Classical Students Read Essays at MLK Day
Martin Luther King Holiday was observed yesterday at North Shore Community College. Two students from Classical High were winners in the essay contest. They read their essay at the observance. Congratulations to the two high school winners, Chastity Mathurin and Guilver Gomez. Both essays are very moving.
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CHASTITY J. MATHURIN WINNING ESSAY
UPWARD BOUND
10th Grade, Lynn Classical High School
RESPONDING TO THE TOPIC:
Explain what the following quote means to you:
"Free at last, free at last. Thank God Almighty we're free at last." (Washington DC, August 28, 1963)
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. opened the doors for all people. Many seem to have forgotten the ideas that he set forth. If Dr. Martin Luther King,
Jr. was still alive, would he like what is happening to America? If we act more like Dr. King, we will have limitless, endless possibilities.
On August 28, 1953, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. gave a speech that has changed the eyes of all people. At the end of his speech, he said just a few short words that will never be forgotten, "Free at last, free at last, thank God Almighty we are free at last." There are many struggles that Blacks, Asians, Latinos, and even Whites have had to go through. We all have shared the same pain at one time or another. I personally feel that we all have been freed by the life of Dr. Martin Luther King,
Jr.
Forty years ago people fought and died for what they believed in, so that we can be free, but sometimes I feel like we don't care at all. Tupac had doubts in his song "Changes," when he wrote
"And although it seems heaven sent, we ain't ready to see a black president." We are ready to have a black president, "Change" we have a black president. Barack Obama is our new president. We have waited forty long hard years for this change to come. We have the chance to say, "I voted for change so my kids can have a better future."
An anonymous writer said "Rosa Parks sat so Martin Luther King could walk. Martin Luther
King walked so Obama could run. Obama ran so our children can all fly." I feel like today American people have the chance to fly. We are the children of today ready to lift our wings and fly. We're just waiting for the signal to lift off. We are just waiting for that time where we can just fly off into the freedom land, and I believe that time is now. If we believe it, we can achieve it.
I believe that when we are unrestricted we are our true selves, because it shows us when we are at our greatest moments. If we just let people make their own decisions life will improve and be at no cost for all. Dr. Martin Luther King,
Jr. had a dream to make life immeasurable. Let's not end his dream. We have waited so long and hard for a better tomorrow and it is finally here. After many years of waiting, we :finally can say that America is at the point where we are free. It has been lengthy and difficult, but we have come to the point that Change and Freedom is here. A better tomorrow is at our footsteps waiting for us to walk over.
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GUILVER GOMEZ WINNING ESSAY
LA VIDA INC.
11th Grade, Lynn Classical High School
RESPONDING TO THE TOPIC:
Explain what the following quote means to you:
"Free at last, free at last. Thank God Almighty we're free at last." (Washington DC, August 28, 1963)
The quote above holds deep meaning for the immigrants in America. It describes the overwhelming sense of joy felt by a person who finally reaches the land of their dreams after having worked and waited tirelessly to find a better life. As an immigrant in America I can identify with the joy that Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. felt upon hearing the news that laws were being passed to protect his civil rights in America. This joy for African Americans came;, after suffering for hundreds of years under slavery, Jim Crow and segregation. They had arrived in a new and better time.
My teacher explained to me Dr. King's metaphor of crossing into a land of freedom. Dr. Martin Luther King expressed his feelings using the metaphor of Moses leading his people out of slavery in Egypt across the Jordan River and into their promised land. During slavery, the slaves who escaped would follow the Underground Railroad out of the South and across the Ohio River to freedom in the North or Canada. Today, those traveling on the road to freedom are the immigrants of the world who are making their way out of poverty and war across the borders like the Rio Grande River into America, our new promised land.
My path to a new life wasn't an easy one. I was born in San Marcos, Guatemala into a family that had never delivered a baby in "a hospital. After I was
born, my father left to the United States to work and support ' his family. When I was five, my mother left us with my grandmother and joined my father in the U.S. My grandmother was disabled and needed a lot of help around the house. My siblings and I attended school and helped her around the house. When my sister was 16, she decided to go to America and join my parents. She was in Mexico waiting for her visa when she was killed in a robbery. I was twelve at the time and it was very difficult to deal with her death and my parents' absence.
Upon turning 14, I decided to move to America and join my parents. I knew it was going to be risky. I had to travel for days by bus to Mexico and wait for my visa in a foreign country like my sister had. I supported myself by cleaning Mexican hotels in the dangerous city of Tijuana. I missed an entire year of school, and on a day when I was on my way home from work without my documents to reside in Mexico, I was picked up by Mexican immigration officials who placed me in a jail cell just like Martin Luther I
Finally at the end of my year in Mexico, I was able to fly to America and meet my parents. I landed at Dulles International Airport and felt free at last! I started back at school and now sit next to students who never had to fight to enjoy the freedom of America, but I know after tasting freedom, I'll never forget it.