Is Today a Holiday?

I celebrate it - the Friday before. At school, I ask one my black colleagues to come to my room and we talk to the students about what things were like when we were growing up in 60's and sometimes the 50's (depending on the age of the person I ask).

The students, black, white, Asian, Hispanic, and Islamic, are always surprised to find out that my black colleagues and I would not have been allowed to go to school today because of our skin color.

They are dumbfounded when I tell them that Native American children at that time in my state were not allowed to go to school period.

We don't get into a lot of negative things, but I do tell them a little and that I never saw a black child my own age until integration occurred when I was in the 3rd grade. That always floors them.

I tell them that Dr. King was a preacher who made lots of speeches and wanted people to do better. Treat each other fairly. Stop the injustice that was actually lawful.

I tell them that they are fortunate to have the opportunity for continuing change today and that they ALL should never treat anyone of any ethnicity as if they are inferior or with contempt merely because of their ethnicity.

We hold out our arms and I tell them that we are all just varying colors of brown anyway.

I do say that he was not a perfect man, but that he rallied people's attention to something that needed changing and did it with the impact of words.

We end with my colleague and I telling how we are glad to get to work together and how much we respect each other.

It's not much of a celebration - no cake or party. But I do feel it's very important to acknowledge this to my students.