They Had a Dream Too

Kelly-Ann Clarke, chair of the ABA Young Lawyers Division, tells students at Chicago’s Wells Community Academy High School about the role young people played in the 1950s and 1960s. Her remarks were part of the 2009-2010 YLD public service project – They Had a Dream Too: Young Leaders of the Civil Rights Movement.

Introducing today’s high school students to the role young people played in the Civil Rights Movement is the goal of the year-long “They Had a Dream Too: Young Leaders of the Civil Rights Movement,” the Young Lawyers Division 2009-2010  public service project.

On Jan. 19, Kelly-Ann Clarke, the YLD chair, presented the program – a video and guided discussion – to students at Chicago’s Wells Community Academy High School.

That presentation followed the American Bar Association’s internal Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. observance, where the YLD screened the 28-minute video and discussed the “They Had a Dream Too” program.

Students at Wells Community Academy High School in Chicago watch a video – They Had a Dream Too – that told the stories of young leaders of the Civil Rights Movement. Following the video students had a chance to discuss their reactions and to compare the challenges faced by students in the 1950s and 1960s with those faced by students today. The video and discussion guide are part of the YLD 2009-2010 public service project.

Julian Bond, chairman of the NAACP, narrates the video, which features interviews with individuals who participated in the historic events of the Civil Rights Movement.  It also includes a curriculum that begins with the Little Rock Nine and covers the movement’s major marches, freedom rides and boycotts.

This past October when the YLD launch the project in Birmingham, Ala., Clarke asked young people to imagine what they can do, pointing out that even with their lack of technology young people of the Civil Rights Movement changed the law and changed the nation. She spoke during a television interview in Birmingham in October 2009, when the YLD launched the project.

The YLD will present the “They Had a Dream Too” program at Evans High School in Orlando, Fla., during the 2010 ABA Midyear Meeting.

Learn more about the “They Had a Dream Too” project.