The lessons drawn from the life of Dr. Martin Luther King Junior are learned again by every generation. The messages delivered last week by the winners of the 2018 Statewide MLK Oratorical Contest, range from the personal to the political. This sound montage was produced by Ohio Public Radio's Karen Kasler:
Jaxson Edwards, 8 years old from Akron:
"You are one wonderful one. You count, you matter, you are important, you are one of a kind. Dr. Seuess, the Green Eggs and Ham guy says: 'You have brains in your head, you have feet in your shoes, you can steer yourself in any direction you choose.' Choose wisely."
MacKenzie Lewis, 12-year old 7th grader from Columbus:
"My first doll was a doll that resembled me. I felt special and empowered having her. My black friends do not have these options; all of the dolls will look the same. As a result, she might grow up not feeling beautiful, special or empowered. She might believe the standards of beauty do not fit her. Ladies and gentlemen, even in my world of make-believe, I have experienced disparity and discrimination. Dr. King did not expect us to be the champions of the contest, but the champions of love, justice and peace for all. So today, I stand, I sit, and I kneel for justice. Thank you."
Adonia Balquis, 10-year old 5th grader from Columbus:
"They were and I am the glory, in my pursuit for the people of Flint, Michigan to have clean water. They were and I am the glory, in my pursuit for people in need to be treated with dignity. I went back to that church for one mission. I stepped out those church doors, headed toward the Alabama state capitol; ran up the steps with my hands in the air and said: 'Dr. King, you couldn't speak here but I can. Dr. King, you couldn't finish your fight for freedom, justice and equal rights. But I can, and I will.'"
Quinica Garrett, 18-year old 12th grader from Cleveland:
"Dr. King, our young men are dying at the hands of the ones who promised to protect and serve, but whom instead damage and burn - buring the thought that racism no longer exists, and damaging the hearts of the the mothers who will never get to kiss their sons again. And even damaging the dignity of the young man who lost his life because of his skin. Do you hear me? His skin. Not who he was within. Dr. King, you said that if a man had nothing worth dying for, he is unfit to live. So many lives were taken for our freedom. Your freedom stopped when our where our freedom begins."
The winners of the 2018 Statewide MLK Oratorical Contest delivered their addresses Thursday at Trinity Episcopal Church in downtown Columbus.
