-Once upon a time, there was a man named
Martin Luther King, Jr. It's funny to think about it because now we know
his name so well. But at one time,
he was just a kid like maybe you're a kid
watching this. Well, he was a kid, too. Well, maybe you're a grownup.
That's okay, too. Former kids are welcome here.
I don't discriminate. Martin Luther King grew up
to be a great man, of course, but things weren't all
that great in the world while he was growing up, not everybody was treated
like they were a somebody and I believe
that you should treat everybody like it's their birthday. But they didn't do that. People looked at the color
of their skin and that's how they decided
if they were friends or not. Not cool, man. That didn't make him feel good,
doesn't make anybody feel good, but his parents
helped him grow up. He went to church.
He learned about love. He grew up to be a minister
to help a lot of people. He did all sorts of cool stuff. He helped a lot
of people learn about love, too, but still he looked around and said,
"Things should be better." He wanted to change things,
so he did stuff. He decided instead of
spreading the hate, he would spread the love. He wanted
to bring people together. Where people were hurting,
he stepped in to help. He marched with them.
He walked with them. He walked arm in arm
with everyone. Sometimes it didn't go well,
but he kept going. Sometimes he ended up in prison, but he kept going. Some people didn't like him,
but he kept going. Some days were hard,
but he kept going. Love does that. It just keeps going
even when things are dark. And, well, I don't like
this part of the story, but things did get pretty dark. Someone who didn't
agree with him shot him. He died in April 1968. Now, Kid -- Kid --
Kid President, why are you telling us
this sad story? Come on. I know, I know it, I'm sorry, but it happened and I don't like
that it happened. Now I got to tell you something. When things aren't awesome,
it can be tough and things
won't always be awesome, but your response can be. Martin Luther King's response,
it was awesome. Today I just want us
to think about this. Isn't it cool
that we can change things like any of us, anybody. He dreamed and he changed things and he dreamed
and he kept sharing his dreams. They became not just his dream, a lot of people's dream,
like this one. That's a pretty good dream.
Let's dream like that. That could change things. I had the honor of meeting
Dr. King's son, Dr. Martin Luther King III, and you can find
our conversation in my new book, "Kid President's Guide
to Being Awesome." He's a really great leader and he even wrote a book
called "My Daddy, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr." It is so good that I want
to book it forward. I am pledging to send 30 copies to a school in my town. What about you,
how can you book it forward? Here's a few ways that people
are doing it already. Look at this, it's amazing. It's really cool
to see it spread. Thanks, everybody. Thanks for being awesome,
people. See you next week.
