I have consistently taken the position that colleges should not close on the federal holiday honoring Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. However, we should not simply treat the day as business as usual. Instead, I advocate conducing seminars, discussions, teach-ins, and other activities that focus on Dr. King and his message.

Generally, Martin Luther King Day falls during the second week of classes. As a result, I am able to meet my students and to establish the important first day of class impression. I also have the ability to give students an assignment to complete to help them prepare for our discussion of Dr. King.

However, this year our first day of class falls on Martin Luther King Day. This is problematic.

The first day of class is extremely important for setting the tone of the course. Over the past few years, I have developed a very effective strategy to begin each semester; a strategy that does not involve teaching about Dr. King.

I could build a strong case to argue that the educational benefits of the first day of class are so important that, for this year, it is acceptable to focus on business as usual than it is to honor. Dr. King. In fact, I am sure that I could even develop an argument using Dr. King’s own words to justify that conducting my traditional first day of class is an appropriate way to honor him. However, any such arguments would be disingenuous.

It is easy to state one’s values and even live one’s values when there is no conflict or challenge to them. What is difficult is acting on one’s values in the face of adversity.

If my previous public statements have any meaning, then it is up to me to find a way to both honor Dr. King and to conduct an effective first day of class that sets the tone for the semester. Although the solution to my dilemma now seems so obvious, it was actually a struggle for me to find a middle group between competing values. Ironically, because I gave myself time for reflection, I did not need to compromise any values while developing the solution to my problem.

I have never believed that showing a film about Dr. King is necessarily the best way to honor him. Therefore, in previous semesters, I have been able to both help students to come to a richer understanding of Dr. King’s message while advancing core course concepts such as the problems of ethnocentrism or cultural imperialism. One year, I took a leadership role on campus by screening and facilitating discussions of the Shirley Temple short film Kid in Africa (1933).

One of the hallmarks of my first day of class is to make it possible for students to meet each other. Therefore, I break students into small groups and then reshuffle the groups throughout the class period. In most classes, I show at least one short film on the first day of class. For the past few semesters, I organized the first day of Composition I around a series of short films.

For winter semester, I can use the same model of small groups and films/discussion that I have used in the past. Instead of the films I usually show, I will make sure that the films facilitate a discussion of Dr. King and his message.

Coming to this elegant solution to the problem of honoring Dr. King on the first day of class did not come easily to me. However, as Dr. King counseled, “In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.” On the federal holiday honoring him, I will not be a silent friend.

–Steven L. Berg, PhD

Ten Films Honoring Dr. King

Earlier today, I posted “Ten Films Honoring Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.” in the Film Studies Blog in which I argued that even if a professor could not devote the entire first day of class honoring Dr. King, that she or he might show a short film and have a discussion as part of the class. Ten short films which are available on-line are included in the post. Each film is linked to at least one quote by Dr. King.

Previous Blog Entries
Concerning Martin Luther King, Jr. Day

• “Closing Schools to Honor Dr. King?”
  (17 January 2011)
• “An Open Letter to a Student”
  (19 January 2008)