Children Observe MLK Day

Children still too young to fully grasp the magnitude of the struggle for civil rights marked their own version of Martin Luther King Jr. Day at two events in downtown New London on Saturday.

The  hosted a kid-friendly observation of the holiday where visitors were invited to write a dream of their own on handprints cut from construction paper to post on the wall. Cris Staubach, head of Youth Services, said the library had not hosted this particular activity before, and that the idea just came to her as she thought about Dr. King’s famous “I Have a Dream” speech.

By early afternoon, the handprints that had been posted ranged from the sorrowful: “Mom wants her family back,” to the whimsical: “Dana wants to be in a castle.”

Tayana, 5, was creating her palm cut-out with assistance from Samari, 7. After Staubach cut the paper for the girls, she prompted them to come up with a dream of their own. They decided on saving the environment, a dream almost too big to fit on a tiny handprint. Samari copied the phrase onto the yellow paper so Tayana’s palm could be taped up next to the others.

At the , more children were learning about Dr. King’s legacy while having fun at the same time. They were attending a birthday party, complete with shiny hats, tiaras, and activities. The poster on the front door of the center promised cake.

First, Kente Programmer Jane Bernoudy, known as Mama Jane, led the kids in a sing-along that included “We Shall Overcome.” She then read to them from a picture book about Dr. King and led an age-appropriate discussion explaining, among other things, the meanings of the titles “Reverend” and “Doctor.” She addressed racial segregation and the protests against it in the 1950s and '60s, significant yet foreign topics for little ones who spoke of attending school with classmates of all different backgrounds.

Then it was time to break out the art supplies and make tie-dye pictures. The kids, with a bit of help from the adults, used markers, baby wipes and pipe cleaners to create the colorful designs. It was a project that could have been featured at any birthday celebration, but it had a special message on this day. As Bernoudy said, urging the kids to use lots of different markers, “all colors together make a beautiful picture.”