Reflections on Things That Matter

"Intelligence plus character, that is the goal of true education."  - Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. 

More than anything, the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. demonstrates the power of one voice; how the voice and the actions of one person can bring about meaningful change in our world. As the children head into the long weekend, we wanted to shine a light on the meaning of the MLK holiday and the relevance of Dr. King's dream today. At the heart of equality is accepting each others' differences, supporting one another, showing compassion and empathy and taking the time to show that we are interested in understanding where each of us is coming from. Dr. King paid the ultimate price for living out his dream so that we could know a world of equality. At this time, in particular, it seems appropriate to reflect on his words and assess our own words and actions as they relate to his dream. So, we asked the children: Fifty-one years after MLK's death, are we living his dream of equality? This week's guest bloggers share their thoughts. 

Though African Americans have more rights than they did before, I think we could still do better. We are still treating people differently based on how they look and how much money they have. I think we should stop judging people from the outside and start getting to know people on the inside.    - "Ritzi"

In some parts of the world, people have gotten better about treating people with kindness, including everyone and defending people's rights. In other parts of the world, not everyone is always welcome and that should change! I think that everybody should treat everyone equally and be kind no matter how different you are from them.   - "Soda"

I do not think that we are living Dr. King's dream. Yet. I believe this because unfortunately, some people are still being treated differently. For example, some people are treated differently because of what they believe in or how much money they have. I think people today should think "how would I feel if this were happening to me?" We need to have more empathy.    - "Wifi"

I think we are living only part of Dr. King's dream. I think things have gotten way better than it was 60 years ago, but we haven't reached total peace yet. Another reason I think we aren't living his dream is that we are arresting immigrants. I think we could all be a little nicer to each other.    - "N.A.S.A."

I think that we are not living Dr. King's dream of equality because some people are still not treated well because of their skin color or because of other differences. I think that we can treat people that are different better.    - "Yah"

I think most of us are living Dr. King's dream. After MLK, gave his "I have a dream speech", people started to realize that it didn't matter what we looked like. It matters more how we act. Still, some people judge others by what they look like. We can be better by setting an example for the people who judge.    - "Mala"

In my opinion, I don't think we are living Dr. King's dream. In most parts of the world, we are living in peace, but there are still some parts where people only see the outside of others. I think that maybe we could look more into what people are going through, then maybe we would understand what it feels like to be them.    - "Aloha"