(various images from You Got to Move, by Lucy Phenix, sourced from the documentary and US Library of Congress)

If Something Moves You... You Got to Move

"You Got to Move" episodes tell the stories of unsung heroes who overcame obstacles to create significant change, reshaping lives and communities. These short episodes, along with guides, lessons, and activities, inspire students and cover subjects like history, social studies, civics, and language arts. At a time when democracy is a key topic, these stories show how it truly functions.

Community movements in the U.S. involve individuals with diverse skills, each contributing uniquely to strengthen democracy and work towards a better future by connecting with our history and taking action today.

Join us on a journey back in history and explore a unique perspective on grassroots activism and social change. Let's make history together.

Watch Short Films

The collection of You Got to Move Shorts shows ways each one of us can use our own power for the good of our community, our family, our country and our planet.

–LUCY PHENIX, documentarian/filmmaker

Watch
the Shorts

They Say I'm Your Teacher

The Story of the Citizenship Schools

In 1957, when African Americans were still required to pass literacy exams to vote in South Carolina, a Charleston beautician became the teacher of the first Citizenship Education School, and helped lay the foundation for the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s.

I’m Standing With You Neighbor

The Story of a Community's Fight Against a Toxic Waste Dump

The members of a community group in East Tennessee become involved in shutting down a toxic waste dump in their community after years of being told it was "ordinary waste."

We Have the Power, We Can Do It

The Story of Bill Saunders and a Hospital Workers' Strike

The making of a grassroots leader on Johns Island, S.C., who helped to organize the people of Charleston in support of the Hospital Workers strike in 1969 and closed the city of Charleston for 100 days.

Mira con subtítulos en español

What's Done to the Land Happens to the People

The Story of Becky Simpson and a Struggle for Environmental Justice

When floods caused by strip mining almost killed her family, a Harlan County, Ky. woman convinced her community that the strip mining companies "have damaged us and they owe us something."

Ready to Act

E.D. Nixon and The Montgomery Bus Boycott

Bridging the labor and civil rights movements, E.D. Nixon, a Pullman porter from Montgomery, Alabama, learned how to organize from A. Philip Randolph, the founder of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters. When Rosa Parks was arrested in late 1955 for refusing to give up her seat on a Montgomery bus, E.D. Nixon was ready to do what was needed to mobilize the community to boycott the buses. For over a year, Black residents refused to ride buses until the city was forced to lift its bus segregation laws.

Don't You Think It's About Time?

Bernice Reagon's Story of the Albany Student Movement

Bernice Reagon, founder of Sweet Honey in the Rock, tells of the role music played in the Civil Rights demonstrations of students in Albany, Georgia in the early 1960’s.

Free Lessons & Resources

The Right
to Vote

Environmental
Rights

Worker's
Rights

The Right
to Health

The Right
to Education

Civil
Rights

Bernice Robinson was deeply concerned that people around her could not vote in the 1950s. Although the Federal government gave every citizen the right to vote, many states passed restrictive requirements for voting.