Original subtitles

Yes!

Hey, Ruthie.

What are you doing?

Are you coloring?

No, I'm not coloring.

I'm working on a report for school today.

About what?

Eleanor Roosevelt.

Who's she? She was the First Lady.

She was the first lady to what?

The First Lady is the woman who's married to the president.

Eleanor Roosevelt, married to Franklin Roosevelt.

He was a president a long time ago.

They were both great Americans.

Is Roscoe Riverton a great American?

Roscoe Riverton's a rat,

but he's a great cartoon character.

Oh, there you guys are.

Is Dad a great American?

Ruthie's working on a report about a great American.

Oh.

We should all strive to be great Americans.

And you guys can start by going upstairs

and cleaning up your room, just like your mom told you,

before you leave for school.

Maybe it's too much work to be a great American.

How about we just try for good Americans?

Go clean your room; then, we'll talk about it.

I noticed you were up pretty late

last night on the phone.

When did you have time to work on your report?

Oh.

I finished my report before I got on the phone.

Oh. What's it about?

Eleanor Roosevelt.

Didn't you do a report on Eleanor Roosevelt

a couple of years ago?

Yeah, but you've got to admit, she was great.

She's worth another report, wouldn't you say?

I'd say you're asking the wrong question.

Yeah, well, I better get to school.

I'll think about it on the bus.

Okay.

I hope you will.

Bye.

They say, "Behind every great man

stands a great woman,"

but Eleanor Roosevelt stood out on her own.

She was a great American.

Interesting report, Ruthie.

Why don't you come by after school?

I'd like to discuss it some more with you.

Okay. Who's next?

Let's see.

Alex.

My report is on the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

He was a great American because...

Excuse me, Alex.

Martin Luther King Day was last Monday.

We covered Martin Luther King the Friday before the holiday.

This week, we're doing reports on great Americans.

But Martin Luther King is a great American.

That's true, of course,

but I'm not going to let you use last week's work

for this week's assignment.

It's just that I don't think we can cover

Martin Luther King's whole life in one day.

I understand, but that wasn't the assignment.

You'll have to find someone else.

But this is the report I want to give.

Why don't you sit down

and we'll discuss this after school.

Nice try, Alex.

Someone have a problem?

♪ 7th Heaven ♪

♪ When I see their happy faces ♪

♪ Smiling back at me ♪

♪ 7th Heaven ♪

♪ I know there's no greater feeling ♪

♪ Than the love of family ♪

♪ Where can you go ♪

♪ When the world don't treat you right? ♪

♪ The answer is home ♪

♪ That's the one place that you'll find ♪

♪ 7th Heaven ♪

♪ Mmm, 7th Heaven ♪

♪ 7th Heaven. ♪

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

Hey, Ruthie.

Oh, hey, Martin. What's up?

Just headed to practice.

What's going on with you?

Nothing. I'm just waiting

to talk to my teacher, Mrs. Porter.

She's been in there talking

to this Alex guy for, like, 20 minutes.

Alex, the new guy?

From the baseball team?

Yeah, that's the one.

Well, he's not in any trouble, is he?

Kind of.

I feel like we pull Martin Luther King out

once a year, like he's Santa Claus or something.

We only talk about Christopher Columbus on Columbus Day.

I don't get your point.

My point is, there is a day

set aside to recognize Dr. King.

There's a day we recognize groundhogs, too,

but I don't think Dr. King just popped

out of the ground, gave his "I have a dream" speech

and sank back into the Washington Mall.

Look...

there's a curriculum I have to follow.

If you have a problem with the curriculum,

you can take it up with the principal.

Thank you.

I think I will.

That's up to you.

In the meantime, I would like to suggest

some other people that you can do your report on.

There's Harriet Tubman.

There is.

You could do Frederick Douglass.

I could.

How about Thurgood Marshall?

Look, Mrs. Porter, I'm sorry, but...

These are all great African-Americans.

