So first of all what is your personal understanding 
of who Martin Luther King Junior was?
Martin Luther King was a civil rights activist that believed all people should be treated equally in
their lives, regardless of their race,
color, and religion. He was really big on
equality, but also community at the same
time. He wanted to bring people closer together.
An American leader and activist
who really catalyzed and spearheaded the
civil rights movement. I'd say probably
one of the most influential and
important figures in American history.
His beliefs and his message had an impact
worldwide as well. He did so much for the
civil rights movement and without Martin
Luther King jr. we wouldn't be as
progressive as we are now and there
wouldn't be so much movement towards
liberality and trying to achieve more
equality today and justice for those who
still are marginalized. He insured more
freedoms for more Americans across the
country and definitely helped to make
America a better place. He was obviously
a very intelligent and courageous individual.
And he basically fought to
inspire people to accept children and to
love them regardless of race or religion
or background. One thing that's impacted
me as far as learning more about Martin
Luther King and admiring Martin Luther
King is, really I think he had a lot of
moral quandaries within his own self, his
own being, and the fortitude to challenge
those moral quandaries, both in his personal
life, in his life as a civil rights
activist and a leader. I've admired in
reading about him more and more, about
that courage to face some of those moral
challenges and to take them on head-on.
He was incredibly brave and he changed
the face of American society as it is
today because he found a way to make a change.
He was an African American male
who wanted to see the change in the
world and he just led a movement with
pride and honesty
and he was just excited to see what the
future could hold for everyone.
I see Martin Luther King jr. as a Christian
reverend, and through that scope I think
he tried to do everything that he could
to help the people that he thought
needed it. To me he was more than just
like a pacifist who was fighting for the
racial inequality in America, he was also
like a beloved father and a son.
A figure that stood up for anyone that really
couldn't use their voice, so he stood up
for a lot of people that didn't have
their own voice. Martin Luther King jr.
was not only a revolutionary person to
all people in the African American
community, but I think he was a hero to
everyone around the world. He was a
crusader of change and like a
trailblazer in society and someone, an
activist who put the life of posterity
ahead of the life of his own. He wanted
everyone to be able to have equal rights.
He wanted to bring everybody together.
He's really powerful. Radical. Love. An
American citizen who lived out what he
believed in terms of supporting in every
way possible, providing as much
opportunity for all American citizens. So
my understanding and my appreciation
really honestly has grown as I've gotten
older and had an opportunity to have
been in education a number of years, to
work with so many students and families
and to be a father and grandfather.
That's all changed my appreciation and
respect in a much deeper way.
The piece that is always stuck with me
is the bold, kind of audacious optimism
that comes with a lot of his messaging.
Somebody who could have given up hope,
more than a few times, but his
message to all of the people working
with him at the time was, come on 
let's keep doing the work, keep doing the
work. And that that to me is the resonant
piece.The sentiments that are
brought up in the I have a dream speech
are obviously going to be the famous
ones and the probably the most impactful
holistically. For me, I really appreciate
his final speech. The beginning of it, he
really talks about if he could go
anywhere in the world at any time in
history he would want to live in the
20th century when where he's living
right then. That in the 60s, as hard as it
is, as challenging as it is, it's also a
time filled with hope
because people are fighting for those
challenges and against those challenges
with those challenges. And he talks about
being in the present, being in the now
and appreciating that moment. And
appreciating his ability to impact that
moment in ways large and small, and
appreciating watching others impact that moment.
He knew that like every time he
spoke that something could happen and
maybe people wouldn't support him or
like wouldn't agree with him, but he
spoke like what he believed and he
always supported the black community.
I think the most impactful part is just
his bravery throughout all of his life.
To stand up for what he believed in,
regardless of the outcome. He just really
had this hope in his life that the world
would just be a happier place and that
humans would be able to get along with
each other. I think it's the non-violence
aspect of his message, because what was
coming back at him was violence, and if
you respond with violence to violence it
just makes it worse.
And so his use of the peaceful protest,
which has become like a fixture in
disobedience in our society now, I think
that's what made the change.
The thing that really sticks out to me about
Martin Luther, it was
his concern not only for the well-being
of the black people but also for people
with disabilities and different religions
that are being persecuted in the
American culture. Pretty similarly to
like our founding fathers he would just
simply preach equality, opportunity, and
justice for everyone. At the time of
course he was activating for
specifically African American civilians
and everything, but I believe that
overall he just wanted to create this
loving community where everyone was
equal. I think besides just working for
the civil rights of people of color he
really showed Americans that diversity
is something to be embraced and that it
will help us be unified as a country.
