The Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Commission and Macon-Bibb County Recreation Department will host a student Oratorical Competition on Friday, January 15, beginning at 6:00 p.m. at the Historic Douglass Theatre (335 Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard).
Essays from Bibb County students were submitted to a panel of judges to be scored based on the SAT scoring rubric, and the top 10 scores will compete Friday night. Each student will have 90-120 seconds to recite their essay word for word. The essay prompt for this year’s competition was: “Back to the Future When Tradition meets Change: What similarities and differences are there between today’s youth and the youth during the Civil Rights Movement? How can youth today continue or begin to infiltrate change in today’s society? What positive virtues and accomplishments do you think your generation will be known for?
The top three winners will receive $500, $300, and $150 from sponsorships provided by Vaughn & Melton Consulting Engineers Inc., K & J Supply, and the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Commission. The top two winners will move on to present their speech on January 18 at St. Peter Claver Catholic Church as part of the annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Breakfast.
Judges this year are Dr. Edward Hill from Fort Valley State University, Dr. Shelton Land from the United Way of Central Georgia, Dr. Andrew Silver from Mercer University, Ms. Marina Spears from Middle Georgia State University and Assistant County Attorney Mr. Reginald McClendon from Macon-Bibb County.
Students will receive coaching at 4:00 p.m. from Point BLANK, an organization at Mercer University dedicated to the growth of its members and the community through the arts, mainly spoken word. BLANK is an acronym which stands for “Believing Love and Nurturing Knowledge.” Last year, Point BLANK formed Mercer University’s inaugural Poetry Slam Team, and went to CUPSI (pronounced CUPS-EE), a national poetry slam, where they placed within the top 20 in the nation for collegiate spoken word.
About The Martin Luther King, Jr. Commission
The Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Commission was created to promote understanding and acceptance of nonviolence and human equality as a way of building community among all citizens of Macon-Bibb County by commemorating the work and life of the civil rights leader. Each year, they host, sponsor, or support a series of events, and that list – as well contact information for how people can be involved – can be found by clicking here.
MaconBibbTV covered the announcement of this year’s events,
and that feature can be watched by clicking here.