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JAN. 20, 1999
Page A6
U p' |Jortlanb Of)bsertier
Do Something Kindness 8< justice Challenge
H h a t is it?
T h e D o S o m e th in g K in d
n e s s & J u s t i c e C h a l l e n g e is
a n a tio n a l, s c h o o l-b a s e d
le a d e r s h ip p ro g r a m th a t in
v i t e s s t u d e n t s in g r a d e s K -
12 to l e a r n a b o u t a n d p e r
fo rm A c ts o f K in d n e s s
(h e lp in g o th e r s ) a n d J u s tic e
( s t a n d i n g u p f o r w h a t is
r i g h t ) f o r tw o w e e k s f o l
lo w in g th e M a r t i n L u t h e r
K in g , J r . H o l i d a y ( J a n u a r y
1 8 -2 9 , 1 9 9 9 ). T h e p ro g ra m
is s p o n s o r e d b y D o S o m e
th in g , a n a tio n a l n o n p ro f it
o r g a n iz a tio n th a t in s p ir e s ,
tr a in s , fu n d s an d m o b iliz e s
y o u n g p e o p l e to b e l e a d e r s
w h o m e a s u ra b ly s tre n g th e n
th e ir c o m m u n itie s , a n d A p
p lie d M a te r ia ls , a F o rtu n e
5 0 0 g lo b a l g ro w th c o m p a n y
a n d th e w o r l d ’s l a r g e s t s u p
p lie r o f w a fe r fa b ric a tio n
s y s t e m s a n d s e r v i c e s to th e
g lo b a l s e m ic o n d u c to r in
d u s try .
H ow d o es it w ork?
1929-1968
T e a c h e rs a n d s tu d e n ts at
Martin Luther King, Jr. was bom in Atlanta, Georgia on
January 15,1929. His religious upbringing in the King
home shaped his destiny and thereby shaped the
destiny o f Black Americans, now and for evermore.
He graduated from Morehouse College at the age
o f nineteen and entered Crozer Theological
Seminary in Pennsylvania. He graduated at the
top o f his class and was awarded a Doctoral
Fellowship to Boston University. Upon
receiving is Doctoral Degree in 1955, Martin
Luther King returned to the South to pastor the
Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery
Alabama. King founded the Southern Christian
Leadership Conference in Atlanta on January 10,
1957 to coordinate all civil rights activities. On
December 10, 1964 at the age o f 35, he received the
Nobel Peace Prize. Martin Luther King was
assassinated while protesting the rights o f 1,200
sanitation workers in Memphis, Tennessee on April 4,
1968.
e v e r y s c h o o l in t h e n a t i o n a re
in v i te d to p a r t i c i p a t e in th e D o
S o m e th in g K in d n e s s & J u s tic e
C h a l l e n g e . B e tw e e n J a n u a r y 18
an d J a n u a ry 2 9 , 1 9 9 9 , s tu d e n ts
in p a r t i c i p a t i n g c l a s s e s o r s t u
d e n t o rg a n iz a tio n s p e rfo rm in
d i v i d u a l A c ts o f K i n d n e s s a n d
J u s t i c e w h ile l e a r n i n g im p o r
ta n t v a lu e s s u c h as r e s p e c t, r e
s p o n s ib ility , to le r a n c e , c o m
p a s s io n , g e n e ro s ity a n d m o ra l
c o u ra g e fro m an in n o v a tiv e ,
a g e -a p p r o p ria te c u rric u lu m .
S tu d e n ts an d te a c h e rs c a n p o s t
th e ir “ A c ts " o n a n in te r a c tiv e
In te rn e t
w e b s ite
( w w w .d o s o m e th in g .o rg ) a n d
sh a re s to rie s an d e x p e rie n c e s
w ith o th e r p a r t ic i p a ti n g s t u
d e n ts fro m o rg a c r o s s th e
c o u n try .
H ow do I G et i n
volved?
E d u c a to r s c a n r e g is te r fo r
th e 1 9 9 9 D o S o m e t h i n g K i n d
n e ss & J u s tic e C h a lle n g e
on
th e
In te rn e t
at
w w w .d o s o m e th in g .o r g o r by
w r i t i n g to D o S o m e t h i n g a t 4 2 3
W e s t 5 5 * S t r e e t , 8 lh F l o o r , N e w
Y o rk , N ew Y o rk 1 0 0 1 9 ( A t
te n tio n : K J C h a lle n g e ) . E a c h
te a c h e r w h o r e g is te r s w ill r e
c e i v e a n E d u c a t o r K it w ith a n
a g e -a p p r o p ria te c u rric u lu m
th a t in c l u d e s tw o w e e k s o f
d a ily le s s o n s , in s tr u c tio n s fo r
p o s tin g A c ts o f K in d n e s s an d
J u s tic e o n th e I n te r n e t a n d in
c e n t i v e s to e n c o u r a g e s t u d e n t
p a rtic ip a tio n .
