Today as our nation marks Martin Luther King Day, our entire school community went to the Hooksett Cinemagic theatre to see the film "Selma." The movie chronicles the efforts for a Voting Rights Act and the march from Selma to Montgomery in 1965.
We began our day with homeroom and once the buses arrived, we all piled in and went to the theatre. We were all able to fit in one theatre and once the lights went off, the kids didn't make a peep, they were very, very attentive and didn't talk at all. The movie is very powerful, especially the scenes where police brutally (and in some cases fatally) beat marchers. The actor who played Dr. King was brilliant and seemed to truly capture the man.
We headed back to the school around 11am and now have an abridged schedule for the rest of the day. This was the first time we've tried something like this and it went off without a hitch. My biggest hope, of course, is that the students have a deeper appreciation for this moment in American history and truly understand the power they have. Many of the people who led the civil rights movement were college students, young people who didn't wait until they were older to try and change the world. There is, as Dr. King said, a fierce urgency of now that we must confront.
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