This
week we celebrated the Birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther
King was a great American hero. He
inspired many to fight for what is right, and his words still inspire many. As
part of the Martin Luther celebrations I saw the movie Selma. Selma is about
the marches in 1965 from Selma, Alabama to Montgomery Alabama. These marches
were to inspire the passage of the Voting rights act. In the movie, King leads
with Lyndon b. Johnson to pass a federal regulation that would outlaw
discrimination and would allow many people to vote that had previously been disenfranchised.
Some of these practices included poll taxes, literacy tests, and civics test,
many people would struggle to understand and pass these tests even today. The
movie shows several separate attempted marches. During the first march there
several hundred black men and women. However King was not present. King was
present for the second march however. After this march he called for people of
God to come and support them. Many new black people showed up as well as many
white people. The protesters had to go to court in order to be able to march;
the court eventually granted them this right. Many people of many different
walks life ended up walking from Selma to Montgomery. The movie was really good. However bring a Kleenex
box it was a tear jerk-er.
The
movie also got me thinking how little I know about African Americans, and the
contributions they have made to the advancement of America and the American
story. It seems to me that the African American story is often forgotten or not
told. People of color have off course made contributions, but they are glossed
over or ignored. This to me is unacceptable.
We must teach our children that all lives matter, but also that not
every great thing that has come out of America has been contributed by a white
man. It is also important to teach children that the US government, white
society and white people have not always been good and are not always fair. I
believe that US history and government classes to do not focus enough on
non-white’s stories.
I also
attended the Martin Luther King Day celebrations here on campus. I participated
in the symbolic march, the Rosa Parks re-enactment and the lecture. I found all of these things to be
illuminating. The march reminds me of
how far we have come, but that we still have a long way to go. It is surprising
how far people walked for their rights as well as for other people’s rights. I am not sure I would have been able to walk
that far. The Rosa Parks re-enactment was also very interesting. I did not
realize that black people had to get off the bus to get back on the bus. I also
did not realize Rosa Parks, was in the first “black” row. I always thought that
she was in the very first row. It was very moving and very real. It must have
been very scary to do what Rosa Parks did. I also attended the lecture. I found
this also to be illuminating. Dr. Hymen was a very inspiring speaker. She
discussed how young people need be ready to serve, and how kindness is always a
good thing. She also discussed how every minute is preparing you for the next
moment. The events that UE held for Martin Luther King Day were very moving.
Martin Luther
King inspired many to do the right thing. His words are still inspiring to
many.
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