January 15: Martin Luther King Jr.'s Birthday

Racial barriers are tricky to discuss.  Children, in my extremely limited experience, seem to be color blind regarding other people.  My girls look at me blankly when I try to explain how things used to be, and how they still are -- no facts I relay or anecdotes I share correspond with their experience.  They have been surrounded since infancy by people of different races and nationalities, and they do not understand why that would bother anyone.  And that is what we celebrate today.

Unlike many holidays, which have become days of fluff and fun and department store sales, Martin Luther King, Jr.'s birthday still has a serious undertone.  I like to begin our celebration of the day by reading Sister Anne's Hands by Marybeth Lorbiecki.  The lovely illustrations, which remind me so much of my own school days, are by K. Wendy Popp.

This is a gentle story about the arrival of an African-American teacher in an all-white Catholic school in the early 1960s, and how the children react.  Sister Anne helps the children overcome their fears and open their hearts a bit.  "One thing you're going to learn," she tells them, "is that some folks have their hearts wide open, and others are tight as a fist. . . .  For me, I'd rather open my door enough to let everyone in than risk slamming it shut on God's big toe."

Holly and Lily learn about Dr. King at school and are familiar with his most famous speech -- which makes today a great day to talk about dreams.  And so on this date I make dream pillows for them.  I let them choose the fabric from my small stash and I stick an herbal tea bag in with the fiberfill.  It's more fun to select individual herbs, but much easier to use something you already have in your cabinets.  This year we used Bigelow's Sweet Dreams herb tea, with its lovely mix of chamomile, hibiscus, peppermint, rose blossoms, spearmint, and orange blossoms.

And to further help everyone have sweet dreams, we have Dream Pie for dessert.  Here's the recipe, copied from a package of Dream Whip.

DREAM PIE

2 envelopes Dream Whip Whipped Topping Mix

2-3/4 cups cold milk, divided
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 packages (4-serving size each) instant pudding and pie filling, any flavor
1 cookie crust

Beat whipped topping mix, 1 cup of the milk, and vanilla in a large bowl with electric mixer on high speed for 6 minutes or until topping thickens and forms peaks.

Add remaining 1-3/4 cups milk and pudding mix; beat on low speed until blended.  Beat on high speed 2 minutes, scraping bowl occasionally.  Spoon into cookie crust.

Refrigerate at least 4 hours.  Garnish as desired.

The Holiday Shelf: Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Birthday

Let's Dream, Martin Luther King, Jr.!
by Peter and Connie Roop

M.L. thought about the school where he and Christine went.  There were no white children there.  The white children wen to another, better school.

His mother told M.L. something he never forgot.  she said, "You must never feel that you are less than anybody else.  You must always feel that you are somebody!"

Still, M.L. was very angry.  He wanted to hate every white person, but he was too nice to really hate anyone.

Let's Read About . . . Rosa Parks
by Courtney Baker
illustrated by Robert Hunt

Rosa also wanted to help change another law, too.  This law said that a black person had to give up his or her seat on a bus if a white person did not have one.  Rosa thought this law was wrong.

Let's Read About . . . Ruby Bridges
by Ruby Bridges and Grace Maccarone
illustrated by Cornelius Van Wright and Ying-Hwa Hu

In 1961, Ruby was in first grade.  Ruby's mother took her to the Frantz School.  Two marshals went with Ruby and her mother to make sure that they would be safe.

Sister Anne's Hands
by Marybeth Lorbiecki
illustrated by K. Wendy Popp

One night, after we'd been put to bed, Mom said in a whisper, "She'll be Anna's teacher."

And Dad replied, "I don't know how a woman of her color is going to survive."

Of her color?  I wondered.  What color could she be?  Purple?  Green?  Orange?  That night my dreams were full of teachers as colorful as birds.