 |
Chihiro Ogino has declared Martin Luther King, Jr is to be renamed to Martin Luther King Jr. (Our Friend Martin) for the following reason(s): Real-life person Please discuss it on the talk page for this article. "I want you to know my real name. It's Chihiro." |
Martin Luther King, Jr is the overaching protagonist of the 1999 animated children's education film Our Friend, Martin.
He was a Baptist minister and activist who became a viable spokesperson and leader in the Civil Rights movement until his death in 1968. When Miles Woodman and his friends are set to learn about Martin Luther King, Jr, they unexpectedly time travel where they meet him in different points in his life; from his young age, to his role in the Civil Rights movement. However, they bring him to the future in order to prevent his death from happening, causing things to alter drastically. Realizing this, Martin's 12-year old self decides to go back to his own timeline to restore the future, causing his death to happen and restoring the universe.
Portrayals[]
- His 12-year old self was voiced by Theodore Borders.
- His 15-year old self was voiced by Jaleel White, who also voiced Sonic the Hedgehog in Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog, Steve Urkel in Family Matters, and Bladebeak in Quest for Camelot.
- His 27-year old self was voiced by Levar Burton, who also portrayed Geordi LaForge in the Star Trek films, Kunta Kinte in Roots, the titular character in Reading Rainbow, and voiced Kwame in Captain Planet.
- His 34-year old self was voiced by the late Dexter King, the son of Martin Luther King, Jr.
Biography[]
While Miles and Randy are transported to 1941, they encounter a 12 year old Martin playing baseball with his two friends, Sam and Skip Dale. After unexpectedly hitting both Miles and Randy, they introduce themselves and get to know one another. Both Miles and Randy get to play baseball with Martin and two of his friends, only for it to be interrupted when Sam and Skip's mother shows up and scolds them for interacting with "coloreds". Martin explains that Mrs. Dale's hatred of black people stems from the fact they're "different", but violence will only worsen things, stating the fact that he learned from his father that they should love one another to cure hate and fear. Martin eventually learns both Randy and Miles come from the future, believing they read "too many comic books", only to be interrupted when his father shows up in his car and beeps to get his attention, having to leave. Miles tells Martin that he forgot his baseball glove, only to time travel once more to another timeline of Martin's life.
They then travel 3 years later where they meet Martin Luther King, Jr as a teenager inside a segregated passenger train. He reveals that he had graduated high school at 15 and also explains to them that blacks and whites don't associate in the south since they needed to use separate bathrooms, restaurants, and waiting rooms. They later have dinner with Martin Luther King Jr's family, and while he goes to do shut-in rounds with his father, they time travel to years later where Martin Luther King Jr is now in his late 20s and has already become a Baptist minister at his local church. He is holding a meeting at the Montgomery bus boycott, set off after Rosa Parks, a black seamstress who refused to give up her seat in the bus and was sent to prison for it. As a result, no black adults or children will ride the bus for it. As Martin explained the boycott situation to Miles and Randy, he is alerted by Turner, who informs him that his house was bombed. He races home, where his wife Coretta Scott King, and their newborn daughter, Yolanda, emerge unscathed.
Turner tells the protesters that they want to retaliate against the perpetrators with bricks, guns, and Molotov cocktails, but Martin stops him, reminding the crowd of Gandhi peacefully standing ground to exile the British colonists from India and Jesus' teaching to love his enemies. Miles and Randy then time travel to the 1963 Birmingham riots and witness firefighters and police officers squirt hoses against black protesters and send dogs after them.
When Miles, Randy, Kyle, and Maria get transported to the March on Washington Movement and meet Martin, who is in his 30s, and a younger Miss Clark, who was a member of the movement at that time and not married, they listen to his famous "I Have a Dream" speech. Upon returning to the present, they find out that Martin has been murdered. They travel back to 1941 and bring 12-year old Martin to the present, telling him that it's much "okay" in the future, with Maria revealing that they go to the school named after him, and Kyle Langon telling him that he'll be an important figure as well. As they go to the future, only Miles and Randy return together and the present is different. The museum is already now a burnt down house. They also find out that Randy and Kyle are racists and are no longer friends with Miles or know him. Their school is named after Robert E. Lee, Miss Clark is poorly treated by the principal, Maria works as a school maid and can only speak Spanish, and he and his mother live in poverty since she has a job as a cleaning lady. The next day, Miles wonders why it is all happening but Martin reveals that because he left his own time, it created a different alternate timeline where his civil rights works never happened. Miles realizes the error of his ways and must sacrifice his plans to save Martin. As Martin leaves, he bids farewell to him but not before giving him his watch. Miles realizes he still has his watch and begs for him to come out of the house. Martin then returns to his time, where he is shot and killed at a motel offscreen in April 4, 1968, and the timeline is set to normal. Mrs. Peck then advises Miles that while they cannot change the past, they can change the future for better and that Martin will always be in their hearts no matter what happened. As a result, Miles gets an "A" in his history test, and he and his friends continue to do Martin's work to honor his legacy and dedicate a mural in his memory.