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Baltimore Teachers Turn 'Selma' Into A History Lesson

BALTIMORE, Md. (WJZ)--The movie "Selma" has sparked discussion and debate across the nation and in classrooms.

Some Baltimore teachers are turning the film into a history lesson.

As Gigi Barnett explains hundreds of Baltimore middle and high schoolers are headed to the box office to learn more.

For the students in this social studies class at Mount Royal Middle School in Baltimore, pictures of the Selma to Montgomery civil rights marches are powerful.

"When the caucasians and the blacks when they march together, they didn't beat them, they literally let them come through," one student said.

"They walked 50 miles, literally 50 miles, no horses, none of that--and it makes you appreciate the people who actually did that," said another student.

Now 50 years later, on the anniversary of the three marches led by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

The voting rights movement is a box-office hit in the movie "Selma," and this week, hundreds of city students are taking a free field-trip to see the action on the silver screen this week.

"The idea for the lesson was inspired by me seeing the movie myself and also knowing as a historian that this is the 50th anniversary," said social studies teacher Baba Olumiji.

Baba Olumiji teaches the class, he says the lesson helps students better identify current day injustices.

"Image five, it has police brutality just like the Mike Brown and the Trayvon Martin situation," said one student.

"This is our second lesson in a series about this movie and the level of critical thinking engagement and also the enthusiasm about the topic, it's truly a blessing," said Olumiji.

So, whose footing the bill for hundreds of Baltimore students to see the movie? It's called the  "Selma Project," and its made up of several local businesses.

The free field trip was originally for students in the  7th and 10th grades, but thanks to a boost in funding students in the 11th and 12th grades will be able to see Selma as well.

 

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