For families with young children, marking the birthday of Civil Rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. meant getting together to reflect on King’s work. And for the children gathered at the KID Museum in Bethesda, Maryland, it was a chance to learn about King’s dream, and focus on their own hopes for the future.
Renard Brown of Silver Spring, who attended with his wife Carly and their sons, 6-year-old Mason and 5-year-old Theo, said they always do something to mark Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
“I think it’s certainly relevant, especially in the times that we’re living in now,” Brown said. “I’m in an interracial marriage, I have biracial kids.”
He said he’d like to see more done at the school level to mark the holiday.
“I feel it’s my job to always advocate for my kids, take them to things, expose them to things.”
Brown’s sons took part in an activity during which children learned about King’s dream, and how he advocated for civil rights. They made signs that reflected the issues they wanted to see addressed in the world. Mason made a sign calling for a home for everyone. Theo made a sign urging people to take care of the earth.
Stephanie Somerman and her daughter, 4-year-old Livingston, were at a table where Livingston drew designs that would be used for a quilt. Somerman explained why she came to the Bethesda museum from her home in D.C.
“We needed to get out of the house, because yesterday we were very locked in, and I needed a distraction from today.”
Somerman said she was seeking distraction from “hostility and changing of the world in our current time,” and she said she was intent on “finding peace and joy.”
“And so that’s why we’re here.”
The museum was also the site of a meeting with staff of Manna Food Center in Montgomery County, an organization with the goal of ending hunger in the community. Craig Rice, a former Montgomery County Council member and future CEO of Manna, sat at a table and created a sign focused on food justice.
“I think that food justice is incredibly important,” he said. “It’s incredibly important for folks like Manna to be there at the forefront, to make sure that we’re leveling the playing field for so many of those families that are struggling.”
Kristen Fletcher, communications director with the KID Museum, said the idea was to invite families to “explore the legacy of Dr. King” in a way that was both fun and educational.
“We have kids and families thinking about ways that they can make a difference in their community, building protest signs, but also talking about how they can be the change that they want to see in the world, but also make the change that they want to see in the world,” Cara Lesser, founder and executive director of the KID Museum, told WTOP.
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