From the Spartan Spectator February Edition

By Leilee Earls and Jayden Belford

On January 20, 2025, our nation celebrated Martin Luther King Jr., a Civil Rights activist who fought against discrimination, racism, and inequality. Martin was born on January 15, 1929, in Atlanta, Georgia. Martin lived to the age of 39. He was easily one of the world’s greatest leaders of his time and will forever be remembered for what he did for our country. Here is a very famous piece of his “I Had A Dream” speech:

“I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed. We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal. I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character. I have a dream today! I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, and every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh

shall see it together.”

One way that our country keeps Martin’s dream alive is by striving to lead by example and refusing to settle for the mistreatment of others despite their culture, race, and family history. Some ways that we can do this is by incorporating his beliefs into our own lives. We can strive for equality in our school’s education system, volunteer and practice community service, and most of all we can live with integrity.

Martin’s speech is a resemblance of his integrity and passion for changing a broken society. His speech joined together the emotional and moral foundations of his movement. I believe that this is important for us as a people, not just to hear the words he spoke, but to soak them up and walk with them throughout our lives. We shouldn’t let Martin’s dream go to waste, but instead we should be the difference he wanted us to be.