Today is the day when the nation pauses to mark the legacy of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
For many, it is a day off. That would include most of the school districts in Delaware County.
Most, but not all.
In fact 14 of the 15 districts in the county will have the day off.
Not Interboro.
This year Interboro schools are trying something different. Instead of a day off, kids will get a day “on.”
I think they might be on to something.
Increasingly, the holiday has been moving more toward action, toward putting Dr. King’s ideals into practice through community service.
To that end, students in the Interboro School District will be in class today, taking part in a series of activities applying the principles of the slain civil rights leader.
I give some credit to Superintendent Lois Snyder, who believes a day in class studying what Dr. King was about is a more fitting way to honor his memory.
I agree.
“The vast majority of us have not used the day as it was intended: A day to learn and practice the values of Martin Luther King – peaceful co-existence, respect and service,” Snyder said.
She admits she did not expect everyone to agree with the move.
She’s probably right.
I am not saying that other students don’t take part in any number of very good events. I’m saying that the temptation is merely to look at it as a day off, instead of a day “on.”
For me, it’s not a holiday. I’m in the office today. Later this afternoon I will take part in a panel discussion on King’s legacy at Calvary Baptist Church in Chester.
That’s where King preached while he was a student at Crozer Theological Seminary.
In getting ready for the discussion, in which we were asked to use a single quote of King’s and expand on it as to how his legacy can be put into effect, I had the opportunity to sit down and read his two most famous speeches.
Those, of course, would be his “I Have a Dream” speech that he delivered to a huge crowd in Washington, D.C., in August 1963, and his “Promised Land” speech given in Memphis, Tenn., the night before he was assassinated five years later.
It’s the first time I have actually read both speeches in their entirety, as opposed to the clips we are so familiar with on TV. I was so moved by them that I ran the entire text of the “Dream” speech in the Sunday paper.
I was struck by two things.
I would give anything to be able to write like that. I always get goosebumps every time I hear the “Dream” speech. I got the same reaction reading it. The writing, and the words, are nothing short of beautiful.
I also learned a couple of things. King and I had several things in common. One was a love and respect for the First Amendment of the Constitution. That’s the one the guarantees freedom of speech. And of the press. It is something I take seriously. So did King.
He specifically pointed that in relation to the struggle of the sanitation workers in Memphis.
“If I lived in China or even Russia, or any totalitarian country, maybe I could understand the denial of certain basic First Amendment privileges, because they hadn’t committed themselves to that over there. But somewhere I read of the freedom of assembly. Somewhere I read of the freedom of speech. Somewhere I read of the freedom of the press. Somewhere I read that the greatness of America is the right to protest for right.”
Powerful words. Important words. But only words.
In truth, they are words that demand action. They are words call for a day “on,” not another day off.
Which is why I think Interboro is doing the right thing.
For many, it is a day off. That would include most of the school districts in Delaware County.
Most, but not all.
In fact 14 of the 15 districts in the county will have the day off.
Not Interboro.
This year Interboro schools are trying something different. Instead of a day off, kids will get a day “on.”
I think they might be on to something.
Increasingly, the holiday has been moving more toward action, toward putting Dr. King’s ideals into practice through community service.
To that end, students in the Interboro School District will be in class today, taking part in a series of activities applying the principles of the slain civil rights leader.
I give some credit to Superintendent Lois Snyder, who believes a day in class studying what Dr. King was about is a more fitting way to honor his memory.
I agree.
“The vast majority of us have not used the day as it was intended: A day to learn and practice the values of Martin Luther King – peaceful co-existence, respect and service,” Snyder said.
She admits she did not expect everyone to agree with the move.
She’s probably right.
I am not saying that other students don’t take part in any number of very good events. I’m saying that the temptation is merely to look at it as a day off, instead of a day “on.”
For me, it’s not a holiday. I’m in the office today. Later this afternoon I will take part in a panel discussion on King’s legacy at Calvary Baptist Church in Chester.
That’s where King preached while he was a student at Crozer Theological Seminary.
In getting ready for the discussion, in which we were asked to use a single quote of King’s and expand on it as to how his legacy can be put into effect, I had the opportunity to sit down and read his two most famous speeches.
Those, of course, would be his “I Have a Dream” speech that he delivered to a huge crowd in Washington, D.C., in August 1963, and his “Promised Land” speech given in Memphis, Tenn., the night before he was assassinated five years later.
It’s the first time I have actually read both speeches in their entirety, as opposed to the clips we are so familiar with on TV. I was so moved by them that I ran the entire text of the “Dream” speech in the Sunday paper.
I was struck by two things.
I would give anything to be able to write like that. I always get goosebumps every time I hear the “Dream” speech. I got the same reaction reading it. The writing, and the words, are nothing short of beautiful.
I also learned a couple of things. King and I had several things in common. One was a love and respect for the First Amendment of the Constitution. That’s the one the guarantees freedom of speech. And of the press. It is something I take seriously. So did King.
He specifically pointed that in relation to the struggle of the sanitation workers in Memphis.
“If I lived in China or even Russia, or any totalitarian country, maybe I could understand the denial of certain basic First Amendment privileges, because they hadn’t committed themselves to that over there. But somewhere I read of the freedom of assembly. Somewhere I read of the freedom of speech. Somewhere I read of the freedom of the press. Somewhere I read that the greatness of America is the right to protest for right.”
Powerful words. Important words. But only words.
In truth, they are words that demand action. They are words call for a day “on,” not another day off.
Which is why I think Interboro is doing the right thing.
Comments