Area Students Participate in Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Celebration
The Peace and Freedom Committee partnered with the Ohio State University, Marion, to celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day. The January 18 celebration included a presentation of speeches on King’s legacy by area students. 43302 would like to extend our congratulations to all the entrants and thank them for their hard work! Please take the time to read the winning speeches.
Anthony Wampler, grades K-2
In 2020, I learned that people get killed because of the color of their skin. I heard my mom talk about it and saw it on the news. It made me feel sad and mad. I made posters for our door. The posters said Black Lives Matter. I wrote a song about it to share my feelings. What made me most sad was hearing about George Floyd and Breonna Taylor. So, I said their names in my song. I hope the people of the world will not be racist anymore. I think people should treat people the way they want to be treated. We should love each other.
Nolan Van Sickle, grades 3-5
This summer I protested about the death of George Floyd at the Marion Courthouse and Founders Park. I protested with my family and my friends and other people I don’t know.
Protests are a good way to show people that black lives matter.
One way I protested was by holding up signs and cheering. We also marched to the Harding Memorial and sat on the steps in silence for 8 minutes and 43 seconds. That is how long the police officer kneeled on George Floyd’s neck.
Martin Luther King Junior protested and marched as well. One time he marched for 5 days! It was 45 miles. He marched because he wanted Black Americans to be able to vote.
Martin Luther King believed that all people should be treated the same. That’s what people are forgetting. We are the same.
Ayla Longacre , Middle School
We are Standing
“Even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream.”
-Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
The voice. It’s a complex thing. You have the vocal cords, the tongue, the teeth, the lips. But I’m not here to talk to you about the parts of the voice. I’m here to talk to you about what we decide to use it for. We use it to sing, to tell stories, to say “I love you”. But above all, we use it to speak. Speak our minds, our thoughts, our opinions. And most importantly, we use it to speak up for ourselves.
So what will you decide to use your voice for?
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was a man of love, equality and justice. He used his voice to speak up for himself and for the justice of others. Dr. King never gave into the hate that was thrown at him and he never backed down when people said he was wrong. He used only his voice to empower others, never hateful actions. Sometimes I like to wonder what he would think of us today. We have come a long way from the 1960’s but we still are not where we need to be. We as a society have come from attempting peaceful protests to carrying out violent mob acts. Over the summer, events such as the death of George Floyd have sparked a nationwide movement. Protests took place in the streets of hometowns but as these were peaceful, others were not.
You see there is a choice that is made when deciding to stand up for what you believe in. In one hand you have the person who stands up, but they didn’t do this on their own. They were able to stand with the help of their voices. Peaceful voices and words that could be heard from miles away if they choose the right ones. In the other hand, you have the person who is standing because of their actions. Hostile actions that are caused by the endless cycle of hate that is thrown at them and has given them no choice but to be violent.
Dr. King was in the first hand. He died with a message of fairness that seems to have been lost over time. He died with the message of unity, equality and justice.
I once read a quote said by Dr. King, “You can kill the dreamer, but you can’t kill the dream.” His dream lives on within us and it is now our turn to carry out his message.
But two years have passed since I started speaking against these injustices and others have been speaking out for many more. How long until a change will be made? We have been stuck in this cycle for centuries and I think it is time we did something about it. On the news it seems like every case is about a black man assaulting a white man, or a white man assaulting a black man. It is the same assault either way so why should race even be a judging factor in people's opinions or theories?
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. fought and spoke for people of all colors and ethnicities so why can’t we do the same?
Some of us have already come to the same realization as Dr. King did. That everyone, no matter what color your skin is, or how you dress or where you came from, you can achieve greatness. We are faced with the fierce urgency of now and we must come together, with our secret weapon stronger than any gun or hostility. The same weapon and ability that Dr. King had. Our voices, our love and our stories. These are what help us to stand.
And some of us have.
But my question for you, how will you use your voice, goes a lot deeper than it appears. The better question to ask is are you just standing? Or are you standing while speaking against hate and spreading Dr. King’s message of equality, peace and justice?
Because our actions are ruled out the moment we chose what to say. Because our words in fact, are the base of our ability to stand.
And we are standing.
So to conclude this oration, I would like to ask you one more question. How will you stand?
Morgen Rhodes, High School
The Erasure of Everyday Heroes
Good morning! My name is Morgen Rhodes. I’m 17 years old and a Junior at Harding High school. This is my third consecutive year competing, and I’m excited to share my thoughts here today. The topic I chose for my speech is “The Fierce Urgency of Now: Building Bridges of Justice, Equality, and Unity.” The title of my speech is, “The Erasure of Everyday Heroes.”
Ever since I was little, I’ve dreamt of being able to change the world. When you ask a ten year old for an example of an everyday hero, they might bring up police officers, firemen, and astronauts. As I grew older, I began realizing what bravery truly meant. I learned that being courageous is not only about running into burning buildings, or open fire, or riding a spaceship to the moon. I learned that bravery can be as simple as the concept of sitting down like Ms. Rosa Parks did. I became infatuated with activists such as Dr. King, himself, and I was never satisfied with the watered-down American history lessons that we were taught in school.
Being the perfectionist of the family, I always felt the need to overcompensate for any shortcomings that I had. Growing up, I was always told that I was too quiet, too insecure, and too timid. Ignorance and hate crept around every corner, and I spent a lot of my youth being too scared to stand up to that. Although still shy and sometimes apprehensive, I do my best to use my voice wherever I feel it’s needed. Nowadays, if you ask someone like my mom, you’ll probably hear about how I care a bit “too much” about movements and ideas that wouldn’t particularly affect me.
