Martin Luther King, Jr

Today is the observance of a national holiday remembering Martin Luther King, Jr. I love this day. I love it not only because I get a day off work but also because I really do think about the time of our country when he lived and try to imagine what must've been going on. I read books about Rosa Parks and My Brother, Martin to my kids and think about what it must've been like for the kids, who are so similar to the ones sitting in my class, 60 years ago.

I always try to get the kids to really internalize his speech and I let them listen to it as they do their morning work. They never really get the passion in his voice or the emotion of the times. They just go to school and take for granted that they can sit any where they want or drink from any water fountain. I wish each year that they could truly understand the fear that MLK, jr felt walking down the street during the bus boycotts or how the handcuffs on Rosa Parks' wrists might have cut her for doing nothing but taking a seat. But I am also glad that my students never will have to live that.

I feel very grateful for the times we live in now. We don't have to burn our bras or demand equal pay or equal schools. We go where we please and live as we choose. But we can remember not to completely take for granted that some people before us paved a way to make all that happen.

I will leave you with a quote I read today and I thought it most appropriate for today. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

"I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear."

-Martin Luther King, Jr