GREAT FALLS — On Monday night, Living Grace Church in Great Falls presented “At the Table with Dr. King," a 45-minute video presentation about the life, legacy, and calling of Martin Luther King. The presentation was made possible by the church’s relationship with Dave LeMieux, the creative director of the video.
Church officials and members are now hoping that some schools will soon add the video to their curriculum. In the interest of improving some schools’ teachings and lessons during Black History Month, Pastor Andre Murphy contacted Great Falls Public School superintendent Tom Moore and several other school officials to ask if they were interested in adding the video to their curriculum.
“We’re hoping that other schools, other school districts, will see that this is valuable,” said Peggy Murphy, First Lady of Living Grace Church. “It’s 45 minutes, but it’s packed full of entertainment and it’s telling us the story.”
As of February 15, East Middle School has already agreed to show the presentation four times during the remainder of Black History Month. After the fourth and final presentation, Pastor Murphy and others are planning to go to schools and answers questions about Dr. King, his life, and the legacy he left behind.
“The thing we have to understand is Dr. King was not trying to make the world better for black people,” Murphy said to the people in attendance at the church after the video had ended. “He was trying to make the world better for all people.”
The presentation is what’s referred to as a “creative dramatization.” Before COVID-19 arrived in the U.S., performers and storytellers would travel all over the country to present the story in live-action, complete with musical performances, speeches, and pictures. Shortly after the pandemic began, the video’s producers, led by LeMieux, filmed a video version in an effort to keep spreading the message about Dr. King’s life while ceasing widespread travel thanks to the virus.
Pastor Murphy did say that Superintendent Moore was receptive to the idea of presenting the video in the district’s schools, and several officials that he spoke with, including at Great Falls Central Catholic High School and Foothills Community Christian School, were also interested in adding the video to their lessons about Black History Month.
