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BY THE NUMBERS
By The Numbers, a look at what’s in the news . . . by the numbers. These are just numbers, not suggestions that they mean more or less than what they are. We do not suggest that one number is connected to another. These are simply facts with no extraneous details, bias or slanted reporting. To borrow (and perhaps mangle a bit) a quote from legendary fictional detective Joe Friday, it’s just the numbers, ma’am!
The last couple of weeks we looked ahead at the year 2025 by the numbers! Now that we have that covered, let’s look at our next national holiday coming up – a celebration of Martin Luther King’s birthday!
1-15-29
Although we are celebrating Dr. King’s life on Jan. 13, he was actually born on the 15th of this month in 1929. Had he not been gunned down in 1968, he would be 96 years old this week.
1963
That’s the year he helped lead the march on Washington and stood on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial and gave his “I have a dream” speech.
17
The number of minutes that speech took.
5
Martin grew up in a family of five. His father was Michael and mother was Alberta. Martin was one of three children. Michael was a pastor.
15
That’s the age Martin was when he became a college student. Morehouse College, the school his father and maternal grandfather attended, opened their doors to high school juniors who passed an entrance exam.
18
That’s the age Martin was when he decided to enter the ministry. He went to Crozer Theological Seminary in Pennsylvania and was elected as student body president.
29
Although there is some disagreement, it appears Martin was arrested at least 29 times. Many were for things white people would not be arrested for.
6-12
Students in grades 6-12 are invited to participate in the 2025 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Essay Contest. All you have to do is write an essay based on the following quote from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.:
“We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope.” More information can be found on the Martin Luther King Jr. Essay Contest website, https://iasp.org/students/mlk-jr-essay/. The online submission deadline is Feb. 28. This program is FREE for Department of Student Programs member schools. Cost for non-member schools is $10 per essay. Department of Student Programs membership is independent of individual administrator membership through IASP. If you are unsure if your school is a DSP Member, or if you have other questions, please contact Jill at [email protected].