Today, on the would-be 80th birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., I explained to my daughter in the best way I knew how what Dr. King meant to the world. As it's a national holiday, she and children across the country were absent from school today. Though we observe this holiday each year, it has probably never received as much attention as it did today. This is the Eve of Change. Our 44th president will be sworn into office tomorrow and he is the first African-American president. The quest for equality has come to fruition.
So how do you explain to a six-year-old what Dr. King did for the culture of America? Well, keep it personal and not too broad. My focus, for now, was on how her dark-skinned best friend would not have been allowed to go to her school if not for the efforts of Dr. King and others like him. And how they would not be able to drink from the same water fountains or eat in the same restaurants. It really hit home for her and she said "that's not right, Mama, that wasn't fair." She seemed to find it as irresponsible and hurtful as it really was. I guess that was a successful talk.
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