Welcome to the Future!

200 years ago, Jim Robbinson was working as a slave in a cotton plantation in Virginia. He was illiterate, and when the secession war was over, he remained living in the slave quarters and working as a cotton picker for little pay. He made sure his children learned to read and write, and his grand children went to high school. And so, every generation became more educated.

In the 1950´s , Rosa Parks, a working African American woman, could not sit on the bus after a hard day´s work, she was born free, unlike Robbinson, but she was still discriminated because of the color of her skin, and did not have the same rights as white people.

Later, a man with a dream, Martin Luther King, stood in the Lincoln monument, giving a speech about a world without discrimination towards any race.

On June 4^th 2008 Barak Obama was elected as the 44^th president of the United States. He is the first African American president in United States history.

On that same day, Jim Robbinson´s great great granddaughter, Michelle Obama, became the first lady.

Although discrimination still happens all over the world, and not just towards colored people, things have gotten better.

What would Jim Robbison say if he could see Michelle Obama? What would Martin Luther King say if he were alive today?

Each generation brings change, for better or worse.

Obama becoming president made a big impact in today´s culture. In the past, it was hard to believe that someone from a minority could become president, even if there´s still racism. Children need motivation to understand that hard work and doing the right thing really will bring success.

This song is about how things have changed. The most meaningful line is “from a woman on a bus, to a man with a dream, welcome Martin Luther, welcome to the future”

By Paulina Wall