For Black History Month

The Montgomery Bus Boycott Story: 

(sung to the tune of Wheels on the Bus)

created by Audrey Kindred

Intention: 

This is an easeful way to share an important and intense historical story about racial justice, 
and the struggle of the Civil Rights movement to achieve greater racial harmony and equality in America.

Action Note:  

A group can spontaneously gesture-drama this song,  as one would with the traditional version of Wheels on the Bus.

It is a resource for the grade-level ages who are studying Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. For both young and fluent readers, it's a perfect print-up. 

The updated version includes teen-activist Claudette Colvin as well as Rosa Parks.  The biography of Claudette Colvin was written for young readers, Twice Toward Justice, by Phillip Hoose is an important and oft-untold story that took place within the early moments of the Civil Rights Movement, this time of immense American development.

Throughout the text, there are terms, which can grow the social studies vocabulary of children. 

Suggestions from readers are all welcome!!!

Lyrics Note: 

Emphatic sounds of the rhythm are underlined when necessary. 

The bold words get repeated twice.

The wheels 

   on the bus 

      went round and round...

The wheels 
   on the bus 
      went round and round
Way back when, 

   in Montgomery town.

This story 

   happened

      several decades ago.

This story 

   happened 

      several decades ago

The year was 

    1955.

The story 

   teaches us to 

       stand up for justice.

It teaches us

    to stand up 

       for justice.

So our world 

    can be more FAIR.

The rules 

    on this bus

       let some folks sit,
The rules
    on the bus
       let some folks sit,

…if the color of their skin was light.

Those rules 

  were

     unfair and wrong...

Those rules 

  were

     unfair and wrong...

This song tells how 

   things have changed.

A driver told
   people  

     "You can’t sit there.

A driver told
   people, 

     "You can’t sit there

if your skin is brown."

Separating people 

   by 

    the color of their skin

Separating people 

   by 

    the color of their skin

Was a rule called

   Segregation.

Many brave people 

    protested those rules
Many brave people
    protested those rules
And they were punished
    for doing right.

A brave teen bus-rider

  named

    Claudette Colvin

A brave teen bus-rider

  named

    Claudette Colvin

Was grabbed and

    locked in jail.

"With Sojourner Truth
on one shoulder
and Harriet Tubman on the other shoulder,"
Claudette Colvin could not get up!
"History had me glued to the seat"

The N, double A, C, P helped 

her get out of jail.

The NAACP helped 

her get out of jail.

and there she met 

Rosa Parks.

 (note:  NAACP:  National Association for the Advancement of Colored People)

Ms. Parks invited Claudette 

to speak to youth

Ms. Parks invited Claudette 

to speak to youth 

At the N, double A, C, P.

 (note:  National Association for the Advancement of Colored People)

The N, double A, C, P

   is an 

     important institution

The N, double A, C, P

   is an 

      important institution

Working hard for equal rights. 

History books say that

Rosa sparked change

History books say that 

Rosa sparked change

By getting arrested 

on the Montgomry bus.

Rosa Parks

   had 

     worked all day 

Rosa Parks
   had 

     worked all day.

At the NAACP.

Rosa Parks 

  said, 

   "I'm tired and I’ll sit"

Rosa Parks 

  said, 

   "I'm tired and I’ll sit."
I won't give up my seat!

The driver on the bus 

   said "You must 

       obey the rules."

The driver on the bus 
   said "You must 
       obey the rules.

Even if the rules
     are unfair."

Rosa Parks
  said,  "No, I’m 

        tired of one thing"

Rosa Park
  said

     "I’m tired of one thing
I’m tired 

   of giving in!"

The Policeman said
  "Ms. Parks! We’re
        taking you to jail."

The Policeman said
  "Ms. Parks!  We’re
        taking you to jail.

Just for
   sitting in that seat."

People in the town
   said 

     "The rules are unfair!"

People of the town
   said 

     "The rules are unfair!
Racist laws
   need to change!"