A re th ere P rizes?
Y e s ’ P a r tic ip a tin g s tu d e n ts
w ill r e c e iv e a c e r t if ic a te o f
p a r t i c i p a t i o n s i g n e d b y M a r tin
L u t h e r K in g I I I , i n c l u d e d in th e
D o S o m e th in g K in d n e s s an d
J u s tic e C h a lle n g e c u rric u lu m
m a te ria ls . T h e s tu d e n t w h o p e r
f o r m s t h e m o s t A c t s in th e n a
tio n w ill r e c e iv e a N a tio n a l
C h a m p io n T ro p h y , a c o m p u te r
a n d a y e a r ’s w o rth o f v id e o
re n ta ls fro m B lo c k b u s te r. T h e
s c h o o l c o m m ittin g th e m o s t
A c ts n a t i o n a l l y w i l l r e c e i v e a
N a tio n a l C h a m p io n T ro p h y .
T h e t o p s t u d e n t a n d s c h o o l in
e a c h s ta te w ill a ls o re c e iv e a
S ta te C h a m p io n T ro p h y .
Why a K in d n ess &
J u stic e C h a llen g e?
D o S o m e t h i n g c r e a t e d th e
K in d n e s s & J u s t i c e C h a l l e n g e
to te a c h s t u d e n ts h o w in d i v id u a l
A c ts o f K in d n e s s a n d J u s t i c e
c a n m a k e a d i f f e r e n c e in th e i r
h o m e s , s c h o o ls a n d c o m m u n i
ti e s . D o S o m e t h i n g ’ s o v e r a l l
g o a l is to i n s p i r e y o u n g p e o p le
to b e l i e v e th a t c h a n g e is p o s
s i b l e a n d to h e lp th e m ta k e a c
ti o n to s t r e n g t h e n t h e i r c o m
m u n itie s . D o S o m e th in g c r e
a te d K in d n e s s & J u s t i c e C h a l
le n g e a r o u n d th e M a r tin L u th e r
K in g , J r . H o lid a y to r e c o g n i z e ,
h o n o r a n d p a y t r i b u t e to th e s i g
n i f i c a n t im p a c t M a r tin L u th e r
K in g , J r . m a d e o n g e n e r a t i o n s
o f A m e ric a n s . M L K e m b o d ie d
th e id e a l s o f K in d n e s s a n d J u s
tic e - e q u a lity fo r a ll, n o n v io
le n t re s o lu tio n o f is s u e s , r e
sp e c t fo r d if fe re n c e s a n d m o ra l
c o u r a g e . T im in g th e K J C h a l
le n g e to c o r r e s p o n d w ith M L K ,
J r . D a y is a n o p p o r t u n i t y to
“ k e e p th e d r e a m a l i v e ."
The Death of the
Dream:
JAN. 6, 1964, WAS A LONG DAY FOR Martin Luther King Jr. He spent
themoming seated in the reserved section of the Supreme Court, listening
aslawyers argued New York Times Co. v. Sullivan, a landmark case rising outot
King’s crusade against segregation in Alabama. The minister wassomething of
an honored guest: Justice Arthur Goldberg quietly sent down acopy of Kings
account of the Montgomery bus boycott, “Stride Toward Freedom,” asking for
an autograph. That night King retired to his room at the Willard Hotel.
Pillar O f Fire
America in the King Years. 1963-65
It w as a landm ark tim e in A m erica s
history, m arked by ram pant social up
heaval and profound personal sacrifice.
At its moral and political center rose an
extraordinary social m ovem ent build
on the concept o f nonviolence, led by
one charism atic individual: M artin
Luther King, Jr. In the fust volum e in his
trilogy o f the civil nghts era, the Puhtzer-
Prize w inning Parting the W aters. Tay
lor Branch followed the infancy o f a
m ovem ent and the baptism o f its leader
Branch now continues his chronicle of
A m erica's explosive struggle for equal
rights for all its citizens - and the rise o f
the m an w ho m oved legions to com bat
oppression with nonviolence - in Pillar
O f Fire: A m erica in the K ing Years.
1963-65 (A Touchstone B ookS im on
& Schuster Trade Paperbacks: January
1999; $17.00). A N ew Y ork Tim es
bestseller, this second volum e captures
the heat o f breakthrough battles around
the nation - from collisions o f towering
egos to rem arkable acts o f courage
am ong ordinary m en and w om en, black
and white.
"There is no historical precedent for
Birmingham, Alabama, in April andM ay
o f 1963. when the pow er balance o f a
great nation turned out onclashing armies
or global com m erce but on the young
est student demonstrators o f African
descent, dow n to the first- and second-
graders,” Branch writes in his preface.
