Martin Luther King Essay
THIRD PLACE (6TH GRADE) HOME SCHOOL, 6TH GRADE
It has been 60 years since Rev Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. gave his speech “Keep Moving From This Mountain,” at Spelman College in 1960. He identified what he thought were the 4 biggest mountains that had to be overcome. The first mountain he identified was “moral and ethical relativism,” which he described as the danger of everyone conforming and just blindly following popular beliefs. Next, he described the mountain of “practical materialism,” or the dangers of capitalism. Finally, he delife.
scribed the two mountains of “violence,” and “racial segregation.” Martin Luther King, Jr. believed that people should be hopeful because, “...the greatest song has not yet been sung, the greatest book has not been written,” and “...the highest mountain has not been climbed.” Now the year is 2020, and I am optimistic like MLK, but I believe we still have many mountains to overcome, and maybe some new mountains too. Through my 11-year-old eyes, I have come to form my beliefs on what I think are the 4 biggest mountains that we need to climb in the year 2020. First and foremost, I think the biggest mountain is racial segregation and racial injustice. It is unfortunate that we haven’t yet overcome this mountain, but maybe with the Black Lives Matter movement, we will make faster progress. Another mountain that I think we still have not moved on from is violence, hatred, and oppression. The last two are new mountains that are yet to be climbed. Climate change and environmental injustice have huge impacts on people all over the world. The final mountain that I think has a negative impact is our superannuated electoral college system in the United States. The electoral college makes it so that some people’s votes count more than others. I don’t think that is fair. Sometimes the mountains seem prodigious and insurmountable, but we have to find hope to make our world a better place. I don’t have all the answers to these big questions, but I know I can continue trying to educate myself about racial and environmental injustices. What fills me with hope is that I believe while people are stuck at home during this pandemic they will have time to read and find solutions to these mountains. Like MLK said, “Reach up beyond cloud-filled skies of oppression and bring out blazing stars of inspiration.”