Monday, January 21, 2008

In Honor Of Martin Luther King, Jr.

One of my favorite quotes of Martin Luther King Jr is as follows: I cannot be who I am meant to be until you become who you are meant to be. It is a statement beautiful in its simplicity.

When the school year eventually rolls around to his birthday, I like to put this quote on the board. My students in the past have become very confused by it, and we tend to have a good conversation about cooperation and other symbiotic relationships. Since I teach high schoolers now, I'm interested to see what their take is on the idea.

While I never mind having a day off, I wonder at the wisdom of giving students a holiday for Martin Luther King Jr. I would much prefer coming to school and devoting time to studying his legacy. I know that personally, I've gathered peace within myself by taking a few minutes to think about him and his ideas.

I remember spending quite a bit of time learning about Martin Luther King Jr. in elementary school; I'm not sure if that still happens, what with schools' increased focus on test scores. etc. I hope I am incorrect.

As we look towards a year charged with political rhetoric and inevitable ugliness, I truly hope that we can carry with us Martin's words of peace, change, and hope. I go to bed, and to school tomorrow, with these hopes.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Just had the most amazing conversation with my HS students on this quotation for our school's MLK day (early). And yes...my daughters in elementary school are having good discussions and learning about Dr. King and his vision for America!