I think probably just how simple and like
universally accepted it is that his
message of unity is just just that. At
that point in time for someone to have
the courage to say there is a different
way there's a better way to reach across
the aisle so to speak and to encourage
and support and provide an opportunity
for political, social, economic justice, to
do what's right for all Americans, it
wasn't a popular idea, obviously. We still
struggle with that as a culture. So I
think that's a that's a lasting legacy
as time has gone on. When he was talking
about little black boys and little black
girls coming and holding hands with
little white girls and little white boys,
was like how he wanted both sides to
just like not look at the differences
but look at what they have in common and
just come together, because then that
creates a stronger community. So without
equality there's really no community. His
ultimate goal was to treat people as
what they are motivated to become not
they are now. So ignore all of whatever
you see on the skin tone or their
background or their status and just to
love them and to set off a light bulb to
the rest of the people that in the end, race
doesn't matter and it's just who you are
and ultimately everyone's the same person.
Caring for other people. To stop
bullying and other discrimination
against one another and do volunteering
work where we help others who need it.
I think the most important aspect of his
message was basically just love and
loving each other and appreciating each
other and the individuals that we are
because, you know, we're all different and
we have our different perceptions but
that only makes us even more beautiful
and even more individualistic. But we all
make this world a better place just by
being us.
Just be yourself, stand up for what you
believe in, don't be afraid to make changes.
To me his most important message
is that change is always upon us and it's
just a matter of how we react to it and
whether we're willing to accept it,
because we have the power to produce
change with people coming together and
it's just a matter of whether or not we'll accept
it and whether or not we will grow from it.
Is it okay if I pull up a quote? Sure. Okay.
So Martin Luther King jr. said life's
most persistent and urgent question is
what can you do for others. I just do as
much as I can to help the people that I
care about, and that's kind of what I'm
doing for other people. I hold a very
special place in my heart for the
special-needs students here, and so I
really have made it a goal in my life to
make them feel that they are equal and
they are loved and they are seen. They're people and they're just like us and
they deserve a voice just like MLK would
want for them. His message was that
people no matter their background,
where they came from whether they were
impoverished or not, everyone was equal
and no matter
how you got to the circumstances you
were, everyone should have the same
opportunities as another person. For me,
I go down to the homeless shelter, I feed
the people in need there because I don't
know how they ended up there. To serve
them and their circumstances is a really
powerful thing. I usually go out once
every month. I get blankets, I get little
goodie bags and I just pass them out to
the homeless seeing who needs them and
stuff like that. I do a lot of community
service and I get to operate a hunger
relief program here at school. Volunteer
work I'm working with is helping out
children of different race unite and
understand the meaning of life, working
together. Trying to help other people
that haven't really had the same
opportunities that I've had or that
those around me have had, and a lot of
that is through the Honor Society here.
In my life I am not afraid to express my
opinions, and I think that's part of his
dream, that we can stand up for what we
believe in. I'm working to make our
school community and country a better
place by being an activist. I'm the
leader of Spokane's group of students
demand action that works to end gun
violence and make schools safer, and I'm
also helping to organize the Women's
March and further gender equity in our
country. Being a part of the student body
I feel like it's a great part of it, and
to inspire others to do the same. And I
don't worry about my race or my
background I just worry about who I am
now and just to let others know how much
they're appreciated. Volunteering with
Key Club, volunteering with National Honor Society.
We do so many events that help people
who maybe don't have as much, such as
Second Harvest where we sort food for
people who need it. I also enjoy
participating in more political things
such as the Women's March and March for
our Lives. What really feels good for me
to do is to not only stick up for the
people that I know but also for the
people that I don't know. Being able to
support people if they need to be
supported or standing up for people when
they're being bullied or being
disrespected because of who they are as
a person.
I can help other people who don't have
as many born rights that I do because
although we have like strived as a
society and gotten better since the
civil rights movement we still aren't
where we need to be. I was born and kind
of grew up in Africa for a while and
then came here. It was really hard
because English was not our first
language, anyone in our family, so
people actually like coming and helping
us was really big and then it made me
want to do something back. So I like
started doing volunteering and stuff now
that I'm in high school and can speak
English better. I was fortunate enough to
grow up in a family where faith was
important. There was a legacy, an
opportunity for education was important.
And it's been there and so from an early
age there was this seed planted that you
know you don't judge a book by its cover,
you don't judge somebody by the color of
their skin or their political or
religious views. You listen, you encourage,
you support, you just try to love
unconditionally. That's the right thing
to do. For those of us who work in
education, there's a daily opportunity to
encourage and support and listen to
practice, if you will, just loving
somebody right where they are. I treat
all my students like equal. Like it
doesn't matter if they have a behavior
or a different color or a disability in
any way, I just see them as a human
being and we just go from there and I
give them the best education they can get.
Most students in my classes know that I
try to explore the the content beyond
just writing an essay or taking a test.
