Overview
Soundtracks: Songs that Defined History, from executive producer Dwayne Johnson, Show of Force and CNN Original Series explores the music tied to pivotal moments in history. From the March on Washington to the riots at Stonewall – every episode illuminates how music has played an integral role in celebrating, criticizing, and amplifying these seismic events in our collective history.
TeachRock has partnered with CNN and Show of Force to offer a collection of standards-aligned contemporary history lessons to accompany this eight-part CNN series.
See a CNN Soundtracks lesson in action at East Side Community High in New York, NY here!
Lessons
lesson:
“Alright” and the History of Black Protest Songs
How have Black artists throughout the 20th century used music to speak about racial injustice in America?
lesson:
#BlackLivesMatter: Music in a Movement
How have musicians responded to the Black Lives Matter movement?
lesson:
How a Bill Becomes a Law: Legislating the Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday
How does a bill become a law in the United States of America?
lesson:
How Dr. King’s Birthday Became A National Holiday
How did Dr. King’s Birthday become a national holiday?
lesson:
Kanye and Katrina: Environmental Racism in New Orleans
What was Hurricane Katrina, and how did Black Americans articulate the frustrations they felt in its aftermath?
lesson:
9/11: Country Music Responds
How did Country musicians’ responses to the September 11th terrorist attacks speak to the feelings of some Americans after the tragedy?
lesson:
Toby Keith & The Chicks: Songs and Words During the War on Terror
What were the different reactions to songs and comments by Country musicians about the September 11th terrorist attacks versus the Iraq War?
lesson:
Music and the Berlin Wall during the Cold War
What was the Berlin Wall and how did music respond to what it symbolized?
lesson:
Musical Reactions to the Vietnam War
How were American’s divisive opinions over the Vietnam War articulated by musicians in the 1960s and early 1970s?
lesson:
A Veteran’s Soundtrack to the Vietnam War
How did popular music amplify the voices and experiences of Americans serving in the United States Armed Forces during the Vietnam War?
lesson:
Debating the Apollo 11 Moon Landing
What was NASA’s Apollo program and why was it controversial?
lesson:
Swing Down: Afrofuturism & Flight in the Black Imagination
What is Afrofuturism and what are some of the cultural traditions and historical events that inspired and reinforced it?
lesson:
Third Wave: Women’s Rights and Music in the 1990s
What was Third Wave Feminism, why did it occur, and how did musicians address some of the movement’s demands?
lesson:
Women’s Perspectives in Country and Tejano Music
How did female Country and Tejano artists approach the issues of feminism and Women’s Rights in the 20th and 21st century?
lesson:
Second Wave: Women’s Rights and Music in the 1960s
What was second-wave feminism, and how did music contribute to the movement?
lesson:
“Seneca Falls, Selma, Stonewall”: The Stonewall Riots in the Fight for Equality
What were the Stonewall Riots, and what role did they play in ongoing struggles for LGBTQ+ equality in the United States?
lesson:
Art, Music, and the AIDS Epidemic
How did the LGTBQ+ community creatively respond to the AIDS crisis in the 1980s and 1990s, and protest government inaction in addressing the epidemic?
lesson:
The Journey to Marriage Equality in the United States
How did same-sex marriage become legal in the United States?
lesson:
“Y’all Better Quiet Down”: Black and Latinx LGBTQ+ Pioneers
How did Black and Latinx people in the LGBTQ+ community take initiative in the Stonewall Inn rebellions, Gay Liberation Movement, and in the preservation of LGBTQ+ history?