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Unpublished

It's All in the Making—Our Local Organizations
  1. Strand PHIL.I Definitions of Philanthropy
    1. Standard DP 03. Names and Types of Organizations within the Civil Society Sector
      1. Benchmark E.2 Name an example of a civil society charitable organization.
    2. Standard DP 04. Operational Characteristics of Nonprofit Organizations
      1. Benchmark E.1 Describe how citizens organize in response to a need.
  2. Strand PHIL.II Philanthropy and Civil Society
    1. Standard PCS 03. Philanthropy and Economics
      1. Benchmark E.4 Give an example of how a civil-society organization can impact a community's economy.
    2. Standard PCS 05. Philanthropy and Government
      1. Benchmark E.11 Identify and give an example of an organization in the civil society sector that works to protect minority voices.
    3. Standard PCS 07. Skills of Civic Engagement
      1. Benchmark E.2 Discuss an issue affecting the common good in the classroom or school and demonstrate respect and courtesy for differing opinions.

Students will understand the roles played by local African American nonprofit organizations in their community.

Duration: 
PrintTwo to Three Forty-Minute Class Periods
Objectives: 

The learner will:

  • create a local directory of African American organizations that provide significant service to the community.
  • map local African American organizations on a city map and analyze their locations.
  • describe how a selected program(s) of an African American organization assists the community.
Materials: 
  • "The Story of the National Association of Colored Persons" (see Handout One).
  • Black Organizational Pamphlets
  • Magazines
  • Local City Map
  • Local Telephone Directory Listing
Bibliography: 

Helpful Internet Web sites:

Instructions: 
Print

  1. Anticipatory Set: Ask students if they know of any African American organizations and list them on the chalkboard. Help students identify the work that these organizations do and list examples.

  2. Begin with a discussion of African American organizations. Introduce to the students the idea that African Americans played major and vital roles in their local communities. Share with them orally or have them read background information of the NAACP. See Handout One, "The Story of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)."

  3. Divide the class into small teams and have students visit the home page of the NAACP (https://naacp.org/ ). Ask students to research the many programs of the organization. When finished doing their research, each group should design a poster which will provide information to the rest of the class about the information obtained. An alternative activity would be to invite an organizational representative(s) to visit the class and discuss its work with students. (Note: Should a visitor talk to the class, have students generate a preliminary list of questions prior to the visit to ensure they obtain their information.)

  4. Another organization for study is the National Urban League, which also has local affiliates. Its home site is http://www.nul.org . This group can be researched as the NAACP was or half of the class can visit this site while the other half of the class studies the NAACP. Design informative posters as well for this group as well.

  5. Review the list of African American organizations listed on the chalkboard. These groups should be organizations, including churches, which provide support to the community in some substantive way. Using the telephone directory, ask students to locate the addresses of these organizations and place this information on the chalkboard next to the list. If students locate other organizations to add to the list, they may add them. Examples of such groups include:

    • Black United Fund
    • NAACP
    • Detroit Urban League
    • Coleman Young Scholarship Foundation
    • Black Family Development
    • Urban Bankers Forum
    • Black Christian National Church
    • National Association of Black Social Workers
    • National Council of Negro Women, Inc.

  6. Take a city map and locate these organizations on the map. (An alternative activity would be to give each student team a reproduced 8-1/2" x 11" map of the city and let them locate the organizations on their own maps.) If the maps contain map coordinates, write down the map coordinate for each location on the chalkboard. Discuss the work of each organization and its location(s). Discuss why the organizations are located where they are.

  7. If possible, arrange for students to visit one of the organizations studied or have the class write a letter to the organizations, expressing their gratitude for the work the organization has done for the community.

Assessment: 

Students will write a one-paragraph essay explaining African Americans major roles in the development of the community. Students should: state their point of view on this issue, name two African American organizations that have provided service to the community; and describe the work of one of them.

Rubric for Essay on African American Organizations 

1 Point: Correctly named one organization

2 Points: Correctly named two organizations

3 Points: Correctly stated a point of view and named two organizations

4 Points: Correctly stated a point of view, named two organizations and described the work of one