Dreamers Poetry Contest

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Birthday Celebration

Dreamers Poetry Contest Application Packet

Colonel Charles Young Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Event Co-Sponsors: The National Park Service and Young Peoples Division of the African Methodist Episcopal Church Ohio South Ohio Conference

E X P E R I E N C E Y O U R A M E R I C A ™

Contest Purpose

Contest participants will be required to research and pull from their own knowledge of history and

use the sacrifices and accomplishments of brave individuals (such as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and

Colonel Charles Young) in order to formulate an exceptional poem. Throughout this creative

process, participants will undergo an inspiring and transformative experience while learning about a

true American hero.

Dreamers Poetry Contest Rules

• The contest is open to students ages 5-26.

• Poems may not exceed 21 lines (not including blank lines and stanza breaks)

• Poems may not exceed 1 page

• The National Park Service will determine when and how the winners will be notified.

• All judges’ rulings are final.

• Entry form needs to be submitted with poem.

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Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Minister, Scholar, and Orator

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was born on January 15, 1929, in Atlanta, Georgia. King, both a Baptist minister and civil-rights activist, had a seismic impact on race relations in the United States, beginning in the mid-1950s. Among many efforts, King headed the SCLC. Through his activism, he played a pivotal role in ending the legal segregation of African-American citizens in the South and other areas of the nation, as well as the creation of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. King received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964, among several other honors. King was assassinated in April 1968, and continues to be remembered as one of the most lauded African-American leaders in history, often referenced by his 1963 speech, "I Have a Dream."

In the spring of 1963, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. organized a demonstration in downtown Birmingham, Alabama. Entire families attended. City police turned dogs and fire hoses on demonstrators. Dr. Martin Luther King was jailed along with large numbers of his supporters, but the event drew nationwide attention. From the jail in Birmingham, Dr. King eloquently spelled out his theory of non-violence: "Nonviolent direct action seeks to create such a crisis and foster such a tension that a community, which has constantly refused to negotiate, is forced to confront the issue."

By the end of the Birmingham campaign, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and his supporters were making plans for a massive demonstration on the nation's capital composed of multiple organizations, all asking for peaceful change. On August 28, 1963, the historic March on Washington drew more than 200,000 people in the shadow of the Lincoln Memorial. It was here that King made his famous "I Have a Dream" speech, emphasizing his belief that someday all men could be brothers. Dr. King’s birth home in Atlanta, Georgia is now a unit of the National Park Service. To learn more about his early life visit www.nps.gov/malu.

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Colonel Charles Young Buffalo Solider

Colonel Charles Young is remembered and honored as a man of unique courage and inspiration. This was especially true for those of "goodwill", who knew him, and for those who followed him into battle. He stands honored both as an African American and in the history of African Americans in the U.S. Military. Young was born March 12, 1864 to slaves in the little hamlet of Mays Lick, Kentucky. He graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in 1889. This gave him the honor of being the third African American to do so, in spite of the hatred, bigotry and discrimination he encountered as an undergraduate.

His first assignment after graduation was with the Buffalo Soldiers in the 9th Cavalry in Nebraska, and then in the 9th and 10th Cavalries in Utah. During his time in Utah, Young would successfully arbitrate a dispute between Native Americans and sheepherders. He also would meet one of the many soldiers who would eventually benefit from his encouragement, Benjamin O. Davis. With Young’s academic tutoring and mentoring, Davis would ascend the enlisted and commissioned ranks and eventually become the first African-American to reach the rank of General in the U.S. Army.

Charles Young distinguished himself throughout his military career with the Buffalo Soldiers of the 9th and 10th Cavalries on the plains of the western U.S., the National Park lands of California and during combat in the Philippines and during the 1916 Punitive Expedition. He also served as military attaché to Haiti and Liberia and served numerous years as a Professor of Military Science & Tactics at Wilberforce University in Ohio. Colonel Young’s home and estate in Wilberforce, Ohio is now a unit of the National Park Service. To learn more about his life and the Buffalo Soldiers visit www.nps.gov/chyo.

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Dreamers Poetry Contest Guidelines

THEME: Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I have a dream” speech

ELIGIBILITY: Ages 5-26

GUIDELINES: Less than 21 lines, no more than 1 page in length

JUDGING: All decisions by the judges are FINAL.

DATES: Submission deadline January 7th, 2017

Announcement of winners January 16th, 2017

SUBMISSION: Saturday, January 7th, 2017

Email (preferred): dreamerscontest@gmail.com

Mail: Charles Young Buffalo Soldiers National Monument

Attn: Dreamers Poetry Contest Submission

Office of the Superintendent

Wilberforce University

1055 N. Bickett Rd.

Wilberforce, OH 45324

For questions or concerns please contact:

Shelia Floyd (sheflo28@gmail.com) or Carmen Dyer (carmenlt@hotmail.com)

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DreamersPoetryContestEntryFormPLEASETYPEORPRINTANDCOMPLETETHEENTRYFORMINITSENTIRETY.

Tocompleteelectronicallysimplytypeinformationinthegreyboxesandreturnbyemail.

GradeName

HomeAddress

Age

Phone

City State ZipCode

Preferredpointofcontact: Parent Teacher

Parent/Guardian’sName

Email:

School/Church

School/ChurchAddress

School/ChurchTelephone

Email

TitleofPoemandPrimarySources

Pleasesubmitcompletedformandanyattachmentsby:

Saturday,January7,2017at5:00p.m.ESTTo:

CharlesYoungBuffaloSoldiersNationalMonument

OfficeoftheSuperintendent

WilberforceUniversity1055N.BickettRd.

Wilberforce,OH45324

LATE&INCOMPLETEAPPLICATIONSWILLNOTBEACCEPTED