Living MLK's Dream

"Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can 

do that.  Hate cannot drive out: only love can do that."  -MLK

On Friday we had a Community Circle time again in class and we had the students read and listen to the original recording of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech excerpt.  I cannot describe how powerful it was to be sitting there and know that his dream has directly influenced most of the kids sitting there, whether they recognized that or not.  However, many of the students at the beginning were goofing off and being disrespectful.  My teacher was not having it and so she turned to them and said, "I cannot believe you guys.  You are African American and this is your leader.  You are disrespecting your own leader!" And the kids instantly shut up and where the most engaged I have seen them since being there!  After we listened to it, we asked discussion questions to get the kids involved and to the first question about how it made them feel to hear that speech, kids answered: "proud", "inspired", "happy" etc. and they needed no prompting to express how they felt.

Ms. Olguin then asked them about if they thought Dr. King's dream had been achieved or not, and the worst kid in the class Darrious answered, "brothers are still killing brother".  Black-on-black crime is a huge problem and the fact that he recognized that, was huge to me.  My teacher then told them that the government builds prisons based on how many people don't graduate high school, and I think the students were shocked to hear that.  So many of them ask me about college, what it's like, if it's hard, what I'm studying---I truly think inner-city kids hold the dream of going to college, but they don't have the support and facts that are necessary to actually get them there.

On Sunday we went as a group to Glide Memorial Methodist Church, a gospel church in the heart of the Tenderloin (the neighborhood we were told emphatically to stay away from!).  The music was so fun and lively and the paster Cecil Williams had marched with Dr. King back in the 60s, so it was fascinating to hear him speak on peace and love.  The congregation was very racially and otherwise diverse and it was very fun to be a part of something so different.

Today (Monday) I organized a group of us to go downtown and march in the MLK Parade! I was so happy, although people were reluctant to go at first, 10 of us ended up marching.  To think that only a short 50 years ago, this event commemorating the march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama was met with resistance and now it is organized by cities all around the country fills my soul with joy.  Seeing faces of all colors and walks of life show their respect to MLK and his vision for unity and opportunity for all is what my intercultural experience is all about.  As a future educator, I will be a steward of the doctor's vision and that is one of the aspects of teaching that I am most excited about!