the war of the wall by toni cade bambara

The War of the Wallby

Toni Cade Bambara

What you need to know!

• In the 1960’s, some African-American artists started a “wall of respect” movement.

• The artists worked to create special places by painting murals on walls in their communities as symbols of their respect for the neighborhoods.

• Because African American artists were excluded from mainstream museums and galleries these murals were painted to show the struggle by African Americans

• The purpose was to gain:

the rights of recognition and citizenship

• This important form of public art has served to heal and unify communities and build multicultural understanding

Walls of Heritage, Walls of Pride:African American Murals

Knowledge is Power, Stay in School Philadelphia

• A thin mural that runs along the top of the side of a building, its color scheme is mostly gold, red, green and black, which symbolizes African pride and unity. People and figures that represent the African-American of the past and present, from tribesmen to soldiers to teachers are visible in the mural. “Artsolutly” Awesome North Philly.

Knowledge is Power, Stay in School Dana Chandler

We're All in the Same Gang Jameel ParkerBoston

Mandela Paul

Connect to History!!The story mentions four important leaders in

the American civil rights movement.

• Harriet Tubman (1820-1913)

The escaped slave who helped smuggle more than 300 enslaved persons out of slave states. She was also a spy for the Union army during the Civil war.

Civil rights leaders of the 1960’s who were assassinated.

• Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968) King used nonviolent tactics such as boycotts to

oppose segregation and was awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace.

• Malcolm X (1925-1965) Malcolm X preached a militant and

separatist philosophy.

• Fannie Lou Hamer (1917-1977)

Fannie was a sharecropper’s daughter who repeatedly risked her life so that she and other African Americans could gain the right to vote.

Who would you place on a wall of respect in Altoona?

• Brainstorm a list of eligible people in our notebooks.

• Beside each name write a brief description of the person.

Words to Know

Use the definitions in your Interactive Reader to determine which word fits best in the sentence.

beckon inscription drawl

1) I had trouble understanding Bill’s _______-his slow, drawn-out way of speaking.

2) Elisabeth _____to me from across the gym, waving me toward her with her hand.

3) The ____on the statue dedicated it to the fallen soldiers in Vietnam.

Words to Know

liberation scheme chisel rearing

4) The president demanded the _____of the prisoners, saying that it was wrong to keep them in jail.

5) The frightened horse started rearing up on its hind legs.

6) As soon as the babysitter arrived, the twins began to ___up ways to annoy her.

7) A few people ____their names into the big rock, using a penknife.

Target Skills – Answer in your notebook.

• Cause and Effect: Cause-and-effect relationships drive this story.

How do the painter’s actions affect the narrator, Lou and the other characters?

• Dialect: What is dialect? Write down one example of dialect in the story

that helps you remember this is set in the south.