MLK day marked here
By Steve GoodmanOne of the most recent additions to the school holiday calendar is the commemoration of the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., civil rights leader who was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee, on April 4, 1968.
Martin Luther King Day is especially meaningful for English teacher Joe Geiger. Mr. Geiger has given a special presentation on Dr. King's life and teaching to his classes and on Intersession for the past seven years.
Mr. Geiger has compiled numerous poems, speeches and critiques which deal with Dr. King in a manner that he feels "makes King come alive for the students." The theme of the presentation is "The Dream and the Choice," a theme Geiger feels reflects both Dr. King's ideals and the necessity to continue to work for civil rights.
Poems and essays by Nikki Giovanni, Gwendolyn Brooks, Bob Teague, George Jackson and others, along with Dr. King's 1964 Nobel Peace Prize Acceptance Speech, his letter from the Birmingham jail and his final sermon are all utilized in the project. Geiger, who describer himself as "a follower of KIng," characterizes Dr. KIng as the "one black leader of that time who was trying to reconcile black America with white America, rather than pitting one against the other." He also feels that while there has not been another Martin Luther King, these have been many persons whose individual accomplishments have aided the struiggle for civil rights immensely.