Q's first blog entry - On Martin Luther King Jr. Day

Q wrote the following, by herself, after today's homeschooling which included reading Chapter 17 of Howard Zinn's "A People's History", watching and reading the "I have a dream" speech, and after reading the entire Wikipedia entry on MLK.

"My mom let me make my first blog. Call me Q. (My mommy doesn't want my full name on the internet.) I am going to tell you about Martin Luther King Jr. I listened to the "I have a Dream" speech. I was inspired by this quote:

"In a sense we've come to our nation's capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the "unalienable Rights" of "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note, insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked "insufficient funds"." And this: "It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment. This sweltering summer of the Negro's legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. Nineteen sixty-three is not an end, but a beginning. And those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual. And there will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges."

I loved that part of the speech but you can read the whole thing here: http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/Ihaveadream.htm . MLK Jr. protested harder than anyone else. He led dozens of protests. He was very persistent and even kept doing it after someone bombed his house. He went homeless but still did it.

He was assassinated on April 4, 1968 at 6:01.

He was assassinated by James Earl Ray. James Earl Ray pleaded guilty because if he didn't he would have the death sentence. He was sentenced to 99 years in prison. He tried all of his life to withdraw the plea and get a trial, without success. He died in prison. He said that his brother and 10 million dollars were involved. The court didn't believe him and ignored him.

They had a memorial erected for MLK Jr. It is a large memorial. MLK won a Nobel peace prize. He is very famous. He is in the 20 most famous people. MLK was a good man and he made extremely long speeches just to convince people it's not okay. I like MLK because he was a brave and a very much needed man in history."

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