Movement, Womanism, and Intersectionality Topic 4.15 Economic Growth and Black Political Representation Topic 4.19 African Americans and Sports

Topic 3.5 Disenfranchisement and Jim Crow Laws

These resources explore the history of lynching and its lingering impact on the United States.

Ida B. Wells and the Long Crusade to Outlaw Lynching

Ida B. Wells, a journalist, civil rights activist and suffragist, dedicated her life to documenting injustices against Black Americans and calling for change.

10:14

2 lesson plans

The Lasting Impact of a Lynching

This excerpt examines the lynching of Cleo Wright in 1942, reflecting the racial violence and societal tensions of the time.

06:07

1 lesson plan

Topic 4.3 African Americans and the Second World War: The Double V Campaign and the G.I. Bill

These resources explore the Double V campaign and how Nazi Germany and Japan took advantage of racial violence in the U.S. as a way to point out its hypocrisy in fighting for human rights abroad but not at home.

Beyond the Battlefield: Double V and Black Americans’ Fight for Equality

With the Double V campaign, Black Americans demanded fair treatment, both during and after World War II.

12:00

1 lesson plan

How Racial Propaganda was Used Against the United States in World War II

This excerpt explores the history of anti-lynching efforts in the U.S., and the failure by federal prosecutors to bring to justice anyone in the mob responsible for killing Cleo Wright in 1942.

10:03

1 lesson plan

Topic 4.4 Discrimination, Segregation, and the Origins of the Civil Rights Movement

These videos examine the history and consequences of school segregation and desegregation efforts, as well as challenges to voting rights.

Why Are Schools Still Segregated? The Broken Promise of Brown v. Board of Education

The history of racial integration in public schools, and what happened after the buses stopped rolling.

10:03

3 lesson plans

Poll Watchers and the Long History of Voter Intimidation

President Trump has called on supporters, including law enforcement officers, to monitor election sites. Voter intimidation tactics have a long history.

05:06

1 lesson plan

Topic 4.5 Redlining and Housing Discrimination

Films connected to this topic examine issues of housing discrimination from the 1940s to the present.

Topic 4.6 Major Civil Rights Organizations

These videos will help students examine the methods, successes and challenges to the African American Civil Rights Movement.

How Geography Drove MLK’s Fight for a Ferry in Alabama

Weeks before Selma’s Bloody Sunday in 1965, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. urged residents of Gee’s Bend, Ala., to vote, and fed a continuing fight over a small ferry that would last for decades.

08:16

2 lesson plans

Racial Inequality Was Tearing the U.S. Apart, a 1968 Report Warned. It Was Ignored.

Anger over policing and inequality boiled over in 1967 in protests and violence across the United States. A landmark report warned that without major changes, it would happen again.

05:17

1 lesson plan

American Reckoning

An untold story of the civil rights movement.

83:31

1 lesson plan

Topic 4.8 The Arts, Music, and the Politics of Freedom

This film helps students understand how music was an element of inspiration and mobilization during the Civil Rights Movement.

Louis Armstrong And The Black Celebrity’s Dilemma

As America’s jazz icon, Louis Armstrong was seen as a smiling, easygoing entertainer. But in 1957, he invited controversy by speaking forcefully on behalf of his fellow African Americans, putting him in a position familiar to many Black athletes today.

01:39

Topic 4.11 The Black Panther Party for Self-Defense

This film explains how the Black Panther Party called for violent resistance to oppression and how that stance resulted in their being viewed as a threat to national security.

How a Standoff with the Black Panthers Fueled the Rise of SWAT

S.W.A.T. teams, specially trained police teams, have been used increasingly in routine matters like serving drug warrants, sometimes with disastrous results.

09:50

1 lesson plan

Topic 4.13 The Black Feminist Movement, Womanism, and Intersectionality

These resources help explain how Black women have played central roles in the struggle for freedom and racial and gender equality.

How Black Women Fought Racism and Sexism for the Right to Vote

African American women played a significant and sometimes overlooked role in the struggle to gain the vote.

10:02

1 lesson plan

Bringing Midwifery Back to Black Mothers

For care in pregnancy and childbirth, Black parents are turning to a traditional practice.

16:07

Shirley Chisholm Was a Trailblazer for Change

Explore the groundbreaking career of Shirley Chisholm, the first Black woman to seek the U.S. presidency.

13:00

1 lesson plan

Topic 4.15 Economic Growth and Black Political Representation

These films help students examine the growth of Black political power and representation from the passage of the Voting Rights Act in 1965 to the election of Barack Obama in 2008.