“The time is always right to do what is right.”
I entered kindergarten in the fall of 1968 at what was then the newly rechristened Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary School, an institution that continues to educate a diverse population in the Mount Hope neighborhood in Providence. King was assassinated the previous spring, and shortly after his death, the school adopted his name and mission.
My kindergarten class was the first fully desegregated grade in Providence, an opportunity not lost on forward-thinking educators. King’s legacy was celebrated throughout my elementary school years, providing me with at least a marginal appreciation of the Civil Rights Movement from an early age. Fifty-seven years later, the school remains a vibrant community comprised of students and faculty who continue to build on King’s legacy…