"I Have a Dream"

Well, this past week, Tristan has been a busy bee putting together a presentation on Martin Luther King, Jr. It is the typical story of having 8 weeks to complete the assignment, but leaving it to the final few days before it is due to start really working on it. His mother made lots of not so subtle comments during the other 7 weeks, but who listens to their mother?

So, Daniel and I spent lots of time helping Tristan write and re-write a speech and create a poster. He also had to dress the part of Martin Luther King. I bought him a mustache, but he's not wearing it in this picture because he didn't want the stickiness to wear off before his actual presentation. In his speech he quotes part of MLK's "I Have a Dream" speech which was delivered at the Lincoln Memorial during the famous March on Washington.

“I have dream . . . . where little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with the little white boys and white girls and walk together as sisters and brothers. . . .This will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with a new meaning. 'My country, 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim's pride, from every mountain side , let freedom ring'. And if America is to be a great nation , this must become true. . . . When we let freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, 'Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!'"

This speech has been the topic of conversation for the last few weeks, and Tristan has had to endure listening to me say the last line with truth and conviction over and over...."Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!" I think he and Alicia must think I've lost my marbles with the way they look at me sometimes.

When he first heard the assignment, he really wanted Abraham Lincoln, but someone else in his class got him. His comment about being MLK was, "I got Martin Luther King because I'm black." Daniel's comment was, "yeah, probably, but he's a great person for you to learn about." I don't think Tristan expected Daniel to agree with him. Tristan really got into the project after we got most of the work done, and practiced his speech so much he practically has it memorized. I must say, I'm really proud of his hard work, even if it was left to the last minute.

I would like to encourage all of you to read MLK's "I Have a Dream" speech. It is so inspiring. I don't think I really sat down and read the whole thing through until this project. It has been great for our family to talk about the Civil Rights movement; how far we've come, but also how much further we have to go, so "LET FREEDOM RING!!
http://mkgandhi.org/associates/martinluther.htm