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Martin Luther King Jr. Essay Contest

By Times Staff Writer
Published January 16, 2005

Jericka Knox, a senior at Boca Ciega High School, was the first-place winner in the 2005 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Essay Contest.

She and five other Pinellas County students read their essays before a panel of judges Friday at Enoch D. Davis Center in St. Petersburg.

For her effort, Knox received a $400 savings bond.

Second-place Daniel Adams, a Gibbs High School senior, won a $200 savings bond.

Third-place Safiya Miller, a St. Petersburg Senior High School senior, won a $100 savings bond.

Tiffany Morris, Jessica Mosher, and Nikita Dixon each received an honorable mention.

The contest is sponsored by the St. Petersburg Martin Luther King Jr. Commemorative Committee and Enoch D. Davis Center.

Knox's winning essay is printed below.

Age 17, 12th grade

Boca Ciega High School

Many seek a leader that can provide assurance to their lives. Martin Luther King's dream became that beacon of hope to African Americans everywhere. Many of our ancestors knew that we wanted the independence that many of our Caucasian counterparts sought out a long time ago from the Constitution and Declaration of Independence. The words of his inspirational dream became an impetus in our journey toward freedom.

Was his dream relevant? If you are asking this, then you should inquire if freedom is relevant. The answer is yes if you want to matter in this country, for it is built into everything from our religion to our economy. Freedom means respect for our human race. Many of our African American ancestors became knowledgeable, but they also knew the consequence to not being content with the norm in those days. Martin Luther King lost his life jump-starting not just his dream but also the dream of many African Americans. It had to be relevant for we lost a great African American leader who fought for freedom in the African American community through his words and spirit. It is because of him that we are able to express our ideas on our lifestyle. It becomes even more relevant when you realize others, who heard his speech and followed his dream, realized how little we actually accomplished after the emancipation proclamation.

Martin Luther King has given pride to the African Americans. He paved the way for other African American leaders to step up and take a position on the welfare of the community. Our Moses, Martin Luther King gave his speech on the Lincoln Memorial in 1970. He led us into the world that did not want us and he showed us how we could accomplish a lot with patience and nonviolence. He helped us to understand what it meant to be equal. Although he did not have the chance to experience the freedom we now enjoy, he was a part of the equation in the formula of acquiring freedom. He showed us that dreaming is the first step to achieving.

What does freedom mean to us now? Freedom means everything. Not only that we may drink from the same fountain, go to the same school, play sports, and shop in the same stores as our Caucasian counterparts. It also means that my brothers and sisters have the opportunity to attend college, develop and own a business, vote, hold political office, have a professional career, live anywhere they want to live, and have access to the same as our Caucasian counterparts. Our ancestors of this time survived the trials and tribulations so that we may be able to enjoy our liberties.

I am proud that Martin Luther King spoke out for our community! He was the great awakening for African Americans. He revived faith in ourselves in our fight for equal access. As far as we've gotten, there is still more to accomplish in the generations to come. We have had our first two Oscar winners, Halle Berry and Denzel Washington. So was it relevant? Yes, so I urge my brothers and sisters to seek the relevance in Martin Luther King's dream. I thank him for getting being heard. As we sing in the old African American spiritual "Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!" ("I Have a Dream" by Martin Luther King).

[Last modified January 16, 2005, 00:33:22]