By Mr. Eldridge, Gambell, 5th grade teacher
In an effort to better understand the contributions made by African Americans to today’s culture and society, the fifth graders at Gambell elementary school have been studying the biography of Martin Luther King as well as the events that unfolded in 1963 at Birmingham, Alabama where thousands of school aged children were jailed for peacefully protesting against racial segregation. The goal of the protest was to overfill the city’s jails and shut the justice system down. One of the ways the students expressed their understanding of the events was by writing a poem that required them to use a particular rhyme scheme. Please excuse the lapses in political correctness.
Some black and white people fail
Martin Luther King went to jail
Black people frown
White people act like clowns
Black and white people fight
They sometimes get answers right
Some people have round faces
Other people see different races
Black and white people were mad
But black people were sad
Some people got old
They were cold
By Angel Yavaazak
Thousands of children were arrested
Black teenagers were tested
Black folks were going to jail singing
Getting out of jail with the freedom bell ringing
A lot of black children were pouting
More than a lot of black people were shouting
White men were fighting
Black children were tightening
White people were so cruel
They were acting like fools
The pigpens got fully filled
Martin Luther king Jr. got killed!
By Marilena Koozata
MLK Jr. started everything
He tried to find brave adults to bring
Cause he knew there was not enough room
He found out the adults were too chicken
But the children were sticking
So he went to get wrestlers and cheerleaders
Cause they are not boring old pleaders
He told them his plan
Which was about a big ban
The children did as they were told
Because they were brave and bold
They never took a rest
It helped them win the war
which no-one had done before
By Luceen Apangalook
MLK Jr. wanted to go to jail
But other black people thought they were going to fail
White people used hoses for spraying
Black people on the ground were laying
Black people in the jail are singing
White peoples’ ears are ringing
Black people fight for their rights
They would not get out of sight
By Emily Apassingok
Martin got thrown in jail
But noone would give him bail
Children were singing
Their song was ringing
Kids getting sprayed from a hose
Wiping them of their toes
They’re getting thrown in jail
Surely they won’t fail-
The president tells them to stop
But they won’t pop
Some kids are pierced by dog’s teeth
Others get crushed by tanks they lie underneath
By Skyley Ungwiluk
Thousands of children are getting arrested
Because they protested
The white folks should be full of shame
The black people are not to blame
Some black people were dying
The others were crying
The white people were dumb
Dogs bit little black kids’ thumbs
Black children sat and waited
They also got hated
Martin Luther King Jr. was trying for equal rights
Some white people just wanted to fight
By Layla Booshu
Black people are crowded in jails
Whites made them poop and pee in pails
Martin Luther King has it right
White people should not fight
Black people were in pain
Some white people had bad brains
White people had mean dogs
Black people trusted in god
Black people were poor
Maybe they had no doors
White people treated blacks like slaves
Sometimes they put them in graves
By Hallie Silook