I-I don't understand

why you're being so stubborn about this.

You're right.

They are all great Americans,

but they don't get their own day.

They all get lumped together

in what's supposed to be Black History Month.

I bet none of the other kids in the class

even know or care who these people are.

All the more reason for you

to introduce them to the other students.

And all the more reason to talk about Dr. King's message.

Alex, you're a good student,

and I appreciate your passion,

but I'm not going to make an exception.

We covered Martin Luther King Jr.,

so move on.

What's the big deal?

I don't know. Ask him.

He should just do another report.

Seems like he's going to have to.

So, is my only option to talk to the principal?

No, you can take a failing grade if you want.

Think about it overnight, and let me know what you decide.

Ruthie.

Dude, what are you doing?

What do you mean?

If your grades drop, you won't be able to play ball.

We'll see.

Look, you really need to think about this.

I mean, what's more important, Martin Luther King or baseball?

What did you just say, Martin?

I said... it's just that...

I mean, he can save his report on Martin Luther King

for the next Martin Luther King Day, right?

I mean, it can be done any year.

Everybody knows who Martin Luther King is.

Right? I mean, I know I do.

So, you think Alex should not risk

having us learn any more about Martin Luther King

if it means jeopardizing his position on the baseball team?

Right. I mean, no offense to Dr. King.

Oh, no, of course not.

I mean, Alex is a heck of a shortstop,

and he's only a sophomore.

Okay.

When you're right, you're right.

You can do your report.

And I'm going to have everybody else redo their reports

to cover some of those people you and I talked about...

Or any other great African-Americans.

Does that include me?

I already did my report on Eleanor Roosevelt.

I'm sure you have a few times.

You can't learn by recycling old work, Ruthie.

It would be great if you could do

a presentation on somebody new, like Sojourner Truth.

Who's Sojourner Truth?

You tell me.

Thanks, Mrs. Porter.

You're welcome, Alex.

Hey, thanks to you, too, man.

What did I do? Other than get me extra work?

Hey, it's not my fault

you couldn't get by on recycled work.

I've got to catch the bus.

Yeah, we've got to get dressed for practice.

Let's go.

Hey, Ruthie, what happened?

I have to give a new report.

Because?

I kind of recycled my old one.

There's no rule against that... is there?

I was going to do mine on Betsy Ross.

I always do my reports on Betsy Ross.

Well, I'm afraid you're going to have to choose someone else...

Someone who's African-American.

Why?

Does this have something to do with that new kid, Alex?

Kind of.

Not really.

It was Martin.

Hey, new kid.

I heard you were trying to give some MLK report,

and it's not even Martin Luther King Day.

Did they let you do that at your last school?

'Cause here, and everywhere else in the rest of the country,

it's the Friday before the Monday holiday only.

Sorry, man.

That's just how it is.

Yeah, well, Martin here just changed all that.

I'm going get to do my report,

and everyone else in the class

is going have to do a report

on a great African-American, too.

I already wrote my report on George Washington.

I always do my reports on George Washington.

Looks like now you'll be doing a report

on George Washington Carver.

I don't think so.

You know, Brewer, everybody stays out of your business

out of respect for you.

Maybe you should stay out of everybody else's.

Look, all I said was baseball is important.

Or that's all I meant, anyway.

Baseball is important.

Sometimes it's like Coach doesn't even know I'm alive.

Yeah? Well, the only reason he ever pays any attention to me

is 'cause I'm a good pinch runner.

That's not a bad thing.

You're the fastest guy on the team.

Dude. What? He is.

No. What's that on your car?

Somebody must be really mad at you.

Yeah, but for what?

I mean, who would write something like this?

My guess would be a racist.

A mean, ugly, hateful racist.

I talked to Kevin.

He'll be right over.

Did you call your dad?

I left him a message.

I'm gonna show it to him when he gets home.

So, you drove over here with that on your car?

What was I supposed to do?

Did you show anyone at school?

