Knowledge is Power

As an educator, I teach students about our constitution and the process of making a law and being an informed citizen. It amazes me just how little I/We know about laws in America or the actions ordinary citizens have taken to right many wrongs.

When a young boy named James began school, he soon discovered that learning was fun. However just as he was getting adjusted a 1847

law was created in Missouri which forbid African Americans from learning. To James, this law turned the lights on his future. That was until Reverend Meachum came up with a brilliant idea which moved the school from the basement in a Missouri church to a steamboat on the Mississippi! As a result, of this genius idea, students were able to learn because the state law was not valid in federal waters. What a powerful lesson for children on determination, "thinking outside and within a box", and how one person can make a difference. No more darkness for James. In the words of Reverend Meachum, "We make our own light here!"