"I have a dream" Martin Luther King Jr. Lesson

I just finished watching the speech that Martin Luther King Jr. made on August 28th, 1963-"I have a dream."  Before I had my daughter watch and listen to the speech with me we had a little discussion.  

We were planning on going out for lunch today since Daddy is finally back so she picked McDonald's.  I made sure she knew we were going to have a discussion so she would understand why we celebrate this holiday.  

Next, I told my daughter "what if little girls with blue eyes were not allowed to eat at McDonald's?"  The look on her face was perfect, actually I was afraid she was going to have a tantrum.  She said, "that is sad."  I told her a couple of her friends could go but she could not because she had blue eyes.  After this all set in and her wheels were turning I was able to describe what it would have looked like during Martin Luther King Jr. time.  We talked about segregation and what his dream was and how we are now living his dream.  

It was nice to use her friends in some examples since we do have friends of all races and colors.  :)  I think that helped her understand it better.  I was able to say back in  Martin Luther King Jr. time you could not play with so and so or this friend.  

I also tied this lesson in with Jesus commanding us to love others.

 1 Corinthians 13:13- Three things will last 

forever--faith, hope, and love--and the greatest 

of these is love.

After this talk we did go eat at McDonald's and 

then came home to hear the "I have a dream" 

speech.  Then she finished the lesson with 

coloring a picture of Martin Luther King Jr.