No, I drove over here to show you.

I imagined you turned a few heads

on your way over here.

Well, it's not like I wrote it.

No, I know. I'm not...

I'm not saying you have anything to be ashamed of.

It's just language like that... it's... hateful.

Yeah, but I don't understand

why anybody would write that on my car.

I mean, it's not like

I hang out with a lot of black people.

I mean not that... not that I wouldn't.

I mean, there are black,

I mean African-American...

I mean, there are guys on the team,

and I get along with them just fine.

But it's not like we hang out all the time or anything.

That's... that's all I'm saying.

It shouldn't matter if you have one African-American friend,

or ten African-American friends, or no African-American friends.

It's wrong.

Well, what if it was a mistake?

What-what if this wasn't even meant for me.

Doesn't matter if they meant to write that

on your car or somebody else's car.

It's still wrong.

I just want to know who did it.

Hey, Lou, it's Lucy.

We've got to come up with something creative

for the church fund-raiser.

I don't want to do the same old bake sale again.

Let's try to do something we haven't done in a while.

Better yet, let's do something new.

Call me. Bye.

That was quick.

Hope you got something good.

Oh, yeah, you bet I do, honey.

Mrs. Bink?

Yeah.

I need to talk to your father.

Uh, I'm sorry, he's not here.

Is there something I can help you with?

Well, you know, it's-it's funny.

I always thought that it would be one of the boys

who would follow your father into the ministry.

And, uh, you're not just doing this

to make up for... for Mary, are you, honey?

No.

I was just wondering.

Anything I can help you with, Mrs. Bink?

Yeah, you can tell me what that Martin's problem is.

Excuse me?

Martin. You know, Martin?

That kid who used to live with your family.

What about Martin?

While I was driving home from the market,

I saw a... a car with...

with these remarks,

and... and, uh,

he was driving it, and...

What kind of remarks?

Disturbing remarks.

Like?

Racial remarks.

And they were written all over the back of the car.

Are you sure it was Martin?

Yeah, the pretty boy... It was him.

I know it was him.

That doesn't sound like Martin.

Are you calling me a liar, honey, hmm?

Hello?

Hey, Ruthie.

What's up?

I have a little bit of a weird question for you.

Okay.

Have you seen Martin today?

Yeah, I saw him at school earlier.

Why? What's going on?

I just got a crazy call from Mrs. Bink

about Martin and his car.

Was he in an accident?

No, not exactly.

Where's Savannah?

The dogs are watching her.

She's with Annie.

What's going on?

Oh.

You've been driving your car around like that?

Yeah. I had no choice.

This is pretty ugly.

Where did this happen?

In the parking lot at school.

Is there anybody at school

you've been having problems with?

No, not at all.

Do you think it could be somebody from a rival school?

That wouldn't make sense.

It could just be a case of mistaken identity.

Well, that's what I'm hoping.

If you and your dad want me to,

I can talk to the principal about this,

but no matter who it is, it's just very troubling

that anyone in our community would even think

to write something like this on anybody's car.

I can't believe we could have an incident like this in Glenoak.

This is more than just an incident.

This is a crime... a hate crime...

And someone should be locked up for it.

Lucy just called.

She said that Mrs. Bink saw... this.

What happened?

I don't know.

I was coming out of baseball practice,

and there it was.

This happened at school?

Yeah, we were just asking Martin

if there's anybody he's been having problems with.

You really think a student could have done this?

That's scary.

Maybe Mrs. Porter was right.

I guess we do need this new assignment.

What assignment?

Mrs. Porter heard Martin say

that baseball is more important

than Martin Luther King,

so she decided that the entire class has

to do a new report on great African-Americans.

That's not exactly what I said.

That's what you said.

But it's not what I meant.

Anyway, after he said that,

Mrs. Porter decided that everyone in class has

to do a new report on a great African-American.

I'm not even in that class.

I had nothing to do with it.

Alex is the one that make a big deal about it.

