Martin Luther King Jr Day

Today is a day to remember a man who, through his dogged determination, was able to change the lives of millions of people for the better. He opened the door to change and even today reminds us that the things worth having in life are worth the struggle to get them.

I was maybe in my early teens, perhaps younger, when I realized that I would most likely marry a man whose skin was different from mine and that our babies would be interracial. Growing up black in a very white city, I struggled to find faces that looked like mine. I was given BA Baracus on the A-Team, Marilyn Magoo on Solid Gold and then the Cosby family. While they were better than nothing, I was left reading books about white kids like the twins in Sweet Valley High. I decided then and there to strive to raise my babies, whenever they came, to see themselves in all forms of media.It was important to me that they see how we can live and work side by side with every colour and creed.
I used my love of books to start a collection for them.
It was harder than you'd think to find decent children's books in the early 90's, without the help of the internet. Yet my collection grew thanks to friends and family. By the time I was ready to start my family, I had over 65 books spanning pre-school to middle school reading levels.
My son was around 4 when he learned about Martin Luther King Jr and what he did for the world. I used the book Martin's Big Words by Doreen Rappaport. We read other stories afterwards about slavery and the Underground Railroad.

I'd like to toot my own horn for a moment and say that in the past few years, the school has asked if I would lend my collection to each February for teachers to use. They display the books in the trophy case! This year, the grade 2 teacher wrote to ask if I could send some MLK Jr books for today.

" Only in darkness can you see the stars" ~ Martin Luther King Jr