Middle boy has been fascinated with Dr. Martin Luther King ever since he learned about him in preschool (Teacher Jessica to be precise). He has thought he was really cool. We talk a lot about Dr. King because it is because of Dr. King that Senator Obama can run for President. Middle boy LOVES Senator Obama....he is Senator Obama's youngest fan. He has a sticker on his door. If you stay in his room, you HAVE to vote for Senator Obama (this is middle boy's rule). I think middle boy likes saying "Obama"....
Anyway...a couple of weeks ago, he went to the school library and checked out a book. It was a book by Faith Ringgold who is a well-known African-American writer (she wrote "Tar Beach" to critical acclaim, including the Coretta Scott King Award for literature). This book was called, "If This Bus Could Talk" and it was about Rosa Parks. Now, I thought that Middle Boy would be bored (although the illustrations are amazing, just like they are in "Tar Beach"). It was a historical fiction book about a bus that once a year, on Rosa Parks' birthday allows a 'special person" to sit where Rosa sat and tells the story of Rosa Parks.
Middle boy was fascinated. He was interested and then it got into the part after Rosa Parks didn't give up her seat on the bus, she met with Dr. King and joined his 'movement'. We talked a lot about how African-Americans couldn't sit on the bus and then what they did, etc and how because of what Dr. King did, has allowed Senator Obama to run for President. He was very interested and sat and listened with wide eyes. It was really cool to see him think about it and process it. I am not sure how much he actually understood, but he did think about it.
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