The year 2005 marks the 40th anniversary of the Selma-to-Montgomery March for Voting Rights, a march considered by many to be the emotional and political peak of the Civil Rights Movement. It also marks the 50th anniversary of the Montgomery bus boycott, started after seamstress Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a bus to a white passenger. The year-long boycott ended in December 1956 after a federal court ruling — affirmed by the U.S. Supreme Court — that bus segregation was unconstitutional.

These moments and hundreds like them during that era taught all Americans the true meaning of citizenship in the United States. They demonstrated that ordinary people must take the responsibility to "set things right" in a democracy, and that citizens can accomplish extraordinary things to make the world a better, fairer place.

To celebrate these moments and the individuals — young and old, well-known and lesser known, black and white — who made the dream of equal rights for everyone a reality, The Faith & Politics Institute, Freddie Mac and Discovery Education have developed Freedom on the Move, Continuing the March Toward a More Perfect Union. This cross-curricular program was designed to educate middle school students about the historic lessons and living spirit of the Civil Rights Movement and to inspire them to apply these lessons to their own lives and communities.