That it's about developing empathy for
others and learning how to engage
difference. And looking at his overall
message, it's not about big group hug
it's about hey there's differences and
we can be okay with those differences. We
can live again within those challenges.
I think a lot of the work we do in
education is about identifying and
working with ways we can make sure that
every kiddo who comes through our doors
and comes into our care,
that we look at what happens in their
life and say, okay here's a chance for us
to increase that kiddos opportunity to
move forward and do something amazing.
All of the people who work here in our
school, that's how we service that part
of that dream.
Have you heard the story about the little boy and the starfish on the beach? I don't think so, tell me.
So one day the tide rolls in faster than the starfish are ready, so there's like thousands of them left on
the beach and this kid starts throwing
them back in the ocean right? So that
they live. And this older guy walks along
and he goes what are you doing like
you're not gonna make a difference for
these thousands of starfish. But the kid
just picks up another one and throws him
back and he goes but I made a difference
for that one. And then he does it again,
and that one. There's no way that I could
even reach the entire student body of LC,
but I can make a difference in individual lives.
My why is the golden
rule of treating others the way you want
to be treated, because I think that if
everyone in the world treated others the
way that they really wanted to be
treated and looked past these barriers
that come in between people, that I think
that Martin Luther King's dream would be fulfilled.
Probably just being able to
show that as a black woman in this
society, that I can do anything. It
doesn't really matter about color. It
just matters as how hard you put your
mind to it, and I've had like family
members and friends and all these
counselors and stuff help me work my
way up. It seems that I've always been
around people that are, they want to
impact the world in ways large and small.
And so I think that that's just made an
impact on me just growing up in those
types of environments. There's been a lot
of really cool role models in my life
that have helped me just grow and take
steps in life. They've just had such a
big impact on me that I want to be able
to help other people. The reason you
learn is so that you can serve others, so
that you can identify ways to lift
others up, ways to look around and say I
have this enormous privilege in my life
I have these gifts,
how can I make sure that others are
experiencing some of that same goodness
in their world? I feel like coming to
America, when we first got here people
helped out a lot. So going out there and
helping out in the community is a way of
me like showing my appreciation for how
much people helped us when we first got here.
My family, they came from Vietnam
like literally not knowing a word of
English and they just made a life for me.
So I just want to be able to go to
college, get a stable career and give back to them,
while being able to give back to
the community itself. I have had a lot of
therapy, like learning how to walk or
learning how to write or learn how to
you know carry food. I have passion for
others so I need to keep going so they
know they are okay and they can keep
going. That's me.
At the Special Olympics bowling tournament, these are some of the most caring, wonderful people I'd
ever met. They were great to be around
and help and realize that society treats
them really differently because they
weren't born the same way as most of
those around them and it's stuff like
that that sort of inspires me to pursue that.
So one thing that MLK said was,
injustice anywhere is a threat to
justice everywhere. And so just making
those small choices even if it's just
saying hi in the halls or even if it's
just you know sitting with them at lunch,
just letting them know that they are
loved and they are seen by anyone I
think can make a difference in their
lives.
Seeing my students achieve
an education and making a safe place
for them to feel comfortable and come
to school every day. I lived in Japan I
lived in the south and I've lived in
Spokane, and I think seeing these
different places, I've seen so many
moments of hate and just distrust and
just I really want to be a light in
someone's life so that they know that
I'm there. I imagine this dark cloud that's
kind of looming over the world right now
of just pure hate and negativity. And
right now I think that it's winning and
I really believe that if we were all
just positive and we were loving and
that would create this light that would
defeat the clouds. There is still racism,
but that shouldn't stop you from trying
to live out your dreams. I'm smart, I'm
worthy, I can do what I want to
do. Personally, I want to do what I
believe in and what I think is right. I
want to stand up for that.
My why is definitely knowing that we can be better
and knowing there's something to work
towards for this. We're not just saying
that we want this, we're also doing
actions that portray what we want and
living out our actions in order to
achieve what we want. You know, for those
of us who've had opportunities you know
we've been blessed to be a blessing. You
know if we've had opportunities for
education, if we've had opportunities for
employment, if we've had opportunities of
any kind, there's expectation. It's a
responsibility just as a human being for
us to look for ways to help and lift up
the people that we come in contact with
on a daily basis. To not look away. You
know there's opportunities every day to
just accept and encourage and support
and to love somebody right where they are.
Sometimes all you're doing is just
planting a seed but it makes a difference.
Well I think looking back at
history and seeing leaders like Martin
Luther King jr. and other great people
like that, they really show us that we
personally have a responsibility to step
up and be the change we wish to see in the world.
It's not necessarily going to
be someone else.
That we have the responsibility to
make the world a better place.
