Last Updated on January 9, 2026
Why do we celebrate MLK Jr. with a special day?
As Coretta Scott King explained,
“The Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday celebrates the life and legacy of a man who brought hope and healing to America.”
This day offers educators an opportunity to teach students about related current events and their connection to history. There are clear links between MLK’s legacy and contemporary issues of civil rights, race relations, and matters of diversity, inclusion, and equity.
Listenwise MLK Podcast Lessons
Our collection of podcast lessons can support your teaching about Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. Consider listening to these compelling stories about MLK, and asking your students some of these questions:
- How did the idea of nonviolent resistance influence King?
- What memories do people have of the “I Have a Dream” speech in Washington D.C.?
- What did the first version of the famous speech sound like?
- How is MLK’s son keeping the memory of his father alive for other generations?
- What can young activists learn from the legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr.?
- How did MLK channel anger into positive action?
- What has changed in the 50 years since MLK’s assassination?
Hearing podcasts with first-person accounts can spark student conversations about the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s, which included lunch counter protests, school desegregation, and voting rights demonstrations. Building students’ background knowledge about these topics may lead to engaging conversations that evaluate and compare historical and modern protest strategies and organizing efforts.
Related Listenwise Collections
Our Activism (for elementary students) and Civil Rights Movement collections (for middle & high school) feature stories about the events, efforts, and people involved in both the historic and contemporary Black civil rights movements.
These collections include podcasts about Rosa Parks and the bus boycott, Ruby Bridges and her experience desegregating a school, and perspectives on historic and modern-day marches on Washington. Using the podcast lessons from these collections may help students understand how MLK’s legacy is relevant to their life experiences.
Additional Resources
- Instructional guidance from Learning for Justice, “From MLK to #BlackLivesMatter: A Throughline for Young Students”
- A collection of teaching resources for Martin Luther King Jr. Day and recommendations for “Creating Classrooms for Social Justice” from Edutopia
- An article about “Martin Luther King Jr.’s Radical Vision” from the Zinn Education Project
