Here’s a Lesson in Perspective--From Fifth-Graders

The enclosed letters were written by students in my fifth-grade class at Hoover Street School in Los Angeles in response to Charles Solomon’s negative review of the video “Our Friend Martin” (“Animated Bio of King Jr. Lacks Punch of Reality,” Jan. 15).

I arranged for the video to be shown to all of the third-, fourth- and fifth-graders at Hoover Street, a total of about 500 children. The students obviously enjoyed the video very much, and the teachers found that it whetted the students’ appetite to learn more about Martin Luther King Jr. It led to my class and other classes inviting to our room another teacher, Etta Cooper, an African American woman who lived in the South during the King years.

Other teachers commented on how deep and meaningful were the discussions that flowed from the viewing of the video.

Mr. Solomon may be correct about the video’s flaws, but educators should know that “Our Friend Martin” is a wonderfully motivating educational tool.

A sampling of the students’ letters:

Cindy Jeong: “I think the review was unfair. I think the movie was educational because it taught me that our skin color doesn’t matter. It also taught me that one person can make a difference.”

Abiel Correa: “Our class really liked that movie because it showed us something about Martin’s life. It showed me how to get along better. I never knew Martin liked baseball. I never knew Martin was a minister. I never knew the chief of the police hated Martin. From the movie I learned a lot.”

Andrea Salazar: “The movie was actually pretty educational for all the kids. It taught us to be friends with other kids. It doesn’t matter what color we are because we are all equal. I didn’t like what you said because I’m afraid others won’t rent the movie now and they would be missing a lot.”

Michael Rivera: “I think everyone who saw the movie liked it. Sure the movie doesn’t show that much information, but it did show us how it was at that time. This movie doesn’t have all the facts because it’s an hour long.”

Christian Lucha: “We all thought it was good and funny, and it’s a good way to study about Martin Luther King Jr. I think Mr. Solomon has a point, but this movie is for children, not for adults.”

Joey Roacho: “In our school there is a teacher named Mrs. Cooper. She was born in Birmingham, Ala., in 1953. She knew the four girls who were killed in the church bombing. She came to our class and brought an 8-millimeter movie that her dad taped. It was about how the police were surrounding the African Americans. She answered our questions. If we hadn’t seen the movie, we wouldn’t have been interested.”

Zoila Martell: “It was interesting and educational. I enjoyed it. I learned that everybody needs to be friends.”

Sandra Gonzalez: “The movie did not quite show exactly every detail, but that I think is OK because although it did not show it, I am sure you could find out yourself like I did. The movie was educational. Also, since you are not a kid, you may not like it, but this movie is perfect for kids because it kept our interest.”

Edward Kim: “I think you are wrong because about 500 kids at my school liked it. My cousin saw the movie too, and he is in high school and he loved it. Even adults can learn a lot from the movie.”

Joseph Im: “I liked the movie because I like cartoons. All of my classmates loved the movie. Mr. Charles Solomon, I think you should watch the movie with your son, if you have one, and ask him if he liked the movie.”

Martina Albarran: “I think that because of this bad review, nobody is going to rent this fantastic movie. I hope that people will rent it and agree with me.”