MLK Essay: Where's the Table?

Where’s the Table?

The name's Liam. Liam Trebbol. I'm in the sixth grade. I'm only writing this because of Dr. King. I suppose I should start at the beginning. I'’ve always admired Martin Luther King for talking like I often feel. “I have a dream.” Which is what I'm almost always thinking.
See, ever since I was a Kid I've had some problems with seeing things that others don't. The other boys make fun of me for it. They found out in first grade when I asked them if they had liked a combination of a dolphin and superman flying past the classroom window. They were no dummies and soon got it.
So when we started studying Martin Luther King, the 'I Have a Dream” speech sparked my mind. While learning about him in school one day, I had a vision of him. Then I raised my hand to tell the class. Realizing what I was doing I quickly changed the wording. So instead of, “Martin Luther King just told me...!”., it was “l think Dr. King would approve of us learning about this time in history, so that we know what happened and won't be ignorant enough to let it happen again. It was a very sad time and racist people should be ashamed.” This was the first of my many sightings of Dr. King.
Walking home from school this October, I saw a man screaming at a woman. She yelled back at him, and I distinctly heard him respond, “You are a female moron. What other kind is there? You will do what I say! Eat my dirt.” He kicked her down the alleyway, which was conveniently located behind them. “You are lucky to have even dirt from a man's boot on you. Even that's a blessing, girl!” I imagined him doing an evil laugh.
I turned and saw Dr. King walking next to me.
“Sexists are just as bad as racists,” he told me,” underestimating someone's personality because of their gender.”
“I wish women were the ones in power, don't you?” I asked.
“Perhaps,” he replied as if he were asking himself.
We rounded the corner and stepped onto the Island of the Amazons -- an island from Greek mythology where women were powerful and men did things around the house. “It must have been awesome here.” I said to Martin, who was now wearing a rainbow Greek toga. I looked down to see myself wearing one, too.
“Look!” he said pointing to the ocean. “Perhaps you will understand in a second.”
I looked into the waves and saw a ship approaching. I then remembered that Heracles had come and accidentally killed the queen. The men then realized they could be strong and came into power.
Just as I now remebered that, Martin and I were back on the street. “Do you understand now?” he asked “Perhaps,” he said, “it is not better for one gender to be in power. Perhaps they could be together. Partners in crime, for all people are evil in some way. ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.’ “
I understood. Martin headed over to the park and I headed home.
In December, my father drove me to school. I insisted on walking home one day when it wasn't snowing. After school I made a snowman. “Dr. King,” I said, “everyone must be happy around this time of the year.”
“Some are homeless and have nowhere to stay in blizzards,” he remarked.
“They deserve it. Don't pay, don't stay!” I said.
“No!” said Dr. King. “Most are like you and I. But stereotypes keep them from a normal life.”
“Huh? How's that possible?” I asked.” The guys at school make “hobos” sound like mutated souls with hairy tongues.” I paused and looked down at the snow. “A five dollar bill!” I picked it up and put it in my pocket.
“Five dollar Bill of Rights,” said Dr. King.” Every citizen should have housing. But it's not to be.”
I knew I wouldn't be getting home for a while. I took out the money. I looked hard at it. I looked up again. Of course, I wasn't in front of the snowman anymore. Dr. King and I were standing in a low room. There was a table. Sitting at it were two men. One was a rich looking white guy and the other was a Middle-Eastern guy. The white guy looked like he had accomplished victory. The Middle-Eastern guy looked ready to cry.
“Anyway, Mr. Achmed,” said the white guy. He seemed arrogant. ”Since 9/11 we simply can't trust your people.”
“It is a shame,” said the other man. “My ancestral country does not hold you and every other american guilty for the death or Martin Luther King. Yet everyone still mourns it. I have lived in this country my whole life, yet you refuse to give me a mortgage. I am no terrorist because of the color of my skin.”
“Why, if Dr. King were here right now,” which he was, “he wouldn't be wasting time on me, which is fine. He would be talking to the youngsters. Telling them how to handle things so in the next generation there would be peace!
“He had a dream! You hold me responsible for a wrong someone I have never met did! I should, by now, be able to sit down with you at the table of brotherhood! Not the table of you cheating me out of money! “ Then he left.
Suddenly, I was in front of my house. “Don’t you see? You have the power to change things.” said Martin. “It’s in you! I’m just part of your imagination. Use wisdom. Do what you think is right. There are many wrongs in the world that should be changed. A table of brotherhood awaits us all. I have a dream.”


Jacob Barz-Snell
Grade 5
Saltonstall School