Every year,
WE WIN Institute’s Rites of Passage programs at Olson Middle School
study and honor the contributions of the great, late Dr. Martin Luther King,
Jr. Dr. King was a great African
American revolutionary who taught Black people to use non-violent resistance to
change unjust systems in the United
States. His leadership and direction paved the
way for America
to have its first African American president, Barack Obama.Seventh and eighth grade students in WE WIN’s classes at Olson Middle School were given the assignment of reading and discussing Dr. King. Their assignment was to write a poem about Dr. King. The poem had to be five stanzas and each stanza had to have at least four lines. The poem had to have five facts about this tremendous civil and human rights leader.
WE WIN uses African history and culture as a way to create pride in being Black and pride in the contributions that African Americans have made to the United States and humanity. Besides Rites of Passage assisting teenagers’ transition into adulthood, we help strengthen their reading and writing skills.
WE WIN Institute has started a movement called Black Excellence that asserts that all Black children can be successful in school. Black Excellence is an inclusive movement which we all must be part of. Black Excellence says that we will no longer tolerate Black children in MinnesotaUnited States at 38% while simultaneously, White students in Minnesota have amongst the highest graduation rates at 83%. Our students’ poems are an example of Black Excellence. having the lowest graduation rates in the
Martin Luther King, Jr.
By Kijana Ransom
Seventh Grade
On January 15th in 1929
Segregation was happening at the time
It was a time to
Put Black Americans
To Shame
On that day
Martin Luther King
Began the change
He grew to become a man
A preacher, husband and a father
He could not stand the injustice
He began his fight
For all of us
Dr. King married
The love of his life
Coretta Scott
In 1953
They had 4 beautiful children
2 boys and 2 girls
They were mostly quiet
And hardly bad
He organized the bus boycott
After Rosa Parks
Refused to give up her seat
To a White man
Because she was tired
Of standing on her feet
The bus boycott
Lasted for 11 months
Until the Supreme Court said
“That’s enough”
The buses was integrated
The boycott came to an end
Now more work for civil rights
Was about to begin
Blacks marched on Washington, D.C.
Dr. King performed his
I Have a Dream speech in
Washington, D.C.
On August 28 in 1963
On March 28 1968
Dr. King led the March in
Memphis, Tennessee
During the march
A 16 year old was shot
Dr. King returned to Memphis
April 3rd
To prepare a truly nonviolent march
That night he made his Mountaintop speech
April 4, 1968
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Was shot on the
Lorraine Motel balcony
He was shot by
James Earl Ray
Ray claimed that
The FBI was at fault
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
By Kevin Moore
Seventh Grade
Dr. Martin Luther King
Had a dream
That all boys and girls
Of all colors
Could go to school
With each other
He wished we could all use
The same restrooms
And…
The same Schools
They killed him
But they can never
Killed his dream
They burned his house
They put him down
He will always be around
He did not believe in
Separate ways
Things should never
Stay that way
James Earl Ray
Killed
Dr. Martin Luther King
In
Memphis, Tennessee
I wonder if
The man was crazy
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
By Myeisha Purdimon
Eighth Grade
Dr. Martin Luther King is a wonderful man
He was born in 1929
He died in 1968
Dr. King was an important man
Today he is very well known
Dr. King had many marches
He wanted freedom
And peace
Dr. King was a kind and nice man
Dr. King had four children
Dr. King was married to Coretta Scott
They married in 1953
Dr. King worked to change people’s hearts
About segregation
He wanted nothing but happiness
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Became a pastor
Of the Dexter Ave. Baptist Church
On December 1, 1955
Rosa Parks, a tailor’s assistant
Was tired after a hard days work
She refused to give up her bus seat to
A white man
For 11 months 17,000
Black people in Montgomery, Alabama
Walked to work or
Received rides from small cars owned
By the Black population of the city
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Was King
On April 4, 1968
He was shot at a motel in
Memphis, Tennessee
Every year
We celebrate his birthday
