I went to the same school from kindergarten through eighth grade. It’s in Evanston, Illinois, and it’s called Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Experimental Laboratory School. We called it King Lab, because the full name is such a MOUTHFUL.
And Dr. King wasn’t just the name of the school. His memory was the lifeblood of that school. I learned about equality and civil rights, racism and peaceful protest for my whole nine years there – in class and outside class. And every year around Dr. King’s birthday, we’d have a biiiiiiig assembly and everyone would pile into the auditorium and some of the teachers would speak, and we’d watch some film clips of Dr. King’s speeches, and we’d think about how he changed our country for the better and how much work we had yet to do.
And then we’d sing. The bigger kids would sing, “Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing,” which is INCREDIBLY hard to sing and an utterly beautiful song. But the little kids would sing a different, much simpler song, and I can still hear them – hundreds of tiny, quavering voices reaching up for those high notes and crooning it out so earnestly. I wish so hard that I could find a video or audio file of it, but I can’t even find songwriting credit for it anywhere on the Internet. It is the simplest, sweetest song and, I believe, captures the essence of Dr. King’s work and his life. And I’d record myself singing it for you, but I can barely even think about it without crying. So here are the lyrics:
Who gave up his life for his land
He reached out his hand to touch every heart
For he knew that we’d understand
This man had a dream that someday for all
The bells of freedom would ring
His dream would become a reality
For his name is Martin Luther King
Whenever people ask me who my heroes are, I tend to say that I don’t have any. I want to be me, myself exactly, my whole life long and never feel that I’m living in comparison to someone else. But in writing this post, I’ve realized that Dr. King is my original hero. I’ve admired him my entire life, and am just now seeing that I actually do want to be like him. He changed the world through rhetoric and symbolic acts, through thoughtful writing and peaceful protest. He saw the injustices, and was very careful with what must’ve been boundless anger, and made real and lasting change happen. And that is EXACTLY what I want to do with my life.
Happy birthday, Dr. King. We miss you . So very, very much.
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{ 16 comments… read them below or add one }
Beautiful. I wish I could hear the children singing it! Thank you for the post.
Oh Sal! You've gone and made me cry, at work no less!
I am personally incredibly grateful for the hard work and sacrifice of Dr. King. I seriously doubt I would be where I am had it not been for the sacrifices of Dr. King and the others that marched along his side. Sometimes we catch a glimpse of how its supposed to be, of his dream come true and when that happens, like when Barack Obama made his speech in Grant Park, well, regardless of your political affinity or beliefs, I think its possible to realize that we've come a long way. Nonetheless, there is still work to be done and I hope that I can help further his dream into reality.
ABsolutely beautiful!
Sal; the US of A may annoy the hell out of the rest of the world a lot of the time. But hey, Martin Luther King and Obama. You guys got it. You just got it.
xx
ps. i have a facebook friend who is a gospel singer. She may be able to help you find the song. Look for Jennifer Wetter on my list. xx
Amen to that!
Lift Ev'ry Voice and Sing is one of my favorites. The church Hubby attends is primarily black (everyone but him!)and they sing that song frequently. Is the King Lab school affiliated with the UIC Lab school? One of my favorite books for preteens, Chasing Vermeer, takes place at the UIC Lab school!
According to Google Books, the poem was by Debra Jamison and published in "Ebony Jr." in April 1974.
http://books.google.com/books?id=274DAAAAMBAJ&lpg=PA10&ots=M4_hCt1Ost&dq=%22There%20was%20a%20man%2C%20a%20gentle%20man%22&pg=PA11#v=onepage&q=%22There%20was%20a%20man,%20a%20gentle%20man%22&f=false
What a gorgeous post, Sally. What a gift that you went to such a wonderful school.
Thanks for the lovely post.
April 1974, Ebony Junior, page 10 – this is a page of poems written by children for Martin Luther King Jr. Your song was written by Debra Jamison from Washington DC. This is the link to google books:
http://books.google.com/books?id=274DAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA10&lpg=PA10&dq=%22There+was+a+man,+a+gentle+man+Who+gave+up+his+life+for+his+land%22&source=bl&ots=M4_hCv_Mmx&sig=DpB85e0obYOfittA-wBq1dzDitg&hl=en&ei=jmdRS6TYLYyssgOL2P3gCw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CAcQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=%22There%20was%20a%20man%2C%20a%20gentle%20man%20Who%20gave%20up%20his%20life%20for%20his%20land%22&f=false
Amen, sister. You've got a way with words that is every bit as powerful as Dr. King, and a cause that I consider no less important: helping women learn to love themselves.
Thank you!
Sal, thank you for reminding us of the reason for this long weekend. So many forget.
I think that, in writing about your admiration for Dr. King, it's important that we also remember Haiti and encourage people around us to donate any resources available to relief efforts there.
Haiti is a nation whose unthinkable and protracted suffering at the hands of colonial and post-colonial racism/s is something that Dr. King (at least in his later, post-strictly Civil Rights years) would surely have hoped that we remember. Please encourage your readers to donate to relief efforts – it's as easy as sending one text message to the Red Cross!
Powerful and empowering
I was given the book "DREAM, the words and inspiration of MLK, Jr" from an unexpected quarter and was really surprised by how relevant his comments are for everyday life even today. Don't know why I was so surprised. But it's a pleasant surprise.
"All humanity is involved in a simple process, and all men are brothers. To the degree that I harm my brother, no matter what he is doing to me, to that extent I am harming myself." For instance. Or "The self cannot be self without other selves." which I'm sure I will misunderstand in many ways, but I think I like it.
Thanks for sharing your MLK story.
You are wonderful….and though I never met him, I do miss him and his spirit. It is always so beautiful to have someone like that in this world. I didn't know you were from Evanston? So, is my hubby Joel. So funny…I knew I liked you Sal
Thanks you for this wonderful tribute hun and have a fantastic weekend.
xo
Melis