Today, February 26th, we had an all school assembly to honor Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. This was led by the Mizel Museum.
Through a musical experience, we went through the life and important moments of Dr. King. Starting at the peak of his life, a simple table with a cup of coffee.
This program focused on the moment after Dr. King got a phone call telling him, in an ugly voice, to stop. Most people when faced with threats, or even death threats like King, would back away, too scared to continue. However, Dr. King did not do this, in fact he fought bigger and stronger than ever.
The phone call helped Dr. King realize how unfair people are treated due to the color of their skin. “Your children are not welcome at their school,” said the presentation.
“Stand up for truth, stand up for righteousness, stand up for justice and dream, Martin, dream.”
The slideshow in the background displayed many important events in Dr. King’s life. The Montgomery bus boycott, the march on Washington and many pictures of King in prison.
One highlighted movement which Dr. King led was in Birmingham, Alabama, when he was imprisoned. He wanted to stop “the laws that unfair businesses had, treating people unfairly due to the color of their skin.”
To do this, Dr. King planned on getting so many people arrested that the jails would become full and the government would have to pay attention to the inequality.
While in jail, Dr. King wrote a letter to the government and clergymen. Instead of an aggressive and hateful letter like you might think he wrote, it was peaceful and fact-based. The Mizel Museum read an excerpt of this letter.
“We know through painful experience that freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed. Frankly I have never yet engaged in a direct action movement that was “well timed,” according to the timetable of those who have not suffered unduly from the disease of segregation.” – The Bill of Rights Institute
While this assembly was very different than the rest, it was super impactful. Not only did we learn about an extremely impactful historical figure, we also had fun while doing so. The crowd sung, cheered, clapped and danced along to the jazz-like music being played.
At the end of the event “Lean on Me”, a song written by Bill Withers, was sung, showing how impactful it is when you treat the people around you with kindness.
To learn more about Dr. King or the Mizel Museum, visit mizelmuseum.org
