Ms. Carissa Gonzalez began her one-hour discussion with a PowerPoint presentation outlining the different stages of King’s struggle for equality that led to the Civil Rights Movement. The presentation, ‘Honoring a Man and a Dream’, shed light on the importance of King to American history and the whole world, as his legacy affected not only minorities in America, but also minorities across the world who suffered and still suffer from discrimination and social injustice based on the color of their skin, their race, their religion, and their gender.. Ms. Gonzalez went on to explain how King’s Civil Rights movement was non-violent and how it embodied the American Declaration of Independence on July 4th, 1776, which states:

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.”

Ms. Gonzalez continued, discussing the famous march on Washington in 1963 and King’s historical speech, “I have a dream.” She also talked about the shift in American history towards recognizing and supporting minorities thanks to the subsequent passing of laws and rules that punish any act of discrimination in public places and institutions. Further, she explained, King’s efforts marked a major change in American history as American people continue to this day to show the world that their country is a ‘melting pot’, and resulting, most recently, in the election of Barack Obama as the first African-American President of the United States of America.