Earlier this year, I took my niece & nephew to the spot where MLK gave his speech.

[Lex]

His "I Have a Dream" speech, that is. We went to a lot of different places in DC that day. But the first place we went was to the Lincoln Memorial to stand on the spot where MLK stood and look out to try to imagine what he saw that day.

It is engraved there like this:




Standing there at the spot MLK gave his speech:




Inside the Lincoln Memorial, reading the Gettysburg address:






I wondered how the kids would react to it all, but they really dug it. Stuff they'd only seen in their books at school, but now they were there. I'm glad I got to share that with them.

:hi:

[ailsagirl]

1. Good for you-- thanks for sharing. Have the kids seen the

footage of the hundreds of thousands of people, black and white, who showed up that day to listen to one of the greatest speeches of all time? It was awesome

[Lex]

3. Yes we did that BEFORE we went

so they'd have a fresh reference point in their heads -- they'd read about at school, but we looked at it all again online before we went

[ailsagirl]

7. Excellent-- it's important kids learn this stuff when they're still

impressionable and open to knowledge. It can be more difficult when they get older!! :)

[Tangerine LaBamba]

2. I was there

And now that I live not far from that place, whenever I visit it, I am taken right back to that day. Now, of course, with the addition of the Vietnam Wall right across the road, it's an even more powerful site.

That's wonderful, giving the kids a look at a place where history was made. Will they be watching Obama's speech tonight?

[Lex]

4. Oh yes, they'll be watching!

They are budding Democrats for sure. The weekend that I took them to DC I listened to them talk with each other about Hillary and Barack (one was a Hillary supporter, one a Barack supporter), about racism, and sexism, and how Bush was an embarrassment to the US and that he started the Iraq War on a pack of lies. Not much gets past those two!

We went to the Vietnam Memorial and then the new WWII memorial, and to the Jefferson Memorial. We went Arlington Cemetery and talked about the various wars we've fought. We went to JFK and RFK's gravesites. We went to the Air & Space Museum, and we went and just sat on the grass at the mall and had a picnic of hotdogs and cokes from a sidewalk vendor.

It was a good day.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

5. That's the kind of travel we did when I was a kid

None of this flying to Disney World or a beach resort for us. We always saw the historic and natural wonders of the places we visited.

[Lex]

6. The kids like riding the underground Metro a lot too.

They'd never ridden one before so I got to show them how it all works (the ticket, the map, figuring out the stops, etc.).

Yes, there are a lot of free and wonderful places to take kids that they'll remember forever. :hi:

[ailsagirl]

8. Same with me-- and I'm so-o-o grateful to my parents!! n/t

[LanternWaste]

9. Truly, one of the most inspiring sermons...

Truly, one of the most inspiring sermons to have ever been uttered in America!