Handfuls of Mud

Today, our word of the day was RESOLVE, which (in its verb form) means to decide with great force; to commit with determination as in this line: Little Man resolves to fight against the injustice of the school bus that guns down the kids each morning.

We did our Quick Write today on areas in which we want to resolve to do something, or be a certain way. After our Quick Write, we acted out the opening scenes of Chapter 3 from Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, in which we see Little Man rage against the injustice of racism. Symbolized by the all-white school bus for the Jefferson County School, racism seems unstoppable. Relentless. A fact.

And yet!

After the school bus guns down the Logan kids and sends them flopping into the muddy gulley, Little Man grabs a handful of mud and chases after them, screaming out in anger and frustration. Against the machinery of racism, Little Man can do nothing but throw a handful of mud.

Yet his big brother, Stacey, has a different idea...

As we acted out these scenes today, running around our classroom and roaring out these lines, I hope we began to feel a tiny bit of what it is like to fight against something so seemingly big, vast, and impossible to defeat. And yet the Logan kids keep fighting! Even a handful of mud can go a long way, sometimes.

In your life, have you ever felt like Little Man? Have you ever felt like you were facing a problem so big with only a handful of mud? What was it? What did you do about it? Or, if you have not felt like that before, can you think of any other scenes from other books, or a film, or from history that are like this? What is that scene?

Share your ideas below, and I look forward to reading your wisdom and insights!

Peace,

Mr. R