Honoring Martin Luther King, Jr.
Teaching MLK in Connection with the Attack on the U.S. Capitol - A RESOURCE FROM TEACHING TOLERANCE
This Martin Luther King Day is unlike any in my lifetime. We are at a bloody juncture between a tyrannical grasp at retaining white power and pursuing progress through Democracy. This day, we must return to the words of Martin Luther King, Jr. to find meaning in this struggle. This year of the pandemic and protests many have begun or re-awakened their education - at all ages, all backgrounds.
These articles from Teaching Tolerance connect MLK to the attack and give us context for the path of education for social justice that we are on. For teachers, there are lesson plans for each of these articles. For all of us, there are words to live, learn, and teach by.
“Students tend to think of the fight for civil rights as though there has always been a set list of hurdles to be overcome—slavery, then racial terror, then segregation, then disenfranchisement, then mass incarceration. It’s our job to help them understand that these aren’t discrete, predestined fights. Each hurdle sprang up in response to a step forward.
But hurdles themselves are a bad metaphor, implying that the pushback against racial justice is predictable and solid. A better way of thinking about it might be water—racism will take the shape of whatever will hold it.” - Julia DeLaCroix