January is the month we celebrate the birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr.
This January, 2009, we will also witness the historic inauguration of the first African American to the Presidency of the United States.
Many children in this country, of all ethnicities (and sadly, some adults with short memories), don't realize the history that has brought us to this day.
This moment is a teachable moment.
I say, why not make the lesson fun.
Celebrate with a civil rights victory party.
Serve a Louisiana gumbo as you teach your children about Ruby Bridges, the 6 year old New Orleans girl who was the first child to take the step of integrating an all white school in the South.
Post a print of Norman Rockwell's famous artwork, The Problem We All Live With, commemorating the moment.
Teach your children about Dooky Chase restaurant, the historic New Orleans fine dining eatery where Martin Luther King, Jr.
met in the earliest days of the civil rights struggle with local black leaders.
Dooky's (as it's known colloquially) was also a haven for prominent musicians like Ray Charles who gathered there after performances because there were very few other options open to them.
Leah Chase, chef and co-owner of Dooky Chase's,also began establishing her restaurant as a showplace for African American artists in the early 1970's because there were no outlets then for them to show their art.
Teach your children, over a traditional "soul food" lunch of fried chicken, collard greens and cornbread, that this is a day that could never have happened without a long, hard battle, in which some even gave their lives.
Play the music of Odetta, the Staples Singers, Joan Baez and others, which provided powerful inspiration for the workers to continue in their struggle.
Teach your children that it wasn't too very long ago in our history that black people could not sit to eat at a local lunch counter, much less vote, or imagine that one day America would have a black President-and savor this moment that Martin Luther King and others made possible.