For Local BlogTeaching our kids: Facts about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Today we honor Dr. Martin Luther King and all he stood for. At Farmer’s Hat Productions, our tagline is “Growing Kids Through Diverse Learning Experiences.” We try to emulate this in our award winning Bur Bur and Friends children’s book series. We hope you will take some time out of your day to reflect on his message and all he stood for. We thought we would take the initiative to provide you with some facts about this great man. Did you know that Dr. King:
Was born in Atlanta, Georgia and his birth name was Michael King Jr. At the age of five, his father changed both of their names to Martin Luther, after the Reformation leader.
Skipped his freshman and senior year of high school so he could attend Morehouse College at the age of 15. He originally planned to become a medical doctor. Instead, his education was as follows:
B.A. from Morehouse in Sociology
B.A. from Crozer Theological Seminary in Divinity
Phd from Boston University in Philosophy and Systematic Theology
His father and maternal grandfather were ministers. King was ordained as a Baptist minister in 1948
Was successful in getting the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Voting Rights Act of 1965 passed in Congress. These rights were a turning point in reversal of discrimination that was carried out through the Jim Crow laws and grandfather clauses.
The Civil Rights Act: Outlawed discrimination in public places. Called for public scools and facilities to become integrated. Prohibited discrimination in the work place
The Voting Rights Act: Outlawed literacy tests as a requirement to vote. Prohibited poll taxes which prevented African Americans from having a voice in the voting process
Was the youngest ever in 1964 to have won the Nobel Peace Prize. At 35, he was the second American and third African American to receive the award.
Was the first African American to be on the cover of TIME Magazine.
Was assassinated on April 4, 1968. James Earl Ray was convicted for the murder and sentenced to 99 years in jail. Ray was an escape convict who plead guilty to the crime in March of 1969. He died in 1998.
Please tell us how you will share information about Dr. King with the children in your life.
If you aren’t sure, see suggestions from Myrna Blyth on her blog. Blyth is the former Editor-in-Chief of Ladies’ Home Journal and Founding-Editor of More Magazine.
Books from the award winning Bur Bur and Friends children’s book series that uses a cast of multicultural characters who educate kids about sports, outdoor exploration and active play.
Seed Newsvine
January 19th, 2009 at 12:30 pm
I actually just finished discussing MLK with my six year old (we homeschool). I didn’t go into great detail since he is only six and won’t truly understand the full impact that Martin Luther King Jr. had on our country. What I did was print off the printable book available on enchantedlearning.com. I had him read it, stopping when he did not understand what was being said. I would explain what things meant, then he would continue. When he was done, I summarized what he had read for him. I feel that was plenty for his age. As he gets older, we will study the life of Martin Luther King Jr. more in depth.
January 19th, 2009 at 3:33 pm
I read pieces of his “Dream” speech to my kids and we looked at some pictures and my daughter drew a picture of him. My kids are 2, 3 & 6……..they were really excited to listen to me talk about him. I didn’t think that they would be as into as they were, it made me happy
January 19th, 2009 at 3:44 pm
I suppose today is no different for us then any other day. I only say this because I try to teach my children everyday how important it is to treat everyone as equals. My youngest is too young to know anything about any of it. And my oldest (9) knows who he is and thinks that he was a great teacher and leader. I am very sad that his wife Coretta Scott King died before seeing our first black president. Not only was I impressed with his campaign in general, I was so emotional about him being black.
We are not close to being a country without racism, sexism, and any other type of bigotry, I feel that it is a HUGE step forward. I feel that MLK would be disappointed in a lot of things that are going on today, but there are some things I dont think he would have envisioned happening either. I feel proud on a day like today of my heritage and feel that as Americans who are accepting of all, today is a day to be thankful for the sacrifices people such as MLK made. JFK made huge steps and his life was cut short great man, Maya Angelou, Collin Powell, and many others. Be proud as an American today and tomorrow we see our first Ethnic President!!!!
January 20th, 2009 at 11:52 pm
I recalled the stories my former boss told me about marching in Selma, Alabama with Dr. King, and Harry Belafonte for civil rights. I told my son as much as I could, and he learned alot at school, too. He is right at the age where it is all coming together, so he is loving watching the news and learning!
One day at school his teacher told me my som was telling ‘tall tales’ in school. I was surprised,and asked whst he was saying.She said he was going around telling the children he has two nieces in Africa. I corrected her, and said,”No, he has two African American nieces here in the states!” He isn’t fibbing! We had a laugh over it!