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MLK Oratory Contest Winners Share Their Call To Action

The annual statewide Martin Luther King Junior oratory contest brought out some strong words from its student winners. Three of the four winners delivered their winning speeches at a downtown Columbus church in the state’s annual MLK Day ceremony. Here are excerpts from the addresses of 8 year old Addison Captain of Bedford, 9 year old Elena Earley of Columbus and 15 year old Nana Eshun of Canal Winchester.  

Our ancestors stood up in factories, sat down at lunch counters, and walked thousands of miles, all in the name of justice. So we cannot forget where we have come from. We must use our voices to speak out. We must use our feet to step up as leaders, and use both hands to work and build our community to make Dr. King’s dream a reality.”

I would like to grow up in a world with unity, a world where everyone shows love toward each other, a world where random acts of kindness are displayed often, a world of people who show compassion towards others, a world of people who respect and accept each other.”

We are now told to trust in the statement “I alone can fix it”, instead of a unified “we together can fix it”. The many people of our history have taken on a fight to prevent things like the events we have witnessed in our nation. We can never truly move forward unless we completely understand and accept our past.”

 

 

The Statehouse News Bureau was founded in 1980 to provide educational, comprehensive coverage of legislation, elections, issues and other activities surrounding the Statehouse to Ohio's public radio and television stations. To this day, the Bureau remains the only broadcast outlet dedicated to in-depth coverage of state government news and topics of statewide interest. The Bureau is funded througheTech Ohio, and is managed by ideastream. The reporters at the Bureau follow the concerns of the citizens and voters of Ohio, as well as the actions of the Governor, the Ohio General Assembly, the Ohio Supreme Court, and other elected officials. We strive to cover statehouse news, government issues, Ohio politics, and concerns of business, culture and the arts with balance and fairness, and work to present diverse voices and points of view from the Statehouse and throughout Ohio. The three award-winning journalists at the bureau have more than 60 combined years of radio and television experience. They can be heard on National Public Radio and are regular contributors to Morning Edition, All Things Considered and Marketplace. Every weekday, the Statehouse News Bureau produces in-depth news reports forOhio's public radio stations. Those stories are also available on this website, either on the front page or in our archives. Weekly, the Statehouse News Bureau produces a television show from our studios in the Statehouse. The State of Ohio is an unique blend of news, interviews, talk and analysis, and is broadcast on Ohio's public television stations. The Statehouse News Bureau also produces special programming throughout the year, including the Governor's annual State of the State address to the Ohio General Assembly and a five-part year-end review.
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