THE MLK JR
POETRY CONTEST WINNING ENTRIES
The results are in! We were inspired by the creativity and heart in the more than 100 entries submitted in our first annual MLK JR Poetry Contest. Our judges had a difficult task to select only one winning entry per category.
A heartfelt thank you to every young poet who shared their voice with us and to the teachers, parents and others who encourage and educate them.
CONGRATULATIONS TO THE FOLLOWING WINNING ENTRIES AND HONORABLE MENTIONS IN ALL FOUR CATEGORIES.
DOMINI HOSKINS BLACK HISTORY MUSEUM
presents
Celebrating the Voices
of Our Future
K-2nd Grade
FIRST PLACE
The Story in Our Hands
History is a story told,
From people young to people old.
It's not just books upon a shelf,
It’s how we learn to know our self.
Dr. King had a dream so big,
Like a mighty tree from a little twig.
He saw a world where rules were wrong,
So he spoke up with a voice so strong.
He didn't use his fists to fight,
He used his words to do what's right.
He walked with love, he walked with pride,
With different people side by side.
Now that history belongs to you,
To teach us what is good and true.
Like a shiny gift we have to hold,
More precious than a pot of gold.
So hand it down to friends you meet,
In your school and on your street.
We keep his dream alive and grand,
When we walk together, hand in hand
Poet: Aiden F., 2nd grade
HONORABLE MENTION
The Dream of Dr. King
There was a man called Dr. King,
He dreamed of equal rights.
He stood up and spoke for people.
He said, “I have a dream.”
Thousands of people cheered for him.
Now kids go to the same school.
Black and white can stand together.
What matters most is not our skin.
What matters most is being kind.
Poet: Kaisen H., 2nd grade
HONORABLE MENTION
POEMA de Adrien
Martin Luther King Jr
Tuvo un sueño de justicia.
Yo puedo ayudar siendo generosa.
Sueño con un mundo de paz y mas mejor.
Poet: Adrien Y., 1st grade
3rd–5th Grade
FIRST PLACE
Jaya G. 5th grade
In a smaller world of borrowed hope
A Voice is taller than fear
Not born with diamonds or thrones
A world where all are dear.
King spoke of dreams the way the sun speaks
Soft then breaking wide.
He says justice is no myth,
But a road where all can ride.
For I have a dream where we unite
Where wrong is fixed and turned to right,
When judging fades, hope is seen,
Beyond our color, That's our being.
Honorable Mention
Shikha T., 5th grade
Martin Luther King
He walked for freedom He walked for justice He walked for liberty
He wanted peace He wanted love
He wanted fairness between all people He wanted an end of segregation
He told us to believe in the dream That one day we would fly of freedom
He said one day all the valleys of despair would be washed away by streams of justice
Soon on July 2, 1964 his dream became as visible as a mountain peak once the morning fog of segregation cleared
About six decades later his dreams still stands but it has come true On January 19, each year we honor him,
We know how thankful we should be, now that we are able to Walk with freedom.
Walk with justice Walk with liberty
Though he himself
Died without seeing all the fruits of his work, without seeing the Promised Land
He died knowing that future generations
Would continue to fight for freedom and fairness
Honorable Mention
Esther B., 4th grade
MLK had a dream of a world without segregation. A world where people would not be judged by the color of their skin.
He gave that in a speech. The world would listen while he spoke.
The world we lived in made him mad.
The world we lived in made him sad.
Why were his people treated bad?
So he spoke of his dream again and again. Eventually the world would listen and then,
Being the change you want is the best revenge.
He fought without violence to save our world
So that is why we thank MLK on this day.
6th-8th Grade
First place
Serena S., 6th grade
Under southern skies, Martin Luther King Jr. spoke of dreams,
not soft wishes, but marching hopes.
He stood with steady courage,
asking a nation to listen.
His words rang like church bells,
calling justice, fairness, peace.
He believed love could be brave,
stronger than hate or fear.
With calm steps and firm faith,
he faced prisons, threats, and pain.
Kindness.
Still he chose truth.
Though his life ended early,
his dream kept walking,
in classrooms, streets, songs, and laws.
We carry it forward,
by standing up,
by caring loudly,
by letting freedom ring.
today and tomorrow, together, forever onward strong
He taught that silence can be heavy,
and speaking up is a duty.
That change is slow,
but patience must still move.
Children held hands he imagined,
different faces, equal worth.
He saw bridges where others saw walls,
and paths where none were drawn.
His voice still echoes in protests,
in books, in quiet choices to be kind.
When we choose empathy over anger,
we answer his call.
When we stand for others,
we honor his sacrifice.
The dream is not finished,
it breathes in us,
asking us to walk forward,
with courage, justice,
and love that refuses to fade.
