Though Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech 44 years ago, students spoke Thursday about how his legacy resonates today.
At the 19th annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Oratorical Contest, four UCLA students and two students from Crenshaw High School in South Los Angeles competed in a speech contest answering the question, “What is the dream today?”
The event, sponsored by organizations including the Office of Residential Life and the Intercultural Program Committee, also featured a step team performance by the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity, a performance by the UCLA Gospel Choir, and a tribute to King’s wife, Coretta Scott King.
But the main focus was on the six speakers. Each had his or her own interpretation of King’s words and how to address modern injustices.
Rakesh Bhatia spoke last but finished the competition in first place.
The second-year electrical engineering student won the college competition with his speech, which emphasized the need for people to take interest in the injustices of the world and stand up for their rights.
“Persistence breeds success,” he said.
Bhatia said he has been forming his ideas on these issues for many years.
“This was the perfect opportunity for me to open people’s eyes and inspire people to make changes within themselves,” he said.
Other speakers also stressed change coming from within.
Gordon Welty, a fourth-year sociology student, emphasized that part of King’s dream has been overlooked.
Welty said people need to achieve personal peace by valuing their own lives and trying their best in everything.
“By having true confidence within ourselves we can acknowledge people’s greatness without envy,” he said.
Alex McKee-Ota, a first-year material science engineering student, also stressed change happening internally.
McKee-Ota spoke as he believed King would address audiences today, asking the audience to make a change in themselves before making a change in others.
“Get mad and rise up,” McKee-Ota said.
Evan Shulman, a third-year cognitive science student, said the impetus for that change should be dreams themselves.
He began his speech by stating, “We are all dreamers.”
“Dreaming is an enabler,” he said, adding that King showed the power of dreaming and people should work to achieve their dreams for a better world.
The high school students, Miles Rashaad Goodloe and Elysee Evans, who won the high school competition, spoke about freedom and their experiences as part of the black community.
The speakers were chosen by a screening committee comprised of UCLA officials and judged by a group of faculty members and other university officials.
Stephen Rice, chair of the event’s planning committee, said he hopes to include more high schools from the Los Angeles and Pasadena Unified School Districts in the future.
“We’d like to have workshops in different (high) schools teaching students about public speaking, have contests in the schools, and bring the winners to compete at UCLA,” he said.
As the speakers left, Welty gifted his fellow speakers with a book titled “Soka Education” about trying to create value in people’s lives and society.
“It’s important to keep Dr. King’s legacy alive as people face today’s current issues. Dr. King has laid the foundations for how to solve them,” Rice said.