But now, everybody keeps acting like it's my fault,

even the guys in the locker room.

How did all the guys in the locker room find out?

Mrs. Porter hasn't even had a chance to tell the class.

Alex thanked me

for helping him out when we were in the locker room,

and some of the guys weren't too happy about it, but...

I-I don't think they'd do this.

They're all good guys.

We're all on the team together.

Alex is African-American?

Yeah, he's black, and he's a new student.

He transferred last semester.

We should report this.

I'm going to call the station.

Reverend, Martin, this is Detective O'Brian.

He heads up the Hate Crime Division.

It's good to meet you.

Sorry it's under these circumstances. Kevin.

Leif.

So, you've been driving around with this on your car?

Uh, yeah.

I wanted to show Reverend Camden.

I see.

Well, no one said anything to you while you were driving?

I don't think so. I don't know.

I was really too angry to pay attention to anyone else.

Okay, well, it's a good thing you called us,

'cause we definitely have a hate crime on our hands,

and in this case, it's vandalism and racism.

Never thought I'd be the victim of a hate crime.

I'm white.

Anybody can be the victim of a hate crime.

It's just what it sounds like.

It's a crime motivated by hate.

Half the hate crimes

in this country are racially motivated.

But it could be any kind of bias... anything from gender

to religion to sexual orientation.

It could even be a disability. Take your pick.

Sad.

This is really sad.

It is, and that's why we take these things very seriously.

If this happens again, call us immediately.

In the meantime, Martin,

go ahead and wash your car.

What about fingerprints?

From what I saw,

they won't be able to pull any usable prints.

It doesn't matter. I'm not washing my car.

The guy who did this is gonna wash it.

Go ahead and wash it, son, 'cause most of the time,

with cases like this, you never find out who the perp is.

So, if you wait, you may be waiting a long time.

You may be waiting forever.

Then I'll wait, because I didn't deserve this.

Nobody deserves this.

"They both stood there in the old town square,

"the blue-haired bear and red-haired bear.

"And it was clear as their trickling tears

that there was no good reason for all their hate and fears."

Mom, what happened to Martin's car?

Well, someone... A very mean person...

Wrote something terrible on Martin's car.

What did they write?

They wrote something very, very hateful.

Why?

Some people use bad words

to describe other people.

And what was written on Martin's car

were horrible words

that mean people use

to describe black people.

Is Martin black?

No, Martin's not black. Martin's white.

You two, it's time for bed.

God bless.

What color do you think I am?

I don't know. It's dark.

I can't see you.

All right, we'll figure it out tomorrow.

They filed a police report.

So, Martin's all right?

Yeah, he's fine.

I mean, he's upset over what happened, but he's fine.

Well, he should be upset. I know I'd be upset.

Me, too.

Can you believe that someone would write that?

No.

That's terrible.

And it's scary to think that he might know the person

and just have no idea that they're a...

So I think there Dumas was saying

that sometimes we find ourselves in a prison

we think we can't escape.

And it's up to us to find a way out?

Simon?

Uh, yeah.

You were saying that

Martin might not know that someone

he thinks he knows is a racist?

Right.

Maybe we should talk about this later.

Why?

You're right.

I wonder how many people we all know who are secretly racist.

That's interesting, but, uh, I have to go study.

I've been on the phone way too much tonight.

Well, I called you for a reason.

I need help with my Sojourner Truth report, remember?

Could you ask Rose or Sandy if maybe

they've ever done any research on her or wrote a paper on her?

Maybe I could get a bibliography from them.

Okay, sure, um,

I'll talk to them and I'll call you back, okay?

Bye.

Talk to us?

About what?

Is this about Martin?

No, Ruthie just needed help with a paper.

Aw, and she called her big brother.

That's so cute.

Unless you're just passing it off on us.

What's it about?

What's what about? The paper?

Oh, um, Sojourner Truth.

Who?

Uh, she's a black woman...

and a-a great American...

