1. Volunteer.
“Everybody can be great. Because anybody can serve.”
King worked tirelessly for a number of causes including civil rights and poverty issues. Make Martin Luther King Jr. Day (or any other day) a day of service in his honor. Pick an activity your children will enjoy to ensure their enthusiasm and involvement. For example, if your tots want to spend every minute playing outside, pick a park or playground and clean up any trash or recycling on the grounds or plant flowers at your children’s school. Kids can also participate in more formal, organized volunteer efforts. Check out this site for opportunities across the country.
Image © flickr user CCAC North Library
2.Check out library books.
“Intelligence plus character-that is the goal of true education.”
Martin Luther King Jr. was obviously a fan of learning: in addition to earning a phD, he was extremely well-read from an early age. Throughout his life, King cited the influence of what he had read: Gandhi and Thoreau were just two of his inspiring and guiding forces. Inspire your own tots with some age-appropriate, King-themed books from the library. For younger ones, there are dozens of books about everything from King’s childhood to the Civil Rights movement . Older kids can read some of King’s own works.
3. Go vegetarian or vegan.
“Never, never be afraid to do what’s right, especially if the well-being of a person or animal is at stake. Society’s punishments are small compared to the wounds we inflict on our soul when we look the other way.”
While King himself was not a veg-head, his wife Coretta Scott King was vegan for the last ten years of her life and their son Dexter Scott King, a vegan and animal rights activist, believes that King likely would have given veganism a try had he lived long enough. Vegetarianism is also a natural extension of King’s tenets of nonviolence. So serve up some collard greens, sweet potatoes, and pecan pie (some of King’s favorite foods and all veg-friendly!) to honor the man.
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Thank you for a great article! My family has a tradition to volunteer, often something outdoors, but I really love the ideas of writing our own “I have a dream speech.” What a powerful way to manifest our vision for a healthy, loving, peaceful world!