Equity and Diversity Newsletter
Elementary Edition January 2022
Remembering Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Dr. Martin Luther King was an American clergyman and civil-rights leader. He became Pastor of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama in 1954. He led the black boycott of segregated city bus lines in 1956 and gained a major victory as a civil-rights leader when the Montgomery buses began to operate on a desegregated basis. Dr. King was a “Drum Major for Justice”.
As we celebrate the life and legacy of this great man, let's strive to instill in this generation the value of the principles he stood for. He was a man of determination and courage. He stood against tremendous odds to see that all men were treated equally.
Let's strive to teach this generation how important it is for them to dream and to pursue those dreams. During my Kwanzaa presentations, I told the students that they were the most valuable resource the United States and the world has. In honor of Dr. King's dream, we must continue to equip our students to be not just well educated, but to be young people of excellent moral character as well. Now is the time to start the process of ensuring Dr. King's last dream of the "Beloved Community", which is a community that transforms people and relationships—a community that is built on reconciliation, friendship, and human dignity. These principles are the results of understanding, trust, and love which you as educators have the opportunity to model for your students.
Did You Know?
Some Ideas for Trivia or Research:
- The Civil Rights Movement was a struggle to gain equal rights for all black people and other racial minorities who had faced slavery, racism, and other types of suppression at the hands of white Americans.
- The Fifteenth Amendment to the Constitution established that neither race nor slavery could prevent black people from voting. However, state leaders used poll taxes and created impossible-to-pass literacy tests to limit the ability of African Americans to vote.
- In 1954, Rev Oliver Brown won the right to send his child to a white school. In the landmark Brown v Board of Education case, the Supreme Court finally ruled that segregation could not ever be equal. Did you know that the little girl in the complaint Linda Brown graduate from Central High School in Springfield, MO?
- The Civil Rights Act (1964) outlawed segregation in schools, public places, or jobs.
- The Voting Rights Act (1965) outlawed racial discrimination in voting.
- The Fair Housing Act (1968) outlawed discrimination in housing.
“Key Facts about the American Civil Rights Movement.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., https://www.britannica.com/summary/Key-Facts-About-the-American-Civil-Rights-Movement.
Let Us March On
What's In your Tool Box?
Likewise, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day is not a day off but a day of movement. It’s a day to continue the work of unifying our world the work is out in our communities where we can exercise the original missions of the civil rights movement while using our voices and actions to stimulate necessary changes. Learning for Justice recommends some ideas for setting the scene for a deeper conceptual understanding of the abstract ideas of the movement:
- Don’t assume. Ask your students what they know about Dr. King.
Activate background knowledge using developmentally appropriate tools. For primary grades, use a KWL chart. For upper elementary and beyond, create an anticipatory set. Note that students who have immigrated to the United States may need additional scaffolds, including bilingual learning tools.
- Incorporate action-based activities.
- Let students choose an area of research.
- Use historical primary resources.
Incorporate primary resources into your instruction, such as a virtual tour of Dr. King’s childhood home, and photos that require inferential thinking.
Library Corner
Let The Children March by Monica Clark-Robinson and illustrated by Frank Morrison
In 1963 Birmingham, Alabama, thousands of African American children volunteered to march for their civil rights after hearing Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. speak. They protested the laws that kept black people separate from white people. Facing fear, hate, and danger, these children used their voices to change the world.
Watch on Youtube:
My Brother Martin A Sister Remembers Growing Up With The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.by Christine King Farris and illustrated by Chris Soentpiet
Renowned educator Christine King Farris, older sister of the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., joins with celebrated illustrator Chris Soentpiet to tell this “outstanding” and inspirational story of how one boyhood experience inspired a movement that would change the world as we know it.
Watch on Youtube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HTBX0EONL5MReading With Ms. Gwen
Coming Event
ANNUAL NAACP MLK MARCH JANUARY 17,2022
MARCH BEGINS AT 9 AM
MEDIACOM ICE PARK
635 EAST TRAFFICWAY
ICE PARK OPENS AT 8:30 AM
THE MARCH ENDS AT
PARK CENTRAL SQUARE
THE EVENT PROGRAM WILL BE HELD
AT THE SQUARE IMMEDIATELY AFTER
THE MARCHERS ARRIVE.