HONORABLE MENTION
Simone G., 6th grade
Let Freedom Ring…
Let freedom ring,
for the shy girl in your class,
who’d been bullied for so long,
it was as if her heart was made of glass
Let freedom ring,
for all the little colored boys and girls
who would dream,
of having real opportunities,
and eating something as simple as ice cream.
Let freedom ring,
For the hispanic kids
who would get in trouble
Just for speaking their language.
Let freedom ring,
for the nice homeless man
Down your street
Who sells his art
Just to have enough money to eat.
Let freedom ring,
for the enslaved men, women,
girls boys,
who were freed in 1865,
and cried tears of joy.
Let freedom ring,
for all the families,
who came to our country,
to finally be free.
Let freedom ring,
for everyone
you, and me,
because we are all human
and we all breathe.
HONORABLE MENTION
Trevor C., 6th grade
In our hating,
in our hurting,
in our healing;
you must not fight
hate with hate;
you must not hurt those who
hurt you.
Instead, use words;
because even speaking
a few can make a
big difference.
Just like a group of
people who faced injustice,
who marched down the streets
tall and proud,
without a hint of shame.
Just like the man who
passed on, the man
who fought for equality,
the man who passed on as a bang went off,
silencing even the wind.
High School
FIRST PLACE
[Kiana P., 10th grade]
The hand that casts
dirty change into a
tape-labeled tip jar,
that gently washes
playground wounds
with soap and water,
that offers potato chips
with salted fingers,
that sprinkles
cinnamon sugar
on breakfast toast
for someone who
hasn’t woken up yet,
that digs holes in
soft dirt when
goldfish die;
The hand that raises
when the rest remain
under desks,
that lays fresh
flowers before a
chipped tombstone
in the rain,
that lights candles
with a plastic lighter
by the side of
the road,
that holds paper
grocery bags for
a white-haired
neighbor,
that carefully braids
another’s
grease-matted hair,
that holds other hands
no matter
how dirty;
The hand that
cannot always
do great things
can always
do small things
in a great way.
*The last stanza is based on a quote from Martin Luther King Jr.
Honorable Mention
[Sianna W., 10th grade]
Inherited Measures
I grew up knowing the names of things
calling them chuppars and katoris,
names I never questioned
The place was spoken about, not lived in.
Its colors reached me secondhand, filtered through stories
I held but could not enter.
I learned how easily culture slips – when distance stretches itself across oceans
visible each time I see myself reflected back.
I met my culture later, through what remains
Recipe cards worn thin at the curled corners,
smudged with turmeric, its scent clinging, ink bleeding
Numbers crossed out, corrected by other hands
When I look again, the mirror steadies.
I understand what I have inherited
Honorable Mention
[Angel L., 9th grade]
The Dream We Are Commanded to Carry
Hand down the history
not folded or faded like an old newspaper
but living and breathing
warm in the palms of the young
Tell them of a man
who carried hope like a drumbeat in his chest
who believed words could bend the arc of time
and justice would answer back
He walked with a dream
not light as a wish
but heavy with responsibility
a dream stitched from sermons sweat and sacrifice
spoken in streets where courage echoed louder than fear
Hand down the history
of bridges built without weapons
of fists unclenched
of love chosen as resistance
when hatred shouted its loudest
Tell them he taught us
that darkness does not defeat darkness
that silence is not peace
that the measure of a soul
is found in how it stands for others
Pass on the marches
the jailhouse prayers
the nights when hope seemed thin as breath
and still he stood
believing tomorrow could be taught to change
Hand down the history
so children know their voices matter
so justice is not remembered as a moment
but practiced as a mission
Because dreams do not survive on memory alone
they survive when we carry them forward
hand to hand
heart to heart
until history becomes our promise fulfilled
THANK YOU JUDGES PANEL:
• Aileen Cassinetto, award-winning poet and co-founder of Paloma Press;
• Antonio de Jesus López, San Mateo County Poet Laureate/Dissertation Prize Fellow at the Stanford Humanities Center; and
• Maurice Goodman, president of the San Mateo County chapter of the NAACP.
The MLK JR Poetry Contest was organized by the San Mateo Daily Journal, an independently owned and award-winning newspaper on the San Francisco Peninsula and sponsored by the Domini Hoskins Black History and Learning Center in Redwood City. Prior to this year, an MLK Poetry contest was hosted by the North Central Neighborhood Association for 30+ years.
Reception
The Domini Hoskins Museum in Redwood City is hosting a reception to recognize these student poets on Sunday, Feb. 22, 2 - 4 p.m. All are invited to join us there!
Domini Hoskins Museum of
Black History & Learning Center
"HAND DOWN THE HISTORY"