Is MLK Still Relevant? I Hope So!

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Today marks the US celebration of Martin Luther King's birthday. His actual birthday was January 15, but we love to nationalize (standardize?) things here in the States. It's easier and more convenient for the masses, I guess. Had he been allowed to live, King would have celebrated his 84th birthday.

I can't help but wonder how he would view today's civil rights movement, which focuses largely on same-sex marriages. After all, in addition to being a civil rights activist, King was also a Baptist minister. It represents an interesting conflict of interest. Would he support one group but shun another? Just one of those deep and random thoughts that infiltrate my mind from time to time. 

Regardless, there is no denying King's impact on our nation. I often worry that his legacy -  and the legacies of so many other courageous leaders and innovators that have shaped our culture - is being forgotten. So many students are lacking the basic background knowledge they need to actively participate in our society. It makes me sad.

So imagine my surprise and delight when my two kindergartners started talking about MLK last week. They both knew basic details, including why he was assassinated. I visited the classroom of one of them last Friday, and was moved to find her teacher playing a video of King's I Have a Dream speech on the SMARTBoard. The teacher didn't just play the video, but she paused at various moments, checked for comprehension, and highlighted important information. After the video, she asked her students engaging questions and introduced activities that encouraged the kiddos to explore their own dreams.

King's legacy inspires our society to this day, and his fight is more relevant than ever. It's just that his fight has shifted from racial to cultural. We need to find ways to help students make the bigger connection.

Thanks for reading ... It keeps your Mind Full of Literacy!

I Cannot Tell a Lie: Are Historical & Cultural Literacy Things of the Past?

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Please welcome guest blogger, Val Thompson!. Val is a witty and brilliant middle school geography teacher at Daniel Boone Middle School in Douglassville, PA. We taught together for three years and spent many lunch periods lamenting our students' lack of background knowledge. In addition to educating students about our world, she also sneaks in reading strategies. And you all know I'm a huge proponent of teaching reading in the content areas. Enjoy!

For added fun, see how many obscure and "lost" cultural references you recognize.  No Googling... that's just not fair!

I cannot tell a lie:  historic and cultural literacy are things of the past.  I am a geography teacher in a middle school, and I understand all about reading and math scores and the pressure to pass tests.  I get that we have students with more needs and problems and less of a budget to work with.  But for the love of Jesus (Jesus who?… for real, I got that last year), we need to make sure our kids know some stuff about history, culture and geography.  I have a dream that in 20 years, when I say “I have a dream,” people will get that cultural reference.  I am not optimistic.

I have a degree in history, so I “get it” that many things I know are off the charts in obscurity.  But even as a child I knew things that kids today do not know, and they are connected to basic cultural literacy.  Bullfights are in Spain, lions come from the African plains.  The guy in the beret  near the café is a FRENCH artist, but if I fall in love with him, he might be my Romeo. It seems I to me that I knew these things as a child; got these cultural references from educational television such as Bugs Bunny and Tom and Jerry.  Even television and movie references have gone by the wayside, and frankly, I give a damn.  Because we are one generation or so removed from kids not understanding anything we say, and it makes me mad as a hatter.  Ah well, tomorrow is another day.

If cartoon and movie references are lost, history is worse.  No one has heard of Alexander the Great.  I don’t mean they can’t place him in a century or list his accomplishments… they never heard of him.  Or that Cleopatra was an Egyptian.  Or even that pyramids were Egyptian.Joan of Arc was not Noah’s wife (Noah who?). And when it rains cats and dogs, you can’t say, “We’re going to have to build an ark” because they don’t understand. I hate to even publicly admit this, but one of my colleagues asked me if Gandhi was black, because I was teaching about CivilRights. Et tu, Brute?

So, if you love your children, tell them that the Taj Mahal is more than a casino, and that TRex was not a contemporary of Baby Jesus, who apparently chased down a lot of old guys from the Bible (yes, another war story from history class). I’d bet you the Brooklyn Bridge that many don’t know the difference between Washington (the wig guy) and Lincoln (the hat guy).  And speaking of New York (which is where Brooklyn is), make sure they know who The Babe is. And they should know the difference between Yogi Bear and Yogi Berra. It would also help to know that Opera is a kind of singing and Oprah is a talk-show host. Oh, and there are 50 states. Watch movies, talk to your kids, and read, read, read, read, read. We have a chance to preserve our cultural literacy.  It’s not over ‘till it’s over, folks.