Roots Class (kinder – 2nd grade) w/Marie:
Today we talked about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s role as a leader and activist in the ongoing civil rights movement in our country that continues today through the work of groups like Black Lives Matter. The day a black and a Jewish person were elected in Georgia was the same day racist groups attacked our Capitol (this is an important expansion on my language with the kids last week about those people being angry and disappointed about their candidate not winning the election). Our work on anti-racism, working on unfairness, is ongoing. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was a leader that we can keep learning from for our continued work.
Today’s story is Let the Children March by Monica Clark-Robinson. Before reading this, I spoke to the children about what it meant to plan to go to jail to protest the unfair laws that had been designed to hurt black people. I explained that the police used fire hoses to spray water and fierce dogs to try and scare people from their marching, but the children kept on, more people began paying attention, including the President, who then worked with MLK to change the laws. The Wildflower kids had a lot to say about being brave and coming together.
Seedlings (3rd-5th) & Wildflower Youth (Middle & High School) w/Piaf & Solveij:
This week we continued our discussion of the recent violence in the nation’s capital by observing an image of a Congressperson who chose to stay and help clean up in the aftermath. What UU values would lead someone to choose to do this? Everyone agreed that this could exemplify the principle “We care for our Earth” but we also found that “Each and every person is important” could also apply because by helping to clean up, this Congressperson allowed others who needed time for different kinds of self-care to be able to focus on that.
We also watched a short video of a group called SOL Development about finding motivation and keeping our spirits up when we are confronted with sometimes overwhelming challenges. In it, the group talks about making music and song writing with youth and we discussed doing a musical project of our own going forward.
Finally, we finished with a game.