As we bring closure to Black History Month, we would like to thank all individuals who submitted essays. Each was most insightful and appreciated. The winning essays were anonymously judged by Chaplin, Brad Sheppard and David Humphrey, Director of Center for Leadership and Service. Thank you judges, Brad and David. We are happy to share with you the winners announced at the SGA meeting.
Congratulations to the Winners of the MLK Reflection Essay Contest
They are:
1st Place ~ Ashley B. Nelson, 2nd Place ~ Mandla Reissmann and 3rd Place ~ Jing Jing Yu.
CONGRATULATIONS! You may read the winning submissions posted below.
***A friendly reminder, we are all invited tonight to join our neighbor, William Woods University
to enjoy a delightful presentation of Local Choirs ~ 'Celebrating Freedom.' 6PM in Cutlip
1st Place Winner of the MLK Reflection Essay Contest is Ashley B. Nelson ($75.00)
Loving Osama
It was the day after 9-11. I sat in my school desk listening to the seventh-grade boys.
“I wish I had Osama Bin Laden,” Cody was bragging, “I’d tie him up in my basement. He’d be sorry.” Several students nodded their appreciation. “I’d use knives on him. He’d be begging for me to stop, but I wouldn’t. I would take a long time. He’d be sorry.”
“‘Love your enemies’…Jesus was very serious when he gave this command; he wasn’t playing…This is true in our international struggle…the person who hates you most has some good in him; even the nation that hates you most has some good in it.”
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. – Loving Your Enemies
--- “I’m just finished World Religions,” I told my friend, “It was an awesome class. The teacher was amazing, and I got to learn all about Buddhism and Islam and…”
“Islam?” she interrupted in surprise.
“Yah. It was interesting. We read from the Koran and everything.”
“Why? They kill people. Like the terrorists.”
“Hate for hate only intensifies the existence of hate and evil…Hate distorts the personality of the hater.”
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. – Loving Your Enemies
After 9-11 the Osama’s Coffee Zone in Columbia was vandalized. People drove by shouting threats. “Let’s bomb this place,” said someone. The owner, Osama, paid $200 for a newspaper ad: “I’ve been in Columbia for seven years. I’m an American citizen.”
“So this morning, as I look into your eyes, and into the eyes of all the world…I say to you, ‘I love you. I would rather die than hate you.”
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. – Loving Your Enemies
2 nd Place Winner of MLK Reflection Essay Contest is
Mandla Reissmann ($50.00)
Dr Martin Luther King in his speech titled “The Birth of a New Nation” makes a clear and powerful analogy out of the story of Exodus and relates it to the Black population of the United States. In 1957 when this speech was delivered there existed a great struggle ahead for his people. They were his people because in the story of Exodus he represents Moses who leads his followers out of bondage and to the Promised Land.
Dr King uses the bible as a device to uplift the people to whom he speaks and give them hope of their own promised land. He describes exodus as the prototype, as it were, for all people fighting for freedom. We all go through the same motions of the same struggle as Moses and his devoted followers. Over the ages many countries have gone through this struggle against colonization, dictatorship, unfair governments, and other oppressive forces. Many have been victorious but not without some losses and a undying hope and effort on their part. The Exodus describes the hardships of this very real and constantly occurring battle but will always hold the Promised Land as a common goal and a source of hope and aspiration.
We all have our own promised land; Dr. King brought people together by uniting the Promised Land for them all, thus uniting their efforts as one. In the fight for freedom leaders become increasingly important. The leader emerges as a person with clear direction even through hard times, individuals with a vision of the Promised Land who will not falter under many different kinds of pressure. These range from the sheer mass and power of the opponent to the temptation to take the easy way out. This temptation will often present itself to those in positions of power. As long as the goal is clear and well founded there is a good chance that success will come and the Promised Land will be reached. It is not surprising that some of the world’s greatest people are exactly such leaders, from Gandhi to Mandela. They share the common trait of resilience in the face of hardship and temptation.
The burning question is, can this Promised Land be reached here on earth or is it in the realm of the heavens? As the years pass will we one day have a situation where all people are equal and without want for more than what they have. The idea of a promised land is something that we can aspire to reach, but not on earth, only in heaven.
3 rd Place Winner of the MLK Reflection Essay Contest is Jingjing Yu. ($25.00)
Reflections on Dr. Martin Luther King’s Speech, I Have a Dream
In the forty-five years since Dr. King gave this speech, many things have changed in the United States. I believe that the dream that Dr. King had helped shape the reality of today. There have been many barriers torn down and many opportunities have become available due to the work and dreams of Dr. King. In fact, the leading candidate for the president of the United States for the 2008 Presidential race is an African American. Where Dr. King talked about the Black man not being allowed to vote, a Black man is now running for the highest office in the land.
Not only in the political arena, but in the economic, educational, and cultural arenas the Black race now enjoys many of the dreams predicted by Dr. King forty-five years ago. From the board room to playing fields both black and white people have learned to put aside their preconceived prejudices and work together. They have realized, as Dr. King did, that value should not be placed on a person’s skin color but on the person’s contributions and attributes.
I know this did not come over night. I know these circumstances have not been achieved without struggle and turmoil. The days of segregated restaurants, hotels, and even drinking fountains are but a distant memory. It has taken the struggles, beliefs, convictions, and strength of many people, from refusing to give up their seat on a bus to demanding an equal higher education, to break down the many racial barriers that Dr. King spoke of in this speech. The concept of having a signed Emancipation Proclamation but the reality of Black people still not considered being truly free due to discrimination and segregation has been addressed.
Many of the dreams at the end of Dr. King’s speech have happened; descendents of former slaves have sat together with descendants of former slave owners, we work together, pray together, and struggle together. The color of a person’s skin is not used as a criterion to judge a person’s abilities. I know this was not remedied in an instant. Prejudice and its perception against a skin color has existed for hundreds of years. Dr. Martin Luther King realized that victory would not come overnight or without pain. Like many diseases that take years and years to find a cure, and although not completely eradicated, prejudiced beliefs based solely on skin color are rarer. To think that if Dr. Martin Luther King had not risked everything, even his life, to state these unpopular and radical concepts the American Black race as we know it today would not enjoy the freedoms that Dr. King first envisioned.
We hope you enjoyed these personal reflections.
Office of Cultural Diversity Education - Cindi.Elliott@westminster-mo.edu
"We must learn to live together as brothers, or we are going to perish together as fools." -- Martin Luther King, Jr ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~