Martin Luther King Day

I bet everybody has heard of the name Martin Luther King, and the famous speech I Have a Dream. Today it's Martin Luther King Day in America, and a retired British teacher Josie Whitehead wrote a poem I Have a Dream, which is attached below.

What do you know about Martin Luther King or MLK Day? You can  easily find a lot of information about him and this day on the web, so I'm not gathering any of the facts here. Instead, I'd like you to take a while and think what you really know about the issue first, then find out more about him. I'd also like you to take a few minutes considering if Martin Luther King's dream was killed or is it being fulfilled, as Josie puts it in her poem.

But back to Josie. I was lucky enough to have come across her website on the weekend. She has written hundreds of poems in rhyme and rhythm, many of which you can read on her website. These are the two introductory pages: Who I am and Introducing myself, so besides reading her poems on many different topics you can get to know her too. Josie says rhyming poetry promotes phonological and phonemic awareness that is a key literacy tool. As all parents know, children love poems and stories written with rhyme and rhythm! This one is dedicated to this special day.

I Have a Dream by Josie Whitehead

“I have a dream” of a world that is fair -
Well, it’s more than a dream, it’s really a prayer.
      A small seed was set when these words were said -
       But from a small seed grew an oak tree instead.

Segregation by race, was deep in his heart,
Segregation by race keeps nations apart.
     Exclusion, separation, rejection by others -
     Not sharing God’s world as sisters and brothers.

“I have a dream” which led on to a march,
In the hope it would lead to a triumphal arch.
     “I have a dream.”   Oh, I too, have a dream
       Where humans show others respect and esteem.

“I have a dream” where parity reigns
Where freedom flows freely through everyone’s veins.
    Where exclusion by colour, by class or by creed -
     Is changed by attention to each other’s need.

“I have a dream” - where a slave is no more,
And hope for one’s future can knock on each door.
     Where chains that restrain can be torn into shreds
      And liberation from bondage is granted instead.

“I have a dream” - - - - oh how time has fled -
And the dreamer long since joined the ranks of the dead.
       A shot from a gun - - - - - and was his dream killed,
       Or in the world of today, is it being fulfilled?