“T he m iracleofBirm ingham might have
stood alone as the culm ination o f a
freedom movement grown slowly out
o f Southern black churches. Y et it was
merely the strongest o f m any tides that
pivotal time in A m erica’s history. He
delves behind the scenes o f grassroots
stands and milestone incidents — from
voting rights pickets in Mississippi to the
segregated jail cells o f S t Augustine.
Florida: from pettyjealousies within front
line civil rights groups, including the
N AA CP, to the assassination o f Medgar
E\ansandtheCnxximan.Cheney,Sweiner
ONE HEART
? t
: / *
murders; from the Shakespearean in
trigues o f J.Edgar Hoover and Robert
d and
Kennedy to the M arch on Washington.
The high-stakes action unfolds against
J JIJ ,
crested in the m ovem ent's peak years,
1963-65. They challenged, inspired, and
the tumultuous daw n o f Johnson s presi
dency - w hich saw the passage o f
confounded America over the meaning
o f sim ple words: dignity, equal votes,
equal souls. They gripped M alcolm X
along with President Johnson, buffeted
groundbreaking civil nghts legislation
and changed the very structure of partisiui
politics by delivering the South to the
the watchwords 'integration' and ’non
violence’. broke bodies and spirits, en
involvement in Vietnam.
A sem inal and gripping w ork ofh is-
tory, P illarO fF ire im m ortalizes a chap
ter in A m erica's distinctive quest for
larged freedom."
Drawing on the fifteen years o f re
search - including nearly two thousand
interviews and new primary sources, from
FBI wiretaps to White House telephone
recordings - Branch vividly portrays this
ONE VOICE
ONE SOUL
Republicans - and A m erica's escalating
ONE KING
equality and freedom , w hile enriching
ourcollectiveunderstandingofaunique
o f dissension, intrigue, sacrifice and
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determ ination inournot-so-distantpast.
"Our Friend, Martin"
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An animated feature-length home video on the life of Dr. Martin Luther King
N ew Y o rk , N Y (Jan u ary 5 ,1 9 9 9 )
- U n iv e rs a l R e c o rd s is set to re
lease th e d ire c t fo r O u r F r ie n d ,
M a r tin , 2 0 th C e n tu ry F o x H o m e
E n te rta in m e n t’s a n im a te d d ire c t for
v id eo m o v ie on th e life an d tim es o f
D r. M artin L u th er K in g , Jr., w hich
also featu res a rch iv al fo o tag e o f the
slain civ il rig h ts leader. B o th the
film an d the u n iv e rsa l so u n d track
w ill b e in sto res o n T u e s d a y , J a n u
ary 12, 1999 to c o in c id e w ith the
n atio n al K ing h o lid a y o n Jan u ary
18th, a n d B lack H isto ry M o n th in
F eb ru ary . T h e v id eo an d so u n d track
w ill b e sold sep arately .
T h e 11-tra c k a lb u m featu res a
m ix tu re o f R & B an d h ip -h o p songs,
from b o th e sta b lish e d an d u p -an d -
f
1 * * V *♦•<***■
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c o m in g artists. T h e lead single.
“ F e e lin I t , ” is a funky rap R & B
track p erfo rm ed b y A n tu a n & R ay
R a y o f th e 1 0 -m e m b e r h ip -h o p
K n ig h t a n d D ia n a K in g ’s p ra ise -
filled , “W h e n W e W e r e K in g s ,"
M o n te ll J o r d a n ’s “ I D o " an d S a lt
‘N P e p a ’s “ I m a g in e " rem ix fea
cliq u e. T h e B iv 10 P ee W ees. A s
sem b led b y M ic h a e l B iv in s, T h e
B iv 10 P e e W ees, w ho ran g e in age
from 7 to 14, are rap p ers and singers
w h o hail from N ew Y o rk , P h ilad el
p h ia an d L os A ngeles.
O th e r k e y tra c k s o n th e O u r
F r i e n d . M a r t i n s o u n d tra c k in
c lu d e S te v ie W o n d e r ’s b irth d a y
trib u te to D r. K in g , “ H a p p y B ir th
d a y , ” M a r v i n G a y e ’s tim e le s s
p ro te st so n g , “ W h a t ’s G o in g O n ,"
D ia n a R o ss c lassic p e a c e an th em ,
“ R each
O ut
A nd
T ouch
( S o m e b o d y 's H a n d ) ,” B r ia n M e
tu rin g S h e r y l C r o w
N ew com er
in c lu d e D e b e la h M o r g a n 's d a n c e
re m a k e o f “ A in ’t N o M o u n ta in
H ig h E n o u g h .”
O n Jan u ary 15th, Dr. K in g 's a c
tu al b irth d ate (1 9 2 9 ), th e K in g fam
ily , c ele b rities an d en te rta in e rs w ill
g ath er at T he M artin L u th er K ing
C e n te r in A tlan ta for th e m o v ie ’s
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© 1998 American Family Mutual Insurance Company and Its Subsidiaries,
Madison, Wl 53783 0001 www.amfam.com
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