2 I got WAY into reading and researching Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
3 Incredible story.
4 I found a longer version of his last speech, the "I have been to the mountaintop... speech" we've all seen.
5 It is much longer, and MUCH darker than most people think.
6 It is clear he knew he was a marked man. It is clear he knew he was going to be murdered.
7 I'll stop short of saying he knew it was his last speech.
8 He knew something.
9 We all have seen the glitzy part, in full color and embellished for the masses with vibrant technical phenomena.
10 The full speech in pure form is difficult to find.
11 Dr. King delivered this chilling speech in Memphis, at the Mason Temple. He delivered it on April 3, 1968, the night before he was murdered.
12 Here is the longest version I could find, and it is devoid of the sighing glitz and glam we have come to accept as news.
13 I offer it here in its entirety:
14 In the speech King references some of his major battles, including his march on Birmingham. Bull Conner was the sheriff of Birmingham in 1963, when King led a march on Good Friday. Conner's tactics proved outrageous. He ordered police to use fire hoses and physical violence to keep people from protesting.
15 I spent the week re-reading, and researching all things King.
16 You should do this. It is worth the emotional ride.
17 You will live greatness. You will once again realize that history is not something that happened, but that is happening.
18 I spent the last month reading, researching and teaching about the assassination of John F. Kennedy.
19 It was one of the most difficult units I ever taught.
20 I didn't want to travel that road with Dr. King.
21 Was there a "conspiracy" in the assassination of Dr. King?
22 Yes. Unquestionably. The story and the witnesses are much easier than the the story of JFK. The corruption in the King case is right out there. You don't have to go far to find it.
23 What I like about studying King is the hope he sends. It is real; it is palpable. It lives today, despite what many think. As sad and chilling as the speech is, it makes us see what power we all have as Americans, even in 2014. People still believe in the first amendment. I still believe we have a constitution despite all efforts to trample it. I believe all of that because of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
24 Incredible.
25 Moving On, Part One: Easy to paint myself in a corner on this one.
26 I am glad I spent MLK day finding out everything I could about a man I thought I knew.
27 One amazing thing about switching up lessons every couple of years is that I wind up learning some amazingly interesting things. For example, King's speech sounded more refined and rehearsed than something he might have written in a hotel room. It is much longer than I ever thought, forged with references to dynasties and to human history, as well as to his own legacy.
28 It's funny. I always loved libraries. My idea of a good time was staying in a library for four or five hours doing personal research.
29 Not research for school things, heavens no!
30 Anybody lookin'?
31 I loved learning things on my own.
32 Some people read books.
33 Some work out like mad.
34 Some know everything there is to know about winemaking, or films.
35 A friend of mine from high school, Leo Sanford, loved learning things.
36 Leo had a Lennonesque feel about him: long hair, round glasses, and a cat-that-ate the canary smile.
37 He was also a philosopher. One afternoon we were sitting in his room separating stems from seeds from his oregano stash.
38 At one point he stopped, and said, "You know what my main goal is in life?"
39 I shook my head and drew a knowing smile. He separated a few more seeds, looked up and smiled. He then had this to say:
40 "To know everything."
41 Lofty.
42 I laughed, not at the seeming impossibility of that goal, but of the very idea that in my lifetime something like that was possible.
43 I still think that it will be possible one day to know that.
44 I listened to King's entire speech while writing this.
45 The speech roused. The speech moved.
It should have been called, "If I Had Sneezed," if you listen to all of it.
It should have been called, "If I Had Sneezed," if you listen to all of it.
46 Finding out so much about things has defined this school year. it will all turn into detailed lesson plans in the coming years.
47 If you teach, do this. Mix it up every few years. This is difficult advice for newer teachers because they often experiment every other day.
48 This is for intermediate teachers, as well as for parents, AND anyone who loves learning and sharing with the younger set.
49 At the risk of sounding preachy: Learn things. Mix it up. Keep facts. If you're going to share, share with younger people. And know when to stop.
50 A little bit at a time. Do it for yourself, first and foremost.
51 We're not here for that long.
52 You have a finite period of time to learn it. And to teach it.
53 To learn what?
54 Everything.
55 Peace.
~H~
No comments:
Post a Comment