ABOUT COMMUNITY CONNECTIONS: Community Connections is a lesson collection designed for adult learners and community colleges, with the goal of inspiring student civic action. This might be respectful debate or conversation about a local issue, planning a community event, or a creative project that helps connect local, national and global issues.
To use this lesson: First, watch the video and answer the questions below as a warm up. Next, choose one or more of the activities under "Take Action" that best fits your classroom. Or, use the segment above to inspire your own original classroom activities — the spirit of these lessons is to connect current events to actions that make your community a better place for everyone!
SUMMARY
Even as racial and economic disparities persist and the Trump administration purges DEI policies in government and at universities, a new partnership aimed at healing racial divides is trying to bring communities across the country together through service. Judy Woodruff spoke with NBA star Steph Curry and Martin Luther King III for her series, America at a Crossroads.
View the transcript of the story.
WARM-UP QUESTIONS
- Who are Steph Curry and Martin Luther King III, and what are their backgrounds?
- What organization did Steph and Ayesha Curry start after the Golden State Warrior's moved to San Francisco ?
- Where does the Curry's foundation operate?
- Why did the foundation partner with Martin Luther King III's Realize the Dream Initiative?
- How does the foundation serve the needs of kids in Oakland?
ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS
- Martin Luther King III explains that his dad used to say, "Anyone can be great because anyone can serve." What do you think Martin Luther King Jr. meant by this? What kind of service do you think he was talking about?
- Do you think community service has the power to bring people together from different political backgrounds? How so?
Media literacy: How can you find out more about the Realize the Dream Initiative? Do you think there's a way your community could get involved?
TAKE ACTION
Who in your own community is working to bring people together? Is there a public figure you can think of that is building bridges between people and addressing problems in a positive way? First, make a list of people who you think are inspiring civic action in your community. Then, choose one to plan out an interview with them using this guide.
Alternately, you can script a fictional interview with Steph Curry and MLK III, or some other celebrity that you think works to bring people together. Use this guide for scripting and filming the interview, with one participant acting as the celebrity.
Read the article "3 ways Americans are trying to overcome polarization" and then discuss the following:
- After learning about the examples in the article, what do you think might be the most effective strategy for reducing political division in the country?
- What strategy do you think might be most effective in your own community?
This project was funded under the 2024 Leonore Annenberg Civic Mission of the Nation Initiative, sponsored by the Leonore Annenberg Institute for Civics. LAIC is a project of the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania.
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