Fourth and Fifth graders honored Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. ahead of the federal holiday with inspiration messages during the 30th MLK Jr. Oratory Competition sponsored by Foley & Lardner, LLP.
Locally, students from eight Dallas ISD schools participated. Tristan Whitfield, the first-place winner from Paul L Dunbar Learning Center talked about a world with love and not hate.
Each student researched and wrote their own speech about where we are as a country when it comes to Dr. King’s dream.
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He cited the end of segregation and the availability of jobs, property, and education for all as progress that would make Dr. King proud, while the election of our first Black president would have exceeded his expectations. He noted that Dr. King believed that people should want to see the betterment of mankind and that he would be looking for continued progress according to a press release from Foley Lardner, LLP.
“Dr. King envisioned a world of love, not hate,” said Whitfield. “We must continue to search our own hearts, drive out hate and remember why his dream was even necessary. We must live by Dr. King’s quote, ‘I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear.’”
Whitfield went home with a $2,000 award which is double the usual amount thanks to an anonymous donor.
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There were virtual or in-school qualifying rounds, that lead up to the competition that preceded MLK Day. A fourth-grader from Houston won the other first-place prize.
