Wil Clay (1938–2011)

I didn't really read this Kindle book but read the text online after watching the speech on YouTube.

Martin Luther King Jr. is one of my heroes, and it seemed appropriate to listen & read his words today in honor of his memory on MLK day. Sadly, so much is still apposite 50 years later. This passage in particular struck me:

"We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality."

In the intervening years, this aspect of racism doesn't seem show more to have improved very much as the events of the past 6 months have shown. I just hope that people recall this earlier section from the speech:

"But there is something that I must say to my people, who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice: In the process of gaining our rightful place, we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again, we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force." show less

Once I got past the beginning and realized that Wade's 'ghetto' persona was a self-defense mechanism and not Cohen being ignorant, I really enjoyed watching him learn about himself and his classmates, and I laughed at the little jams he got himself into. More subtle than [b:Molly's Pilgrim|1683140|Molly's Pilgrim|Barbara Cohen|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1266866042s/1683140.jpg|1679740] but the same theme of adjustment to a new culture in a school setting.

I didn't really read this Kindle book but read the text online after watching the speech on YouTube.

Martin Luther King Jr. is one of my heroes, and it seemed appropriate to listen & read his words today in honor of his memory on MLK day. Sadly, so much is still apposite 50+ years later. This passage in particular struck me:

"We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality."

In the intervening years, this aspect of racism doesn't seem show more to have improved very much as the events of the past 6 months have shown. I just hope that people recall this earlier section from the speech:

"But there is something that I must say to my people, who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice: In the process of gaining our rightful place, we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again, we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force." show less

I have a dream is a beautiful illustrated version of Martin Luther King's 1963 speech, I Have A Dream. Each section has the text of the speech on one page, and a corresponding illustrations on the other page. I enjoy this book because of the way it draws out every part of the speech, so that the reader can really see what MLK envisioned. When he says, "Little black [boys and girls] will be able to join hands with little white [boys and girls]", it shows a drawing of a black girl and a white show more girl dancing together. At the end of the book, it explains the importance and legacy of the speech. The book reinforces the power the landmark speech had, and the importance of having hope for a brighter future. show less