2020 was the year where I became more involved in what I’m passionate about educating others. The more I learn about how alive and ingrained racism and prejudice are in society, the more I want to make sure nobody else is ignorant to it, as well. As a white person, I have been fortunate enough to have the privilege to learn about this hate, rather than experience it, myself. My eyes stayed glued to the tv screen, while I watched news stations report shooting after shooting, murder and maltreatment, and riots and protesting galore. I saw both sides of a movement. I saw buildings being burned down and broken into. I saw churches gathering for prayer, and worshipping, and spreading love. I saw innocent people be maced, and beaten down and shot at. And more than anything, I saw the courage of everyday people; people who chose to take justice, equality, and unity into their own hands.
When reflecting upon something like the civil rights movement, many think of it as a period of time that happened a hundred years ago. Nowadays, I could easily argue that it hasn’t even ended yet. The America that’s supposed to have “equality and justice for all” can’t even put its pride aside as the “greatest country in the world” to even attempt and make a change. Was America great when people of color didn’t have rights? Or women? Or was it when they were still fighting for them? The fact is, “we, the people,” fought for equality. Nothing good comes when you sit back and stay silent. I use my privilege to fight for justice, because as Dr. King said himself, “there comes a time where silence is betrayal.”
I ask anyone that’s listening to use their voice. Whether you hesitate because you’re critiqued for being “too timid”, or because you’re ridiculed for being “too overbearing”, remember that the hero who dedicated his life to actually making America great was also one of the most hated men during his time alive. There is no time better than today to get educated and fight for what you believe in. Had some of the greatest leaders of our time decided to put off fighting for another day, the pursuit for freedom and equality wouldn’t have been much more than a silly notion. Next time you’re too scared to share that “radical” Facebook post, or call out someone that’s in the wrong, remember that people who get offended by the threat of actual justice won’t make it in the long run. Use your voice and your platforms to educate others. Be nice when necessary and stern when you stand your ground. And most importantly of all, never be apologetic for fighting for what’s right. The movement still stands, and our future as a nation is in our own hands. Fight for justice, equality, and unity for those like George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and the thousands of others who were permanently silenced. The time to fight is now. Let’s make America equal for once, and pick up where everyday heroes like Martin Luther King left off.
Rebekka Twine, Collegiate
The Fierce Urgency of Now: Building Bridges of Justice, Equality, and Unity
Good morning, my name is Rebekka Twine and I am a freshman at Delaware State University. The topic of my speech is “The Fierce Urgency of Now: Building Bridges of Justice, Equality, and Unity”.
“We are now faced with the fact that tomorrow is today. We are confronted with the fierce urgency of now. In this unfolding conundrum of life and history, there ‘is’ such a thing as being too late. This is no time for apathy or complacency. This is a time for vigorous and positive action.”, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr..
If there is one thing we can all take from 2020, is how we were reminded that our time in this world is truly crucial. From things like my senior year being cut short and a delay to the start of my college career, to more serious matters like the unexpected losses everyday. We are in uncertain times, and no one is promised tomorrow. Thus, making the urgency of pushing towards a change now, that much more important.
Urgency, what is it? And why do we need it today? Well, with the current state of our world, a sense of urgency for wanting equality is exactly the direction in which we need to be going into. The sooner we come together and work towards making a change for the better, the closer we are to seeing real results of fairness.
Now, how can we work towards achieving that higher level of justice, equality, and unity? For starters, acknowledging and accepting where the issue lies. Because those who don’t see the problem, or those who remain silent and neutral in situations of injustice, are a part of the problem. And as Dr. King once quoted, “A time comes when silence is betrayal”. We need to use our voices to speak up against the unfair treatment we see every single day, as this is vital in the journey towards equality. King and other activists were able to see how being urgent is critical to the process of fighting for justice.
We live in a country where acts such as police brutality continue to remind us time after time, how deeply embedded racism and racial injustice are in this society. Heartbreak, devastation, anger, and sadness, all ways to describe most reactions from people when we find out every other day that yet another innocent black life is taken, at the hands of those who are sworn in to “protect us”.
A demand for change has to be known! No time for giving up, throwing in the towel, and giving satisfaction to those who only wish for the system to fail. Having that sense of urgency means we can all unite and come together as brothers and sisters, all for a common cause.
There needs to also be an acknowledgement that the systemic racism in this country goes far beyond police brutality. This issue has nearly been ingrained in every aspect of America, from the very beginning starting with what is taught in our own schools. One of the only real differences now compared to the past, is that racism is actually being captured on camera more & more everyday. These are overwhelming times, but we must not stop signing petitions, peacefully protesting, and making those calls for action. Now more than ever, we as a community need to make it a top priority to stay persistent and involved with building our bridge towards justice, equality, and unity.
We are currently in the midst of battling 2 pandemics, where they both can end deadly. COVID-19, and racism. Although for centuries racism has been very much present, this was definitely a year that shined a bright light on an important movement and message. Ultimately, forcing a lot of people to reflect on where they stand in this country. True colors may have shown, and the power of knowledge as well.
After striving to grasp a better understanding and educating ourselves more, we tend to have a desire to search for answers right away as to why everything is happening, what is the root of it all? And the fact of the matter is, just as retired NBA player Dwayne Wade said, we are living in two different Americas point blank, period. Divided, disconnected, as 1 side is continuously being treated with a disproportionate amount of unfairness. 1 America, without having a choice, has to live every day of their life, fighting for their life.
When does a young black boy become a threat? When will we be heard by everyone that all lives can’t matter until Black Lives Matter. Peacefully protesting against the racism in this country, yet we are only met with extreme violence. But as for the recent events, that same energy was not portrayed in any way, therefore serving as perfect examples reflecting the real truth about America.
Today, right now, there is a fierce and underlying urgency to build those bridges of justice, equality, and unity, once and for all, so that we can finally be 1 nation, 1 America. Thank you.
