wnyc.org / 93.9fm / am 820

Six teachers from a range of schools share tips for inspiring a new generation of students and the challenges they face. The teachers are: Romero Ross (first grade teacher at Achievement First charter school in East New York, Brooklyn) Keith Christiansen (literacy teacher at M.S. 88 in Brooklyn) Luciano D’Orazio (social studies coordinator at P.S. 150 South Bronx) Katy Ulrich (first grade teacher Achievement First charter in Bushwick, Brooklyn) and Karen Zaidberg (sixth grade at Manhattan Country Day School) Duane Williamson (ninth grade English at Pathways in Technology Early College High School in Crown Heights, Brooklyn).

Listen to their conversation about their favorite Martin Luther King Jr. and Black History month-related lessons here:

The Help, based on the popular book by the same name, opened in movie theaters yesterday. Sheri Parks, professor of American studies at the University of Maryland and author of Fierce Angels: The Strong Black Woman in American Life and Culture, and David Edelstein, film critic for New York magazine and NPR's Fresh Air, provide historical and cultural context for the book and new feature film.

Listeners: Did you see the movie yet? Did you read the book? What are your thoughts about "The Help"? Call us or comment here!

The American South caught political fire in 1964. Activism by local African-American organizations and college students from the North led to brutal murders at the hands of white Southerners. But many of the victims of the Civil Rights Movement were not members of political organizations or student committees. Louisiana native, Frank Morris, a Black shoe store owner who was burned alive by two white men in 1964, suffered simply because he was independent and served a racially mixed clientele.

Ernest Withers was a civil rights-era photojournalist who had access to some of the highest levels of the movement; over the weekend, we learned that Withers may have used his extraordinary access to sell information to the FBI, perceived enemies of the movement’s leaders.