African-American.

You have no idea either, do you?

What?

You think because I'm black I know who she is?

No, no, Maya, I wasn't saying that.

It was just...

Because you looked at me when you said it,

so I assumed that you assumed...

I wasn't assuming anything.

I don't even know who Sojourner Truth is,

even though I guess I should.

I know who she is.

I always wrote my papers on her.

But what does any of this have to do with Martin?

Martin? Nothing.

Nothing?! I heard you ask if he was all right.

Oh, um, Ruthie had said

that, um... someone had written something on his car.

Something about me?

No, nothing like that.

What, I'm supposed to know what they wrote?

Great, now I'm black and a psychic.

No, it's just that...

it was something of a racist nature.

Reverend Camden!

Oh, Mrs. Porter, hi.

Are you here to see me?

Uh, I'm here to see the principal.

Not about the assignment, I hope.

Uh, as a matter of fact, yes, I am.

You, too.

I'm shocked you would have a problem with it.

About the assignment? Oh... no...

I'm here to talk to the principal

about what happened to Martin's car...

Because of the assignment, I'm guessing.

Oh, well, she's at a conference all week,

and the vice principal Mr. Medlock is in charge.

You'll have to deal with him.

Fine... I don't know if you're aware,

but Martin's car was vandalized yesterday.

Oh, I heard; everybody heard.

It's the talk of the school.

I just came from Mr. Medlock's office.

He's asking me to back off the assignment.

Because...?

Parents are calling to complain.

The police have even gotten involved.

Mr. Medlock is afraid that maybe

the assignment has become more trouble than it's worth.

So... are you backing off?

To tell you the truth, I don't really want to.

It's terrible what happened to Martin,

but if this assignment led to this kind of response,

maybe it's even more important than I thought.

And then maybe it's important for Mr. Medlock

to hear from a parent who supports what you're doing.

Let's talk.

Hey, man.

I'm sorry I got you into all this.

Why should you be sorry? You didn't write it.

I still feel bad.

But I'm glad you're on my side.

Look, I'm not on a side.

Look at your back window.

I hate to break it to you,

but whoever wrote that put you on a side.

I didn't ask for this.

No, you didn't, and it never should have happened, but...

No, it shouldn't have,

and it definitely shouldn't have happened to me.

Oh, so you think it should have happened to me?

No... I didn't say that.

Why does everybody keep putting words in my mouth?

Nice car.

Hey, Brad, you know anything about this?

Well... my dad told me a story

about this guy who wrote a bunch of stuff on his own car

just to get some attention.

Is that what you're doing, Martin?

You looking for some attention?

No, I'm not.

But I am gonna catch whoever did this.

That sounds like a threat.

Are you saying that I did it?

Look, I'm just saying that whoever did it is a coward

and I'm gonna catch him and I'm gonna make him clean it up.

How you going to do that, Martin Loser King?

Just curious, did you do this?

Do you think I did this?

Are you accusing me of doing this?

Because that sounds like reverse racism to me.

What's going on here?

Nothing. BRAD: Nothing.

Martin... I know that you're upset

and I know that you want to find out who did this.

So do we, but we can't allow you to keep your car

on school property in this condition.

I didn't put it in this condition.

I'm going to find out who did it.

You really shouldn't accuse people of things when you have no proof.

This car has become a disruption for the students.

I need you to remove it immediately.

But Mr. Medlock...

And don't bring it back here

until you've cleaned it up.

Look, I'm not moving my car

until whoever did this washes off what they wrote.

If you do not remove your car from this parking lot,

I'm going to have no choice but to have it towed away.

Back! Move back!

Everybody, everybody, move back!

Get out of the way, out of the way!

Everybody, move back!

Keep out of the way!

Come on.

You're really going to tow my car?

I warned you, Martin; you've left me no choice.

This is the car...

This one right here.

Sir, look, I haven't done anything wrong.

Please don't do this.

Sorry, son, I'm just doing my job.

