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Exhibit Guide
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 Faces of Freedom> Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
King was born in Georgia in 1929. He fought for desegregation and equal rights for African Americans by speaking out and leading marches. He always preached non-violence as a means for change. The most important march of King’s career was the March on Washington in 1963. A quarter of a million people packed the National Mall. King stood on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. In his speech, King referred to the “architects of our republic” and their commitment to freedom. He electrified the crowd with his speech, saying, “I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.’” In the years that followed, King led civil rights marches in Selma, Alabama. King was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964. Throughout his life, King spoke freely—to people who had assembled freely—in order to promote and expand freedom for Americans. King was assassinated in 1968. His funeral was attended by 300,000 people. In life and death, King’s image has symbolized the hopes of civil rights supporters. Education Equality Many of the causes that Dr. King fought for are still alive today. Along with civil rights for African-Americans, King also worked on issues such as education equality and the fight against poverty. One of the key factors in education equality relates to funding. School districts in poorer neighborhoods often have fewer resources to pay for things such as teachers, books, and computers. Even wealthy communities have faced budget cuts to their school districts as local governments trim their budgets. In 2008, more than 1,000 Chicago Public School students skipped school to protest inequalities in school funding. The students rode buses to New Trier, an affluent school district in the north suburbs, and filled out applications to attend school there. The symbolic gesture led to more people becoming involved in the school funding issue. One month later, New Trier students joined CPS students and others to protest school funding inequalities outside of Wrigley Field before a Chicago Cubs’ playoff game. The protests moved two coalitions of people to broader action. United We Learn was formed by community members in the north suburbs and the city, to support equal public education opportunities for all students in Illinois. The group produced a documentary inspired by the students’ action, The Education They Deserve, in 2010. New Trier and CPS students formed the Illinois Council of Students to help facilitate change in their communities and represent students in the struggle for school funding reform. back to Faces of Freedom |
The King Center The King Center Lesson plan: Segregation: From Jim Crow to Linda Brown Library of Congress United We Learn United We Learn Illinois Council of Students Illinois Council of Students |