"To stand up
   for justice, 

     we’ll walk instead

To stand up
   for justice, 

     we’ll walk instead
Of taking
   a racist bus-ride."

The wheels
   on the bus 

      went round and round 

The wheels
   on the bus 

      went round and round
but people
   walked and walked.

The manager
    of the bus said 

       "We're loosing money!"

The manager
    of the bus said 

       "We're loosing money!
 When people
      don't ride our bus."

The people 

   of the town 

     said "Change those rules" 

The people
   of the town
     said "Change those rules
Then
   we'll ride your bus"

They walked 

   in the winter

      and the spring and the sun,
They walked
   in the winter
      and the spring and the sun

They walked for over a year.

They also 

    carpooled to 

       help one another 

  They also 

    carpooled to 

       help one another 

Let's boycott that bus!

    

A great leader 

   named Dr. 

     Martin Luther King

A leader
   named Dr.
     Martin Luther King, Jr. 

      stood up for Rosa Parks.

Dr. Martin Luther King

    shared 

       a dream for the future

Dr. Martin Luther King

    shared 

       a dream for the future

He dreamed of 

    racial integration.

      

"I have 

   a dream"

      of equality for all.

"I have 

   a dream"

      of equality for all.

Let's protest with our Love.

The boycott of the bus

    lasted 

       ten whole months

The boycott of the bus

    lasted 

       ten whole months

But the bus laws finally changed. 

Now, the wheels
   on the bus

      go round and round

Now, the wheels
   on the bus

      go round and round

Equal rides for every one.

Standing up
   for fairness

      we're not alone

Standing up
   for fairness

      we're not alone

Justice is on our side!

Claudette Colvin
    went to court to
       change racist laws
Claudette Colvin
   went to court to
       change racist laws
The Supreme Court of the Land.

Dr. King and Ms. Parks

   became 

       Civil Rights Heros

Dr. King and Ms. Parks

   became 

       Civil Rights Heros

of Non-violent Revolution.

People worked 

   together in 

      the Civil Rights Movement

People worked 

   together in 

      the Civil Rights Movement 

to make the world a better place.

Judging people

     by their color

         is prejudice

Judging people

     by their color

         is prejudice.

Whether their skin is

    dark or light.

Like Dr. King said, 

   "The content of 

         your character"

Like Dr. King said,  

    The content of 

         your character

Is how everyone shall be judged.

The Content of your 

    character  is 

     how you act

The content of your 

    character  is 

     how you act

And the values that you portray.

When we all do our best

   for 

     humanity 

When we all do our best

    for 

       humanity

The human family includes 

      EVERYONE! 

Young and Mighty Activists

 Young Ethical explores ventured out to Sunnyside, queens for the young and mighty March for children’s voices, October 23. 

Miles took leadership in the chanting, leading “when I say young you say Mighty,

Oberon kept the beat on the symbol through the whole March. Eda was among the youngest marchers and have a thrilling time Up high on dad’s shoulders.

 And Marifer Shared a speech with the crowd about her activism to petition for recess as play instead of as TV.

Marifer and Audrey taught the crowd a song in honor of Wangari Maathai

 Peace begins in our hearts

That’s where it comes from, where it starts.

Planted Blake a seed,

Let it grow strong like a tree.

Peace begins in our hearts

That’s where it comes from, where it starts.

Let’s plant the world

As a forest

Of love 

Happy Bones Festival

A great September welcomes ALL

Young Ethical Explorers (YEE)

meets every Sunday at 11, except for major holidays.

Open to all ages — with projects that connect us as brothers and sisters in “the human family” as well as peer dialogues about the ethics of our lives .

RSVP at YoungEthicalExplorers@gmail.com

Visit blog at YoungEthicalExplorers.blogspot.com

COMING OF AGE:  Children in their second decade may be interested in a Coming of Age group beginning in 2019.  If so, parent and youth info & envisioning-session will be scheduled. Please RSVP with interests and questions to YoungEthicalExplorers@gmail.com.  You may visit www.EthicalComingOfAge.blogspot.com
 for some information. 

