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Last Tuesday, Rotary held its weekly meeting at the Kirbo Center. Tommie Howell, Rotary President, took to the podium to announce the guests who attended. Afterward, Howell discussed the action plan meeting for the District Governor’s arrival. Howell sent out the information in an email to Rotary members. The day’s program was the Martin Luther King Jr. essay contest. Joe Livingston took to the podium and talked about how the Martin Luther King Jr contest started.

He stated, “A classmate of mine, who graduated in 1976, retired from some state department where he was stationed in Africa. He went back to Virginia and thought it would be a nice idea for the city of Bainbridge to have a Martin Luther King Jr. essay contest. He started the idea in Virginia. So, I thought, ‘If he could do all of this from Virginia, then something like that could happen in Bainbridge’.” He continued, “But the essay didn’t have a forum for these young people, so I thought it would be a good idea for these young people to read their essay.”

Tyrese Jones, a Junior at Bainbridge High School, was not in attendance for the essay reading, but Kaylee Grace Buchanan, a Senior at Bainbridge High School, and Walker Elrod, a Junior at Grace Christian Academy, read their essays to the Rotary members.

Elrod’s essay was titled, “The Dream that Keeps Us Going.” The essay expressed the ideal “dream” that Martin Luther King wanted for everyone. “King dreamed of existing in a world where he was acknowledged for what he did, not as a black man, not as a man from the South, or a man with a history or the color of his skin, but as an American man who wanted an American dream.”

Elrod continued with his essay by highlighting what Martin Luther King stood for. He stated, “King was a man of great courage who strived to do the right thing even when it was the hardest thing to do at that moment. He marched and spoke for people like me and people of any race to have the same opportunity, to access quality schools, required across any store and the ability to never feel different from those who we are.” Elrod also demonstrated how he can be an advocate like King by defending against intolerance, exclusion, and unrighteousness in his life and how doing so will bring about change to injustice.

Next, Buchanan read her essay titled “More than a Dream.” Her essay detailed the societal prejudice and inequality that King faced in his life.

She stated, “King developed a bold, yet empathetic vision of social justice. Dr. King was influenced by Gandhi’s teaching, believing that the best way to combat oppression and hatred that characterized the Jim Crown era was to use peaceful resistance,” Kaylee continued. “His activism and leadership were based on dedication to non-violence. King’s most noticeable contribution to American society came through his leadership in the civil rights movement, which sought to dismantle the structure of segregation and to ensure equal rights for all citizens regardless of race.” Kaylee aligned social inequality and injustice to the Vietnam War, where many advocates spoke out about the unfair struggle that took funds away from the underprivileged. Also, she intertwined the Civil Rights movement of 1954 to 1968 with movements of today, like Black Lives Matter and other international human rights organizations. Kaylee ends her essay by addressing issues plaguing the world today, and calling justice to inequality and unfairness is vital.

Howell returned to the podium and gave certificates to Kaylee and Walker before he ended the meeting with the Pledge of Allegiance and the Rotary creed.