Youth Award
Applicants should be a middle or high school student and a resident of Illinois. Students can only enter one of the three categories: Essay, Poetry or Visual Arts. All entries must thematically focus on a piece selected by the award selection committee and all entries must be the student’s original works. All entries must be individual entries and will not be accepted from multiple individuals or teams.
Entries should be a reflection of the theme for the 2025 Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Luncheon, Let Us March On. This theme stems from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s speech "Our God is Marching On" that he delivered on March 25, 1965 on the steps of the State Capitol Building at the conclusion of the Selma to Montgomery march. This 54-mile march had 25,000 participants protesting the racism and oppression that African Americans faced at the polls while exercising their constitutional right to vote.
"...I want to say to the people of America and the nations of the world, that we are not about to turn around. We are on the move now... The only normalcy that we will settle for is the normalcy of brotherhood, the normalcy of true peace, the normalcy of justice."
- Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Categories
Essay
- Must be typed using an easy to read non-script font (Cambria, Arial or Times New Roman)
- Double-spaced, between 750-1,000 words
Poetry
- Must be typed using an easy to read non-script font (Cambria, Arial or Times New Roman)
- Double-spaced, 500 words or less
Visual Arts
- Can be traditional art (drawing, painting, sculpture, mixed media, etc.) or digital art* (video of musical performance, other video, 2-D or 3-D graphics, digital photography, digital collages, etc.)
- Maximum size for traditional art entries: 3’ x 3’
- Maximum length for digital art (film or video): 5 minutes or less
- Other digital art submissions must be easily accessible and if a device is required for viewing, this must be noted with the submission
*Depending on the device or program needed for viewing or interacting with digital art, the review committee may not be able to accept all digital art entries.
Additional Submission Requirements
All entries must reflect the sentiment shared by Dr. King. Entries must embody his commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion and must align with the mission and values of the student’s represented agency/school. Entries should not include any vulgar language or potentially offensive or explicit materials/images.
The selection committee should not be able to easily see the name of the student entrants. Student names or identifying information should be placed in an inconspicuous (e.g. not easily visible) location on essay, poem or visual art submissions.
Apply Here!
Deadline for submissions is November 24, 2024 at 12pm
Past Award Winners
- 2024 Sanaa Johnson, Poetry
- 2024 Caleb Aiden Lee Jones, Essay
- 2024 Brianna Robertson, Visual Arts
- 2023 Grace Griffin, Essay
- 2022 Keya Anderson, Essay
- 2020 Brianna Davis, Poetry
- 2020 Delaney Holliday, Visual Arts
- 2020 Taylor Jones, Essay
- 2019 Jacob Renfer, Essay
- 2019 Andrew Normington, Poetry
- 2019 Samantha Ramay, Visual Arts
- 2018 Elizabeth Rubalcaba, Essay
- 2018 Keana M. Fox, Poetry
- 2018 Layne Willhite, Visual Arts