YEE Programming open to all ages 

Color Harmony from Color Chaos

Color Chaos? No, Color Harmony!

Story by children: Gabriel, Katie, Lillian, Marifer, Siddharth, and adults Nildania and Audrey with prompts by Deepali of Writefully Ours

Creative Inspiration: Lynn Rowe Reed’s Color Chaos

Characters:

Green = Peace

Blue = Effort

Yellow = Hope

Purple = Joy

Red-Violent = Anger to Resolution

Turquoise = Calm

Red = Love

Principal  Mr Greystone

Narrator

One day, I made an announcement: “I want to be an illustrator!” My mother bought me a big box of crayons. I put them in my backpack and dashed off to school. Just inside the school I met our new substitute principal, Mr Greystone. His No’s went on and on. NO Running, NO Shouting, NO hopping, No Singing! In my classroom Mrs Peters wrote the schedule on the board. I saw that I would have to wait a long time to use my new crayons…after math, reading, testing, lunch, recess, spelling bee and science. 

At lunchtime I smuggled my crayons into the cafeteria. Next to the lunch line was Mr Greystone’s new board. We tried out Marvelous Magenta, Dandelion Yellow, and Periwinkle Blue and 61 other colors. When Mr. Greystone came in, he blew his stack! Art supplies in all colors were collected for disposal, recess was canceled. We got extra spelling words. 

“There will be NO more crayons, NO more markers, NO more colors of any kind!”

Meanwhile, inside the trash can, the colors started talking and bickering.”HOW WILL WE EVER GET OUT OF HERE,” said Black. “Shh..be quiet. Let’s stay hopeful as we work together to plan our escape,” said Hopeful Yellow. “Yes, we should be working together, with love, to find a way out of here.” said Red, brimming with Love for the other crayons.

Hard-working Blue had a great idea. “We can make a climbing pile from the stuff in the trash can to climb up. We can pile up crumpled paper, pens and board. It takes a lot of effort to build the trash tower, but it will be easy to climb up and get out of here,” he said.

Peaceful Green was thinking about how all the colors could come together. He said: “Let’s solve this problem by making an invention. Our invention will be a color wheel.”  Red-Violet, helpful as ever in finding solutions, encouraged Green: “Indeed. We could form a color wheel together, spin it and bounce out of the garbage can,” she said. 

Some colors still needed a little nudge, and Joyful Purple came to the rescue. “Let’s sign a joyful song. All our noise of bickering is giving us headaches and grumpy feeling. If we could sing together, children might hear a beautiful sound. They will come forward and discover they are coming from the trash can. Maybe they will sing with us if we are signing a song they know. How about a song about coloring? How about the song: what a wonderful world?”

That got all the crayons moving! Singing ‘what a wonderful world’ together, all the colors found their order by getting in a circle. But there was no jiggle! The color wheel was not moving. Then a big wind came and blew the lid of the garbage can over. Some colors blew up and away along with it. The lid knocked the Principal’s and he began to change his mind.  

A few others were still stuck in the bottom of the can. By then all the crayons that had escaped and the children were singing together! The trapped crayons heard them and got inspired with more ideas. “Let’s draw a hole and then escape through it,” said Calm Turquoise. “Ummm…I am not so sure that will work,” said one of the primary colors. “We can try,” said Yellow. 

“Or…,” began Turquoise, “We can use the pointy pencils to drill a small sign that says: ‘You are all blank without us!’ All the colors agreed. 1, 2, 3…GO! They drilled the sign, made thetrash tower, climbed it and held up the sign. 

The Principal, who was rubbing his head and thinking, turned around and read the sign. As the children and the crayons continued to sing ‘What a wonderful World,’ the Principal said to himself, “My Goodness.”  “Ahh!” he yelled. Then he let the remaining colors out. “Yay,” said the colors, “Now we can recolor the school!”

