Southeast Queens PRESS

Cover Story

King For A Day

By MARCIA MOXAM COMRIE

As children around the country recite and sing in the memory of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., for his birthday this week, kindergarten and pre-kindergarten students at the NAACP Daycare Center, Inc., in St. Albans have already created their own artistic tributes to the civil rights leader.

The children, rehearsing for participation at a York College celebration where they will sing Dr. King’s theme song for the Civil Rights Movement, "We Shall Overcome," were instructed to create on paper, their own understanding of Dr. King’s life and legacy.

According to Ms. Monica Pringle, Executive Director of the center, children are not too young to know their history and their comprehension is more developed than we might think.

"They understand what it’s all about," said Pringle. "They know who Dr. King was and what he means to us."

The 30 year-old school housed at 189-26 Linden Boulevard and 118-49 Montauk Street, respectively, accepts children ages six months to five years old.

Here’s a look at their work.

— Marcia Moxam Comrie

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Coretta Scott King is happy to watch her husband Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. speak on television. He will talk about how to share and play. They are going to the store to get ice cream.

— Kabresha Glover

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Dr. Martin Luther King, I want you back. To come in to this school. To learn and be good. To listen. He was a good man and minister in church. He said be respect to everybody.

— Trevon Young

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Dr Martin Luther King Jr. had two daughters and a mother and a father Every body love him. He went out and talked to people he talked in a microphone about people being nice to each other.

— Desiree Brown

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Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. everyone he died he was in a hotel and someone shot him. He teach kids.

— Amanda France

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Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. helped people eat together. He helped all kinds of people to play together. He said people should not be mean to each other. It doesn’t matter what kind of person you are. He helped people sing together.

— Akil Nurse

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Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. died because somebody killed him when he was little the white boy was his friend the boys mommy told him not to play with Martin becuase he was a black boy Dr. Martin

— Vanessa Walker

Read On: Keep The Dream Alive
The Queens Borough Public Library recommends the following selections to learn more about the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.:

Adler, David A.
Illustrated by Robert Casilla
Picture Book of Martin Luther King, Jr.
A brief, illustrated biography of the civil rights leader whose philosophy and practice of non-violent civil disobedience helped American blacks win many battles for equal rights.
Ages four to eight
Holiday House, 1989

Adler, David A.
Illustrated by Robert Casilla
Martin Luther King, Jr.: Free at Last
A picture book biography of the minister who worked unceasingly for his dream of a world without hate, prejudice or violence.
Ages nine to 12
Holiday House, 1989

Jakoubeck, Robert
Martin Luther King, Jr.: Civil Rights Leader
From the Black Americans of Achievement series, this biography looks at the life, times and achievements of Dr. King.
Ages nine to 12
Chelsea House Publishers, 1994

Haskins, James
Life and Death of Martin Luther King, Jr.
A biography of a man who dedicated his life to the cause of civil rights. This book also re-examines unanswered questions concerning his assassination.
Ages nine to 12
Beech Tree Books, 1992

Wukovits, John F.
The Importance of Martin Luther King, Jr.
Part of Lucent’s The Importance of series, this book discusses the childhood, education and social activism of Dr. King.
Ages nine to 14
Lucent Books, Inc. 1999

Patterson, Lille
Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Freedom Movement
A biography of Dr. King for young people from the Makers of America series.
Ages 12 to 16
Facts On File, 1989

Schuman, Michael A.
Martin Luther King, Jr.: Leader for Civil Rights
This book examines the life and career of Dr. King and his support for the use of non-violent resistance to discrimination. The book describes his involvement in many important events in the civil rights movement. It is one of Enslow’s African-American Biography series.
Ages 12 to 16
Enslow Publishers, Inc., 1996

Selected by Coretta Scott King
The Martin Luther King Companion: Quotations from the Speeches, Essays and Books of Martin Luther King, Jr.
This adult book is a collection of Dr. King’s writings, selected by his widow and edited by his two sons.
St. Martin Press, 1993

Fairclough, Adam
Martin Luther King, Jr.
An adult biography of Dr. King and the movement he led.
University of Georgia Press, 1995

Lewis, David L.
King: A Biography
This adult book is a detailed biography of Dr. King.
University of Illinois Press, 1978