-Once upon a time,
there was a man named Martin Luther King, Jr.
It's funny to think about it
because now we know his name so well.
But at one time, he was just a kid
like maybe you're a kid watching this.
Well, he was a kid, too.
Well, maybe you're a grownup. That's okay, too.
Former kids are welcome here. I don't discriminate.
Martin Luther King grew up to be a great man, of course,
but things weren't all that great in the world
while he was growing up,
not everybody was treated like they were a somebody
and I believe that you should treat everybody
like it's their birthday.
But they didn't do that.
People looked at the color of their skin
and that's how they decided if they were friends or not.
Not cool, man.
That didn't make him feel good, doesn't make anybody feel good,
but his parents helped him grow up.
He went to church. He learned about love.
He grew up to be a minister to help a lot of people.
He did all sorts of cool stuff.
He helped a lot of people learn about love, too,
but still he looked around
and said, "Things should be better."
He wanted to change things, so he did stuff.
He decided instead of spreading the hate,
he would spread the love.
He wanted to bring people together.
Where people were hurting, he stepped in to help.
He marched with them. He walked with them.
He walked arm in arm with everyone.
Sometimes it didn't go well, but he kept going.
Sometimes he ended up in prison,
but he kept going.
Some people didn't like him, but he kept going.
Some days were hard, but he kept going.
Love does that.
It just keeps going even when things are dark.
And, well, I don't like this part of the story,
but things did get pretty dark.
Someone who didn't agree with him shot him.
He died in April 1968.
Now, Kid -- Kid -- Kid President,
why are you telling us this sad story? Come on.
I know, I know it, I'm sorry,
but it happened and I don't like that it happened.
Now I got to tell you something.
When things aren't awesome, it can be tough
and things won't always be awesome,
but your response can be.
Martin Luther King's response, it was awesome.
Today I just want us to think about this.
Isn't it cool that we can change things
like any of us, anybody.
He dreamed and he changed things
and he dreamed and he kept sharing his dreams.
They became not just his dream,
a lot of people's dream, like this one.
That's a pretty good dream. Let's dream like that.
That could change things.
I had the honor of meeting Dr. King's son,
Dr. Martin Luther King III,
and you can find our conversation
in my new book,
"Kid President's Guide to Being Awesome."
He's a really great leader
and he even wrote a book called "My Daddy,
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr."
It is so good that I want to book it forward.
I am pledging to send 30 copies
to a school in my town.
What about you, how can you book it forward?
Here's a few ways that people are doing it already.
Look at this, it's amazing.
It's really cool to see it spread.
Thanks, everybody.
Thanks for being awesome, people. See you next week.