MEMPHIS, Tenn. – – The 50th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s death is largely about measuring how far we’ve come and how far we have to go when it comes to racial and social equality.
In light of that, we wanted to see what this historic day is like in children’s eyes.
We talked with a number of students at Vision Preparatory Charter School today.
We sat in as one first grade class listened to Dr. King’s “I Have a Dream” speech. His message wasn’t lost on the young minds.
“I think about doing right and helping poor people,” KaDen Steele says.
For Catlynn Wright, the takeaway is simple.
“It doesn’t matter what color you are, you need to be friends with everybody and love them too,” she says.
Jermiyah Glover agrees.
“People should be nice to people and not be mean,” he says.
Fourth grader Joshua Patton actually played Dr. King in a comemorative play at the school this morning. As part of his role, he recited portions of the speech.
“I like when he said free at last! Free at last! Great God almighty I’m free at last,” Patton says.
He continued his part this afternoon when he lead his classmates on a march to honor the Sanitation Workers Strike of 1968.
Vision Prep’s teachers couldn’t be prouder of their students.
“I think it’s great that we teach them what happened before they came into the world so that when they become the great leaders they are going to be they can just keep living the dream,” teacher Mercezdes Dockery says.
It’s a dream largely made possible by a man who’s legacy they honor and respect.