“I like me!
No doubt about it.
I like you.
Can’t live without out!
We are free!
Let’s shout about it!
Hooray for freedom’s child.”
That mantra is adapted from Freedom’s Child written by children’s author Bill Martin in 1970. I learned it at an educational conference I attended in 1979 at the University of North Dakota. We recited it every day.
Me and Bill Martin in 1979
For a week children’s author Bill Martin and his colleagues introduced us to poetry and music and wonderful books and great children’s authors. One of the things they talked to us about was how good literature could change children’s lives by making them more open minded and caring, giving them a window into a world where people liked themselves and accepted and liked others, even if they were very different than they were.
As I follow the American election campaign I’ve considered sending some voters and politicians a copy of I Am Freedom’s Child. They need to take to heart its message that acceptance of all kinds of people and their differences is necessary to make freedom’s dream come true.
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