I often like to quiz the my son (8) and daughter (7) as we sit down to dinner or are just chatting. They think it’s a fun challenge to see who can get the most right answers. But it is really just an opportunity for me to drop a lesson on them 😉 and, every once in awhile, they surprise me!
With Martin Luther King Jr. day approaching I though it would be a good time to ask them what they know (remember) about Martin Luther King Jr.
A little backstory…
Last year we participated in the MLK Commemorative March in downtown Corpus Christi and watched Selma that evening. I love historical dramas and I thought this movie was an important part of American History they should be aware of. They had lots of questions at the walk and had a hard time understanding why we were walking so far just to walk. I told them “We were going to watch a movie, it’s a true story and many people get hurt and even die, you will be a little scared, but you will understand why it is important for us to walk.”
It was a little disturbing especially the beginning for young kids of 6, and 7 at that time. However I justify it as such, there is violence everywhere! They will be exposed to it at some point real or virtual in this day and age of mass shootings, bomb threats, video games like Call of Duty, and violent movies. The movie black Panther has 163 shootings and I know half y’all took your kids to see that.
Therefore, in my opinion, violence in the name of history can be tolerated to an extent. The kids were upset off the bat, and I paused and took time to let them ask questions and explain.
All in all it is a great movie if you haven’t seen it I highly recommend you download it and watch it yourself before showing your kids.
Gathering at the Nueces County Courthouse to being the MLK Walk January 2019
: The Quiz :
These are some of the questions that I asked my children, and what their responses were.
Feel free to use these questions as a guide when talking to your kids!
Who is Martin Luther King Jr?
7 Year Old Response: A human
8 Year Old Response: An African American black person
What did he do?
7 Year Old Response: He made a wish
8 Year Old Response: He changed laws and rights in the 1950’s
Who did Martin Luther King Jr. ride a bus with?
7 Year Old Response: I have never heard of that?
8 Year Old Response: White people and the other girl who refused to go to the back of the bus.
What was the name of Martin Luther King Jr.’s famous speech?
7 Year Old Response: I have a dream
8 Year Old Response: Live to your dreams
Can you tell me what segregation is?
7 Year Old Response: Nu uh!
8 Year Old Response: I think that is when white people refuse to obey the laws of black American’s.
At this point I began a dialogue of what segregation actually was and asked if they thought that was right, and why?
7 Year Old Response: No that’s mean, and it’s not fair!
8 Year Old Response: No because all colors need to be treated equally
What is a peaceful protest? A March, a boycott, or a hunger strike? Or all of these?
7 Year Old Response: All of these
8 Year Old Response: A march, cause we marched.
Why was MLK arrested over 30 times?
7 Year Old Response: He was trying to save the world
8 Year Old Response: He was riding a bus and the driver told him to get to the back an he didn’t so they arrested him.
Do you know what the Civil Rights Act of 1964 is?
7 Year Old Response: 1964!?! What that’s history! Me- Mimi was 4 yrs old living in Rhode Island. 7- Whoa!
8 Year Old Response: He made a big speech and millions of people were there.
How did Martin Luther King Jr. die?
7 Year Old Response: He went somewhere and a guy came up and shot him with a gun.
8 Year Old Response: He got shot at a movie theater. Am I right? Me – Good! Yes, kind of but that was Abraham Lincoln that got shot at the theater, and it was a play, not a movie!
Who or what is Selma?
7 Year Old Response: A girl?
8 Year Old Response: I don’t know what is Selma?
Me – A city in Alabama that was at the heart of the civil rights movement and the starting point of one Of Martin Luther King Jr’s most famous protests the Selma to Montgomery March which was 54 miles long and started with 3,200 people but ended with 25,000. Many people black and white died in the days surrounding this march.
I encourage you to ask these questions of your kids and begin a dialogue about Martin Luther King Jr, what he did for our country and the history we were so privileged to benefit from.
We will be at the 34th annual Martin Luther King Jr. Commemorative walk will be held on January 20th at 12 noon. Starting at the Nueces County Courthouse 901 Leopard St and ending at the Episcopal Church of the Good Sheperd. 700 S. Upper Broadway. The B is providing shuttles to take participants back to the courthouse. All this is made possible by the Corpus Christi Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. contact them via facebook with any questions!
Marching along with the group MLK Walk 2019
