Manhattan Country School Leads their Annual MLK Jr. March honoring Civil Rights Issues

By Welcome to Harlem on Jan 14, 2011

For Immediate Release: Press Release

WE HAVE ANOTHER DREAM: CIVIL RIGHTS IN THE 21ST CENTURY

Monday, January 17th, 2011

10am-1pm

Starting Point: Strawberry Fields, 72nd Street & Central Park West, New
York, NY

Ending Point: Manhattan Country School, 7 East 96th Street, New York, NY

Manhattan Country School is an independent school founded upon the beliefs
of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Annually the 8th grade leads a march in honor
of the legacy of Dr. King and the nonviolent protests of the Civil Rights
Movement. This year we have chosen to honor him by focusing on civil rights
issues in the 21st century. The important civil rights issues we will
address as part of the march include education, sustainability, post-9/11
civil rights, hate crimes, animal rights and LGBTQ discrimination. In
preparing for this march, we have focused on our dreams for equality and
civil rights in the 21st century.

This year’s march consists of eight stops. We will begin outside of
Strawberry Fields in Central Park, traveling uptown through the park,
stopping at locations in Harlem and then circling back to finish at
Manhattan Country School. Stops on our route include: The Harlem Children’s
Zone’s Promise Academy, Fredrick Douglas Circle and The 96th Street Islamic
Cultural Center. Each student has chosen a topic that they are interested
in, a topic they want to learn more and spread awareness about. Every 8th
grader composes a speech about their chosen topic. At each stop, 2-4
students will share these speeches.

The speeches relate both to their topic of choice and their location, making
connections between the struggle for civil rights both yesterday and today.

In 1963, Dr. King gave his famous “I Have a Dream” speech. He expressed his
hopes for the future, hopes for racial equality. In that speech he told the
world that “1963 was not the end, but the beginning” of a movement to end
injustice and oppression. 2011 is not the end either. The 8th grade of
Manhattan Country School has decided to follow in the footsteps of MLK and
continue that dream, address the fundamental civil rights issues of the 21st
century. We have another dream and hope you will march with us in support of
the many important civil rights issues facing our world today.