Mrs. Parks

Took the class down to the Capitol today to see Mrs. Rosa Parks lying in honour. The viewing itself was a bit anticlimactic for the children because the casket was closed, but the day as a whole was more than worthwhile. For one thing, even if they didn't fully appreciate it today, they will at some point.

But there was also plenty for the kids to connect to immediately. None had ever been inside the Rotunda--and when I gestured to them all to "look up!" as we waited to file past the mahogany coffin, the somber silence of the sacred space was temporarily interrupted with Anthony's "Whoa! Ooops! Sorry!" After we were outside, the kids were suitably impressed by the view of the Mall, and equally struck with the diversity of the crowd that we watched follow us out--all ages, all races, men and women. After a bit of people watching, I suggested to the children that they ask some of their fellow mourners, "Why are you here today?" The answers they received were better than any history lecture or lesson I could have possibly devised. Greying African Americans recalled the days of segregation and the March on Washington. Aging white liberals spoke of the transformative effect of Parks' inspirational act, a blinding light on the racial road to Damascus that awakened them to greater humanity, greater responsibility. A white woman with a six-month-old daughter bundled against her chest reminded the children of the gendered dimensions of the moment in which Rosa Parks became the mother of the modern Civil Rights movement. And for that matter, the children heard the word "movement" again and again....the words "march," "protest," and "organize" countless times...and experienced for themselves that at significant cultural moments our nation's attention focuses again and again on a few square miles just a few Metro stops away.

So, I didn't manage to get the new spelling words out, but all in all, not a bad Monday's worth of teaching.