They call me to tow a car, I tow a car... nothing personal.

But, sir, please, why should I be punished

because somebody did this to me?

Look, look...

Now, that... that there is personal.

What are you doing?

I'm not moving it.

The boy's got a point.

Look, I'm not interested in politics.

That's not politics.

That's good old- fashioned racism.

Oh, believe me, it offends me, too,

but my job is to keep order at this school

while our principal is away,

and I need you to tow that car.

I'm sorry, I just can't.

You'll have to call somebody else.

You don't know how much I appreciate your support.

We'll just make it clear to Mr. Medlock that there are

some parents who see this issue differently.

But what if something else happens?

I can't say for sure

that something else isn't going to happen,

but we do know for sure

that if you don't go through with this assignment,

something has already happened,

and whoever wrote that awful thing on Martin's car has won.

Dad, I'm glad you're still here.

There's a problem with Martin in the parking lot.

Hurry.

Well, the kid should just have been able to give his report.

Why should he get special treatment?

Martin Brewer should have minded his own business.

No matter what, it wasn't right for some racist

to write that on his car.

That's enough! Stop this!

Okay, Luce, I'm turning it on right now.

Simon, what are you doing?

We're studying.

Is that Martin?

You took a stand so that your classmate

could give a speech on Martin Luther King.

Was it worth it?

Um, I really didn't do anything.

Good old Martin, always doing things

he doesn't want to take credit for.

Well, some are saying that you're a hero and humble to boot.

For the last time, I'm not a hero.

I'm not being modest; I didn't do anything.

That's the baby's father?

That's the one.

He seems like a pretty good guy to me,

standing up for the brother man like that.

Simon, maybe you should get Martin to help Ruthie

with her report on Sojourner Truth.

I know who Sojourner Truth is.

Unbelievable.

Why, because I'm white?

Hello.

What are we going to do about this mess

down at the high school?

Mrs. Bink, could you turn down your TV?

Sorry, I was just watching the news,

and we have to do something about it.

Yes, I completely agree with...

What are the police doing about it?

Isn't that husband of yours a cop?

Let me speak to him.

Kevin isn't a police officer anymore.

Uh, he stays home with Savannah.

Oh, that's right.

Y-You're a reverend

and he stays home and takes care of the kid, huh?

Yes, that works for us.

Yeah, well, you know,

it's funny how things change and others don't,

like this thing at the school.

See, I'm old enough to see how these things can go, honey.

You can't sit by and do nothing.

So what are you going to do?

What are we going to do?

What are we going to do?!

What about pink?

No.

Peach?

No, not really.

Dad, what color is this?

Well, it's, uh, "banana mania."

What about banana mania?

I don't think so. What are you guys doing?

We want to know what color we are.

Do you know?

Well, when people say color,

you know, they don't really mean...

What they mean... uh, hmm... Not that it should matter

because what, you know, what matters is

what's on the inside; who you are.

But to answer your question, you're... we're white.

I don't think so.

We already checked that one.

Well, guys, it's a little more complicated than that.

Alex, this is my dad

and my little brothers Sam and David.

Hi. Hi.

Eric Camden. Nice to meet you.

Nice to meet you, too, sir.

Thanks for coming over.

Please, have a seat.

Uh, guys, could you take your crayons upstairs

'cause I need to talk to Alex.

So it looks like things have spun a little out of control.

Yes, sir, they have.

That's why I asked Ruthie if maybe you could help.

Oh, sure.

I'm-I'm more than happy to do whatever I can.

I'm just curious about this report.

I have a feeling I don't know all your reasons

for wanting to speak about Dr. King.

Hi, Reverend Camden.

Hey, thanks for coming, Martin.

I'm so glad you could make it. Thank you.

My wife thought we should accept your invitation.

Good morning, Reverend.

Mrs. Bink, it's so good to see you.

I'm glad I'm here.

Mrs. Bink, what color are you?

