Characteristics of Martin Luther King Jr

Martin Luther King, Jr.
My vision of a hero is a person who is brave, caring and handles situations without resorting to violence. This person is Martin Luther King, Jr. He was a man you could trust. He was the world’s voice of reason. Martin Luther King had many great characteristics and they all guided him along the way to better our world. The service he did for the people in this country is still remembered. His peacemaking ways have inspired us all. He’s my hero, and by the end of this paper he might be yours, too.
Martin Luther King, Jr. accomplished many things in his lifetime. He especially believed in equality. He fought hard to make peace and change the minds of many racists. Martin was a minister, so he spoke at his church and many other places. His most memorable speech was at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. He spoke to thousands of willing participants (white and black) in the Civil Rights Movement. “We hold these to truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal.” Those were Thomas Jefferson's words, spoken by Mr. King in his speech. He also boycotted with many other African-Americans back then. He was put in jail and still did not let himself be consumed with rage and use violence. He pulled African-Americans together to stop racism. This was not an easy task to accomplish where he lived.

by Jerell from Lawndale

http://myhero.com/go/hero.asp?hero=King_Lawndale_CA_06

Characterisitics of Nelson Mandela

Nelson Mandela was an activist against apartheid in South Africa. The term, apartheid means the government says that it is ok to discriminate any race other than White people. In 1963, the South African government found Mandela guilty of sabotage. He was imprisoned for 27 years. The most prominent characteristics of Nelson Mandela are strength of spirit, integrity, honor, and leadership. Mandela’s strength of spirit allowed him to endure 27 years of imprisonment. He never compromised his beliefs, which shows integrity and a willingness never to give up the fight. As an honorable citizen of the world, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993 for his help in ending apartheid in South Africa. Finally, he became President of South Africa in 1994 showing his incredible ability to lead a nation once so divided. Nelson Mandela is an inspiration to all freedom fighters the world over.

From the website http://www.enotes.com/law/q-and-a/what-some-characteristics-nelson-mandela-give-71979

INSPIRING PEOPLE

In class we have been learning about INSPIRING PEOPLE. I asked the question what/who is an inspiring person. Some of the childrens ideas were

• Someone who is GENEROUS
• A person who makes people what to do something.
• A person who creates change - positive.
• A person who overcomes obstacles and works to benefit others
• Someone who thinks about others over themselves.

We have looked at Dr Seuss and Mahatma Gandhi in class. Last week I noticed the children were amazed at the concept of segregation and the civil rights movements of the 1960s.
Today we looked at the life briefly of Martin Luther King, the children found him inspirational but the concept that because of the colour of your skin you had to sit in certain areas away from others as ridiculous.

The children need to choose an inspirationl person to research and learn about. Some children have already started to collect their information, many thanks for this support. As libraries are closed, I have asked children to explore the internet at home and to ensure they write the website down as each child will create a bibliography of their resources.
If you are unable to print, please email your child's resources to me and I will print it out.
abraham.atherton@ola.school.nz

Inspiring People

Dr.Seuss is an inspiring person because he got children to read books. Back in the past the books were terrible. He is a good children's author. Dr.Seuss tells people in his books, be respectful and not mean and respect the environment.

Gandhi is an inspiring person because he lived long enough to have his dream become a reality, so it is like you can have a dream no matter what your age. He wanted a change of rule in India and to reduce/abolish discrimnation. No matter what colour makes a difference to the world.

Gandhi quotes
"An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind."

"A man is but the product of his thoughts what he thinks, he becomes."


"Be the change that you want to see in the world.


"First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.


"Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever."
By Lucy B