This year was a monumental time for me to march in the 2019 MLK March in Phoenix Arizona. Why do you ask? Because I had all of my grandchildren with me as we continued to march for the legacy that Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr created for jobs and freedom for all mankind. We celebrated the legacy of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The march began at 9:00 am at Pilgrim Rest Baptist Church, 1401 E. Jefferson Street in Phoenix. The march concluded at Margaret T. Hence Park with food, entertainment, and speakers.
Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr had a dream that his four little children will not come up in the same days that he came up within. His dream was that they will be judged on the basis of the content of their character and not the color of their skin. On August 28, 1963, Rev King addressed nearly 250,000 people with his “I Have a Dream“ speech at the March on Washington for Freedom and Jobs.
We learned about Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr in school growing up just like many of us. This blog sparked me to write it because as I told my 5-year-old grandson that we were going to march in the MLK March he had a few things to tell me:
ME: ok, we will have to go to bed early tonight because we have to get up early so that we can go to the MLK March
DJ: I know him
ME: How do you know him? What do you know? (I asked that to see what information he was going to tell me)
DJ: (Looking at me like why would I even ask that question). I learned about him in school.
ME: That is great. What did you learn about Him?
DJ: I learned that he was an important man and that he passed away.
ME: Well he didn’t just pass away. Let’s learn more about him.
DJ: Ok sounds good
So I had mixed emotions going through after this short conversation with my inquisitive grandson. I felt somewhat happy that the schools are talking about Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Then I felt MAD, UPSET, HURT, and DISMAYED as I can’t believe that they tell the kids that he passed away instead of he was killed.
After having this conversation and my personal conversation with others that are not like me, I felt the need to share some history. We are coming up on the month of February when we dedicate it to Black History Month. But to me, every day is BLACK HISTORY MONTH. Please be sure to teach your children about their culture, and their history, and be sure that they understand the TRUTH and not the fairytale LIES. Below are a few links to google searches on Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. You can and should go to the library and/or do your own searches to know and understand your history.
Here are a few images from the MKL March 2019 Phoenix
https://www.biography.com/people/martin-luther-king-jr-9365086
https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/martin-luther-king-jr
https://www.cnn.com/2019/01/21/us/mlk-i-have-a-dream-speech/index.html
http://www.socialstudiesforkids.com/articles/ushistory/mlkihaveadreamspeech.htm
https://kinginstitute.stanford.edu/encyclopedia/march-washington-jobs-and-freedom