They covered everything in a colorful jumble. Soon the Principal realized he was not happy without the colors.” Sorry,”he said. 

“Colors Matter,” said everyone together!

THE END

Standing up for Education with the Malala Song

We began 2018 by standing up for education.  We learned about child Nobel peace prize Recipient, Malala Yousafzai. We learned about her struggles, and joys and the ways in which she has stood up for equality in education.  

To the tune of twinkle twinkle little star, we are singing this song together.  

Enjoy singing it at home or with your school classes.  We are planning ways to celebrate Malala Day at Ethical -- July 12 will be her 21st birthday.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      

Malala Yousafzai                    "twinkle twinkle" 
tells the world                       "little star"
Every child                            "how i wonder"
deserves to learn.                  "what you are"

“One child, one teacher,          "up above"     
One book, one pen                 "the world so high"
Can change the world             "like a diamond"         
every day.                             "in the sky."

We the children                     "twinkle twinkle"
of Ethical NYC                       "little star"
Stand with you                      "how i wonder" 
To say we agree.                   "what you are."
       
.....as if you are starting the tune again....

Yes to each child                   "twinkle twinkle"
Yes to each teacher               "little star"
Yes to each book                   "how i wonder"
Yes to each pen.                   "what you are"

Yes to my learning                "up above"
And yes to yours.                  "the world so high"
Yes to his learning                 "like a diamond"
And yes to Hers.                   "in the sky"
 
No matter the color               "twinkle twinkle"
Of their skin, eyes, or hair.     "little star"
No matter their                     "how i" 
gender-identity                     "wonder" 
Or what they wear.               "what you are."

.....as if you are starting the tune again....

Every child                          "twinkle twinkle" 
needs support                      "little star"
to learn and grow                 "how i wonder"
and do their best.                "what you are"

If one girl                              "up above"     
can change the world             "the world so high"
What can a 130-                     "like a diamond"         
million do?                             "in the sky."

Let's help each child                 "twinkle twinkle"
do their personal best.             "little star"
“Education please!”                 "how i wonder"
We must insist.                       "what you are"

Writing as Deed

Ethical NYC has been hosting Deepali Srivastava's "Writefully Ours" program. This has ignited a new dimension of our children's ethical development.  They write as deed! Our group is all ages, so they work at the level of their own ability and understanding.

Older children dive into writing prompts with enthusiastic autonomy, new-writers make enormous progress applying their own ideas to respond to worldly problems, sometimes getting an older writer to scribe for them,  and young-pre-writers draw and "tell" their great ideas for transcription. The group has written letters through Amnesty International to stand up for international environmental activists who have been unjustly silenced through imprisonment; and through CARE to give voices of Hope to Syrian refugees.

In letters to 4 year old Tarek from Syria, who hopes to one day become a doctor, children wrote encouraging notes to cheer him on toward his goals encouraging positivity in the face of challenges. Here is a sample of the range of responses, just our youngest and our eldest.

From Oberon who is also 4 years old like Tarek, came an inspiring poetry "You are the heart and star of love." He added, "I want to be a fire fighter to bring peace.  It's a good idea to be a doctor.  You'll help people. I want your new home to be peaceful.  I want your new room to be blue and gray."

Our wise elder-child Lillian told Tarek:  "Your story summoned empathy right from the bottom of my heart.  I love sad stories, but only when they are fictional.  I feel like my duty to this unforgiving war is to help, encourage and support refugees like yourself.  Earth would be a cruel cold place without our sun.  The history of humanity, and all the humans are the lump of rock that is Earth.  You, and others like you, are the sun.  You are our sun.  You are our sun, and don't you forget that, for even on the darkest of days, the warming rays of the sun may shine through, if it believes in itself.  Good luck in your endeavors."

After she wrote this, she imagined him in his early twenties, remembering her letter as an inspiration for not giving up in his challenging childhood.  And she imagined herself a few years older then him, thinking of him.