Charlie had been talking about wanting to go to a Martin Luther King Jr. "parade" since Thursday last week. Apparently his class discussion peaked an interest in civil and human rights. So today the boys and I went downtown to the BSU Student Union Building for a march to City Hall. When we got to BSU, Charlie found a couple of kids from his class. Cole's Spanish preschool director was there with her family too. While making our signs, various members of the Treasure Valley community spoke to the crowd. The highlight might have been when a dad sang the Louis Armstrong song "What a Wonderful World"...and he sounded just like Mr. Armstrong. The facial expressions by the singer and the boys was priceless. We made signs (see above- Charlie wrote peace, love and a peace sign. Cole wrote MLK, love, and a peace sign.), then marched up the street about one mile to City Hall where we listened to some people talk about MLK. The kids chanted "2-4-6-8 Idaho's too great to hate!" Later, when we arrived home, I asked the boys "Who is MLK Jr?" Here's what they said:
Cole: "He's a good guy. He was maybe a president. He said white persons and black persons are good persons."
Charlie: "He's a peaceful man that is black and um he is kind of different than other people a long time ago because some people said "hate" and he said "love". He teached us to fight with words instead of fists a long time ago. It doesn't matter what skin color you have because you can still be a friend with someone who has white skin or black or other colors."
I hope to make this march/rally a family tradition, as many others we met along the way have done. Peace to you all. "At the center of non-violence stands the principle of love." MLK Jr.
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