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Local News: Civil rights leader inspires youth Black Habits Articles When Mayor David Miller asked 300 students yesterday who would help him honour Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. “by judging people by their character, not by the colour of their skin,” 300 students raised their hands. So did their teachers

“Is that everybody?” Miller asked Grade 4 and Grade 5 students at Thorncliffe Park Public School. He proclaimed it Martin Luther King Jr. Day in Toronto.

King, who would have turned 77 Sunday, won the Nobel Peace Prize and helped mobilize the United States civil rights movement. He urged people to fight discrimination by coming together, rather than using violence.

King was assassinated in Memphis, Tenn. on April 4, 1968.

Toronto Police Chief Bill Blair spoke to the students about King. “We will not resort to violence. We will not degrade ourselves with hatred. Love will not be returned with hate,” he said, repeating King’s words.

Thorncliffe Park Public School has 1,685 students from 70 countries who speak 47 languages. “I think if Martin Luther King was alive today ... he would be so proud of this school and all of you,” Blair said. “The boys and girls of Thorncliffe Park Public School have always been a wonderful example of how people from all over the world can come together and live together in peace.”

Young people can play a role in making Toronto safe, Blair said. “It’s really important that you look out for each other, that you treat each other with respect.”

U.S. Consul General Jessica LeCroy spoke about King’s principle of “somebodiness,” which celebrates that all people deserve dignity.

“I’m somebody. The mayor is somebody ... Your principal is somebody and you’re somebody,” LeCroy said. Staff Sgt. Heinz Kuck read a book to the students, Martin’s Big Words, by Doreen Rappaport, about how King encouraged people to embrace diversity rather than discriminate.

Grade 5 student Shamir Pira said King is one of his heroes. “He is the one who taught me if you are different you are not inferior.” TORSTAR NEWS SERVICE
Posted on Wednesday, January 18 @ 00:00:00 UTC by jcohen



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