Oh, boys, leave Mrs. Bink...

It's okay. What color...

You want to know what color I am?

Well, that's a tough one.

Let me see, I guess...

When I'm sad, I'm blue.

And when I'm mad, I'm red.

And... when I'm jealous,

I'm green with envy.

And, uh...

now that I'm at my age, see, uh,

all anybody notices is that I'm turning gray.

Good morning.

Well, this week, our community has been tested.

I know that many of you saw what happened

at Kennedy High School on the local news,

and you heard the echoes of hatred

that we thought were long past.

I think...

part of what led to that event

is that we haven't been listening

to what's going on around us.

So, this morning, no matter how you may feel,

I'm asking that everyone listen.

Alex, would you come up here, please?

This is Alex.

He goes to school with my daughter Ruthie.

Alex was assigned a report on a great American.

And he chose the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.,

and it seems that his choice

may be at the center

of all this controversy.

I think it's very important that he get a chance

to explain...

why he made his decision.

Please, listen.

Thank you, Reverend Camden.

I know a lot of you may be thinking,

"Didn't Martin Luther King Day already pass?"

And who hasn't already heard clips

from the "I Have A Dream" speech this year?

But I know there's more to the dream than black and white.

I know that the dream still lives every day.

I know that because that's what my grandfather,

Henry Bullock, taught me.

My grandfather was a sanitation worker...

in Memphis.

In 1968, he went on strike

with over a thousand of his coworkers.

It was hard for them.

On April 3, 1968,

my grandfather sat in a crowded Mason Temple

and listened to Dr. King,

who had come to support the sanitation workers.

Dr. King did his

"I've Been to the Mountaintop" speech.

My grandfather said that they were all inspired,

not only by the words of Dr. King,

but by the fact that a man like Dr. King would come

and take the time to care

about the suffering of a bunch of garbage men.

The next day...

a sniper's bullet took Dr. King from us.

I lived with my grandfather in New Orleans.

This summer, Hurricane Katrina took my grandfather from me.

The victims of Hurricane Katrina may...

may have fallen from the headlines,

but I will never forget their suffering.

It is my job now to keep the dream alive.

That's all I was trying to do.

Alex, I'm, uh...

I'm really sorry about your grandfather.

I lost my grandfather, too.

I'm sorry.

You must miss him.

Yeah.

I miss my grandfather, too.

Your grandfather sounds like quite a man.

I'm sure he would be very proud of you.

I don't think he'd be so proud

of the way I behaved in the parking lot.

Fighting's no way to make a point

about a man who stood for nonviolence.

I...

I never had anything against Martin Luther King.

It's just that I had already done my report...

on George Washington.

George Washington?!

Again?

You okay, Alex?

Yeah.

Martin, I-I want you to know,

I didn't do it.

I didn't do that to your car.

Good. But somebody did.

That means we all have a lot of work to do, every day.

Where do we start?

I'm gonna start by washing my car.

Good idea.

Yeah, but...

I have an even better idea.

I told you this would be a great fund-raiser.

My report is on Sojourner Truth,

who was born a slave and became an American abolitionist,

and a prominent figure in the women's rights movement.

Benjamin Banneker.

In 1791, Benjamin Banneker was hired

to survey the District of Columbia.

A year later, he published his first almanac

for Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania and Virginia.

Lewis Latimer had the bright idea

to improve the production of lightbulb filaments,

creating longer lasting lightbulbs than Thomas Edison.

Before Rosa Parks, there was Ida B. Wells,

a journalist and pioneer in the antisegregationist movement.

Thurgood Marshall.

Before becoming the first

African-American Supreme Court Justice, argued the landmark

Brown v. Board of Education case in 1954.

Frederick Douglass, an American abolitionist,

was one of the most influential lecturers and authors

in all of American history.

Captured and sold in her native Senegal,

Phillis Wheatley would become the first prominent

African-American author.

My report is on George Washington... Carver.

He was a great American.