THE YOUNG STILL DREAMING, LEARNING KING DAY A COURSE IN PEACE.

Byline: Dana Bartholomew Staff Writer

They'd talked of bigotry, delved into racial segregation and discussed the nonviolent protests - and assassination - of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

Only these weren't college students. They were San Fernando Valley second-graders grappling with America's racist past in advance of today's holiday honoring the birth of the slain civil rights leader.

``That Martin Luther King was a great man,'' declared 8-year-old Ricardo Cisneros at the front of teacher Bell Nensey's class last week at Emelita Street Elementary in Encino.

``He made an important speech. He made all white people and all black people together,'' Cisneros said.

Across Los Angeles, students barely out of kindergarten are examining the nation's painful legacy of racism.

More importantly, however, they're studying how a country torn apart by racial difference has been transformed through the likes of King. From the classroom to the assembly hall to days of service, students celebrated how ``all men are created equal.''

For King, who would have been 77 Sunday, is heralded for his noble goals for ``love, peace, freedom and togetherness.''

``He had a dream,'' said teacher Gloria Dominguez to her class of rapt second-graders at Kittridge Street Elementary in Valley Glen. ``Remember when they had the 'white-only' signs? Do we have these today?

``No - because of King. And he did away with them very peacefully.''

On Friday, Nensey's and Dominguez's students learned how the African-American King, born in the Jim Crow South, dreamed of playing with white girls and boys - and couldn't.

How he grew up to lead a black boycott of segregated city bus lines in Montgomery, Ala., which led to their integration by a federal court order.

How he studied the art of nonviolent protest and founded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. How he led marches on Washington and throughout the South, where protesters were beaten, gassed and thrown in jail. Or killed.

How his ``I Have a Dream'' speech became a national call for civil rights that ultimately led to federal civil rights and voting acts.

And how in 1968, King was gunned down in Memphis while supporting a strike by black garbage collectors.

``We must keep the dream alive, hallelujah,'' sang Nensey's class, to the tune of ``Row Your Boat.'' ``Freedom's song can never die, hallelujah.''

While Nensey's students fashioned puppets of King and recited words from his famous speech, Dominguez's class read a King history from ``Time for Kids.'' For these second-graders, the question was asked: How could you make a better world?

``If you were somebody like Martin Luther King, and if you wanted to change something in the world for the better and maybe have a national holiday named after you, what would it be?,'' Nensey asked.

Across town, Dominguez said: ``Close your eyes, visualize - I want you to think what you could do to make this world a better place.''

The Rev. Darnell Holmes was 10 when he first heard King's oratory on TV, a speech he said drove him to later earn a doctorate in ministry.

Holmes, who led the invocation for a King celebration last week at Forest Lawn, said it's vital for young people to learn about King, who encouraged those who fought for civil rights - both violent and nonviolent factions of the black community - to seek higher education.

``He said, 'While you're talking about burn, baby, burn, you'd better learn, baby learn, and build, baby, build,''' said Holmes, pastor of spiritual development at Faithful Central Bible Church at the Forum in Inglewood.

``I think he should be remembered as one who encourages us to dream ... that you are destined for greatness, that there's something that you can do that no one else can do.''

Last week, Riverside Drive Elementary in Sherman Oaks and Sepulveda Middle School in North Hills were among many to hold assemblies in King's honor.

``What he did for the civil rights movement, his energy, his passion, not only for African-Americans, but for all people, to have equality and to lead peaceful and successful lives - our students need to understand the (importance) of that time in history,'' said Sepulveda Middle School Principal Barbara Charness.

When asked the meaning of the King holiday, all hands went up in Nensey's class. When asked to formulate their own dreams for mankind in Dominguez's class, all hands got busy.

``My dream is that white people and black people could be in the same school and peacefully live together,'' said Emily Cisneros, 8.

``I wish that kids, like, wouldn't fight and get hurt,'' said Jimmy Holland, 7.

Added Crris Velazquez, 7, who penned her dream in Spanish: ``My dream is to help poor people and keep the world clean.''

Dana Bartholomew, [phone]

dana.bartholomew(at)dailynews.com

MLK EVENTS

--The Museum of Tolerance, 9786 W. Pico Blvd., Los Angeles, will screen ``Citizen King,'' a 2004 documentary on King's life, 2 p.m. today. For reservations, call [phone]. An exhibit by the Los Angeles Ribet Academy depicting King's contributions will be on display through Friday. For more information, see www.museumoftolerance.com.

--King's daughter Yolanda will be the keynote speaker at a ceremony honoring her father's legacy, 9 a.m. today at the Soka Gakai International auditorium, 525 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles.

--Kingdom Day Parade will begin at 10:30 a.m. today on Martin Luther King Boulevard, from Crenshaw Boulevard to Western Avenue. The two-mile parade, hosted by the Council on Racial Equality, will include floats, marching bands, drill teams and local dignitaries. Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa will serve as grand marshal.

--``The Road to Civil Rights,'' featuring a screening of ``Negroes with Guns,'' 4 p.m. today, West Hollywood Community Center at Plummer Park, 7377 Santa Monica Blvd.

CAPTION(S):

5 photos, box

Photo:

(1 -- 2 -- color) Second-grade teacher Bell Nensey, left, asked her class at Emelita Street Elementary in Encino, ``If you wanted to change something in the world for the better ... what would it be?.'' Martin Luther King Jr.'s story grabbed the attention of 8-year-old Ricardo Cisneros, above.

(3 -- 5 -- color) Across Los Angeles, students barely out of kindergarten are examining the nation's painful legacy of racism. At top, Kittridge Street Elementary in Valley Glen second-graders Daniel Rosales, 7, and Vasmy Lopez, 8, front left, read about Martin Luther King Jr. Second-graders at Emelita Street Elementary in Encino, Zachary Greene, 7, above, and Rachel Rubin, 7, left, hold puppets they made in the image of the civil rights leader.

Tina Burch/Staff Photographer

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MLK EVENTS (see text)