I recently signed up for a Martin Luther King Jr oratorical competition. I am now posting the speech here for those who would like to see it. 🙂

(Update: I got first place!)

The theme of this competition is “the time is right to do what is right”. But to do what is right you first need to know what is right. But what is right exactly? It is hard to know what is right because it seems like these days, no one else is doing it. Some of the time, other people can even make the right choices feel wrong. People at your school, people in the media, people on tv…they are all telling you to do different things. Instead of listening to them, listen to your heart and do what you think is right.

MLK once said, “Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that.” The right thing to do is doing what is kind. If they hate, you love. If they hurt, you help. They go low, we go high. I’ve always been told that I should never let anyone drown out my voice. Doing what is right is speaking up. Doing what is right is standing up for ourselves and others. Doing what is right is giving a helping hand.

You don’t have to do something big to have an effect. If you plant one seed every day for 20 years, you would eventually have a forest. Many people have worked hard for years and their plants still haven’t sprouted yet, and that’s ok.

Doing what is right is frustrating sometimes. Doing what is right is hard. It really is. But doing what is right isn’t just necessarily the “doing” part. Before you do, you must try, If you’re trying to do what is right, then you’ve already taken one step forward. It has always been about trying. Even if it doesn’t work out the first time, try again. These days, people are trying to improve in little ways. The fact that you tried to recycle, tried to use less water, or tried to use less gas is not nothing. Trying is what matters more because it is what will lead to progress. Never give up, persevere, and always try.

Martin Luther King Jr never would have gotten anywhere if he had never tried. He wouldn’t have made any progress if he didn’t persist. Even though he struggled, he continued. If we all try to do what is right consistently, we can make progress, we can make a difference, and we can make an impact.

Of course, Martin Luther King wasn’t talking about recycling or conservation. He was working hard to end prejudice. He knew that it was time to do the right thing and even though he knew it would take a long time and would be hard. He knew it would hurt, but he also knew he could make an impact. Prejudice hasn’t gone away but his dream did help work towards ending it. We can do what is right and continue that dream. We can try, we can try, and we can keep trying.

Martin Luther King had a dream. Where we began to try. To try to right our wrongs. We may not be able to fix 400 years of a broken society, but we can build what happens tomorrow. Martin Luther King had a dream and the time is right to make it come true. Thank you.