The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Cromwell student’s words spark ‘hope’ for Murphy
Seventh-grader wins annual MLK essay contest
“I’m certain that if these students continue to stay engaged in their community ... we’ll realize Dr. King’s dream sooner rather than later.” Sen. Chris Murphy
CROMWELL — A local seventh-grader gas become a voice of “hope” for one Connecticut’s U.S. senators, and a source of pride for the town’s school district.
Cole Leavitt was a winner in the annual Martin Luther King Jr. essay contest sponsored by U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy.
Cole’s essay was chosen from nearly 2,800 submissions statewide, school officials said. In all, 15 students from elementary, middle and high schools across the state were recognized for their essays in what is now the fifth year of Murphy’s annual essay contest. Three students were chosen from each of the state’s five congressional districts.
The intent of the contest is to reflect upon “Dr. King’s dream and their own aspirations,” Murphy said in announcing the winners.
“The events of the past year have laid bare the mass inequities in our country and, as we reflect on Dr. King’s dream for justice and equality in America, it is clear we still have a way to go,” Murphy added.
“The essays submitted by students across Connecticut continue to give me hope,” he said. “I’m certain that if these students continue to stay engaged in their community and reject the sins of our past, we’ll realize Dr. King’s dream sooner rather than later.”
Cole is the son of Jason and Jennifer Leavitt.
Lisa Hicks, administrative assistant to Superintendent of Schools Enza Macri, said Cole’s selection was “amazing news.”
Hicks described Cole’s essay as “quite an accomplishment.” “We celebrated Cole at the last Board of Education meeting,” she added, noting that “Cole was very excited.”
Following is Cole’s winning essay:
“When I reflect on MLK’s famous ‘I Have a
Dream Speech,’ I initially thought how far the society of the U.S. has come. As I sit in my seventh-grade classroom, I notice how diverse the students are.
“No longer are there classrooms for white students and classrooms for Black students. Students of all colors are welcomed into the same school and the same classrooms.
“There no longer is slavery, but as a nation in 2008, the first Black president in the USA was elected. This must be something MLK could not even have imagined back in 1963.
“If I have learned nothing from the year 2020, I learned that in the U.S. there are still problems surrounding the topic of race. While we have come so far, there is still far to go. The Black Lives Matter movement and the reason the saying ‘Black lives matter’ does not mean that white lives matter less. Right now, Black lives are facing an injustice that many white people find hard to understand because it is not something that affects them every day.
“I do not have to walk down the street with my hood on and worry about a police officer stopping me. I don’t understand how that feels, but it affects me. I will never forget when I saw a police officer on TV kneel on George Floyd’s neck and kill him.
“Until we live in a world where everyone is truly treated equally regardless of the color of their skin, those words MLK spoke at the Lincoln Memorial hold the same meaning today, as they did then: ‘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.’”