Teaching my child about civil rights, Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King Jr., protesting, prejudice and all that entails these past few weeks. He has been reading books to help him find some facts on his own. We picked several books up from the library yesterday on Martin Luther King Jr. We also ordered Martin’s Big Words: The Life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. from Amazon. It arrived today and is a beautiful book. My child took the book right away out of its mail package and read it, marveling at the artwork and the words that were on the pages.
Then the questions began………My child has just seen my tears when I’ve had to tell him “Yes honey, they really did bomb a church, little girls were killed, yes just like the little girls you see at church, school and Sunday school. Yes they died….” “Yes some people still believe this way, yes black people their children, teenagers, elderly are STILL treated this way……”
We have recently been to Detroit, The Henry Ford Museum, and sat in the bus Rosa Parks rode and sat firm in her beliefs by not moving. While sitting there we listened to the Rosa Parks story, the bus boycott story with Dr. King, and listened to a civil rights explanation. Since this time my child has been even more interested. We purchased two books on Rosa Parks from the museum that day for him to read. One is shaped like the bus, with worksheet type questions in it. The other book is Who Was Rosa Parks? Chapter book.
Since the news of late is eerily paralleling some of the news and protest and happenings of 1960s, children are talking more about race and prejudice, and relating some things to that time. This makes me so unbelievably heartbroken. We have come so far, to see it being threatened and slipping away, there are no words. Seeing these stories and history in a book first, has helped my kiddo take it in, and ponder and then question. Questions and discussions are so so very necessary. Excruciatingly hard, but necessary.
Coincidentally this weekend and Monday Amazon Prime streaming is Melody 1963 an American Girl story of a black girl my sons age and her plight, for free. Good thing to watch together to tie in all we have been reading and discussing.
As we celebrate the life of Martin Luther King Jr and his amazing work this Monday; Go find and pick an age appropriate book and open up the lines of communication. Knowledge leads to understanding.
Me, personally, I’m going to read March by John Lewis, Andrew Aydin and Nate Powell. Can’t wait to get it started.
Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into a friend. In the End, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends. Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that.
~~Martin Luther King Jr.
PEACE.
