This video is one of a series that chronicles the civil rights movement from 1954  to 1965.  This selection, "Fighting Back,"  focuses on the integration of educational institutions.  Both the integration of the Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas by nine Black students, and the integration of the "Oleâ Miss" by James Meredith are covered in detail.  Footage from newscasts showing the violence and the political speeches of the day are interspersed with interviews with the individuals involved when the film was produced in 1987.

 I choose this film because I thought it would "bring home" to the students in ED313, Trends and Issues in Education, the realities of school desegregation and the legacy of racial hatred that still echoes in our country.  It is an historical basis for many current issues in education such as unequal funding for schools, which still often falls along racial lines.

Questions that come to my mind after watching the film are:

• How did removing some of the top students from the Black high school affect the remaining students?
• Why are most Black children still attending "segregated" schools?
• Is my reluctance to attend a conference in Little Rock justified?
• Will the students in class be able to make connections to current inequities in the nationâs schools, especially those who read Kozolâs "Amazing Grace"?
• Will any of the students look at other films in the series as part of the coursework?  Can I stand watching this film for the third time?