My Daddy, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Read Aloud

my daddy dr martin luther king jr written by martin luther king iii illustrated by a.g ford i grew up with a famous father my name is martin luther king iii but when i was a kid my friends and family called me marty so no one would confuse me with my father the reverend martin luther king jr when i was five years old my dad gave one of his most famous speeches i have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed and that all men are created equal he declared i have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character i'm the second of those four children he spoke about there have been a lot of books written about my father but not a whole lot has been written about my dad this book is about my daddy what it was like to live with him and how much i loved him my sister yolanda who we called yoki and i wanted to go to fun town more than anything well kids you know daddy is working very hard so that you and all children can go to fun town but it's not possible today daddy would say maybe next week but that week never came you just don't want to take us yoki wailed and finally my mother explained we were not allowed at a fun town the rides and the roller coasters were for white people only that's how it was when i was growing up my dad fought to change that at home though my father was just dead he tossed the football with me taught me how to shoot hoops teased me and played with me he would lift me up and put me on top of the refrigerator i imagined swinging from the ceiling fans as if i were flying in my own airplane then i would let daddy catch me as i fell into his arms away from home things were different it wasn't always easy being the son of martin luther king jr what's your name two older boys asked i don't remember i said i forgot i knew it was wrong to lie why'd you say that marty my mother asked later you know your name it's your father's name i knew and i knew why i hadn't said my name because i was afraid some people didn't like my father's work he was stirring up trouble they said my father never stole anything or hurt anyone even so he was thrown in jail more than 30 times he had the courage to stand up and say this law is unfair and sometimes he was arrested for that once a neighbor was driving me home from school on the radio we heard that the reverend martin luther king and about 80 other people had been thrown in jail i was terrified i ran inside my house crying and asked my mother why did daddy go to jail what did he do wrong my mother hugged me your dad went to jail to help people she told me some people don't have enough to eat or comfortable homes or clothes to wear they are not as fortunate as we are daddy went to jail to make it possible for all people to have these things don't worry daddy will be coming back i carried her words close to my heart a year later when daddy was arrested again yoki was afraid that he wouldn't be back for christmas this time i was the one that consoled her don't cry yoki daddy will be back he has to help the people he has already helped some people but he has to help some more and when he finishes he'll be back my father was not the only one in danger many people were hurt or even killed as they tried to change unfair laws once as i marched in a protest i saw a pretty lady with a bandage over her nose my mother explained that she had been attacked by a police officer the marchers were peaceful but that didn't stop people from trying to hurt them even police officers sprayed marchers with fire hoses or turned dogs on them later a police officer came up to us with a huge dog that growled at me i was terrified it's okay marty my dad told me as he took my hand and i felt safe my dad was not a tall man but he always made me feel like he was a giant i was never afraid when i was with him no matter how bad it got my dad never fought back we must meet violence with non-violence we must meet hate with love he's always said non-violence wasn't just for marches and protests it was for home as well one christmas my brother dexter and i got toy guns for presents most of the other boys in the neighborhood played with guns and we wanted to be just like them but we knew that guns were wrong they were not toys they were machines made to hurt and kill together the whole family took the guns outside made a bonfire and destroyed them that night as my brother and i watched our gifts burn we believed we were destroying all the hate in the world one bonfire couldn't fix everything but some things were getting better like the law that kept black and white children from going to the same school when i was in third grade the law was finally changed my mother told yoki and me that we'd be going to a new school in september i didn't want to be the new kid who sat alone yoki felt the same way we don't want to go we complained we don't want to be the only black kids at the school my mother said she would see what she could do the day before school started we found out that our three friends the abernathy's would be going with us to spring street school i was glad to have my friends and my sister with me because when we got to school there were flash bulbs going off and tv cameras everywhere why did reporters want to talk to us we were just kids going to school like everybody else we were each in different classrooms it was strange to be the only black kid in my class i felt like everyone was staring at me the whole day one kid even made a nasty comment wouldn't you rather go to school with your own kind he asked why aren't you at your own school we're all the same kind we're all kids and spring street is my new school now i said my father fought for us to be just kids attending the same schools it was what he meant when he said he dreamed of his children being judged by the content of our character not by the color of our skin one school at a time one child at a time one heart at a time that is how the world has changed by reaching out to other people with kindness and compassion my father was changing minds and unfair laws he once said we have a power within us which is more powerful than the power of bullets that power was love and faith it was a bullet that ended my father's life but it did not stop his message it did not stop his work my father was there to see me start school but he wasn't around to see me graduate i was only 10 years old when he was killed i was so young when my dad died but i'm blessed with the memory of a warm and playful man and i'm reminded of him everywhere i go there are streets and churches and schools named for my father in almost every city in the united states and on the third monday of every january we celebrate his birthday as a national holiday these things honor his memory and keep his spirit alive we must continue to change minds as my father did we must continue my father's work for freedom and equality for all it wasn't always easy being his son but i am so proud to be that son and i am so proud to share his name you

Channel: Reading in a Virtual World

Views: 78,318

Rating: 4.7532468 out of 5

Keywords: #virtualreading, #readaloud, #readfromhome, virtual, #childrenreadaloud, #virtuallearning, kid's book, children's book, virtual learning, read aloud, virtual reading, virtual library, children read aloud, education, MLK, Martin Luther King, I Have A Dream, Black History, Read from Home, Distance Learning, Home School, Social Equality, History, American History, MLK Day, MLK Birthday, January Holiday, Civil Rights, Martin Luther King Day, I have a dream, Freedom, Fairness

Id: msrEu5tOGMA

Length: 7min 17sec (437 seconds)

Published: Mon Jan 04 2021