Scholarship Competition

Dr. Martin Luther King spoke at the National Conference of New Politics on August 31, 1967, in Chicago, Illinois, giving a speech titled The Three Evils of Society. The purpose of his message was to illuminate three areas of life that the United States of America kept hidden in darkness.

At this junction in history, the US was involved in the Vietnam War, citizens were fighting for civil rights, and the government had enacted the Great Society Program to eradicate years of poverty and discrimination. King spoke about the “Thunder of Discontent” and how the US was not living up to its stated democratic values and not the representing moral values to uplift the underclass in the nation. Today, the US is still floundering in poverty, homelessness, drug addiction, and mass incarceration, while over 30,000 US military troops are deployed throughout the world. Change is slow, but change must occur for our society to reach the promises written in historical documents several hundred years ago.

On that August day, King described three evils in American society: racism, materialism, and militarism. Choose one of the three evils as a topic and write a response about how America has changed in the 57 years since Dr. King wrote this particular speech. Include in your response how you, as an individual, will represent a positive change to the current state of this nation.

Resources

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• Eligibility: Open to enrolled Moreno Valley College students
• Award: $1,000 scholarship to one winner
• Due: Sunday, November 24 at 11:59 pm
• Selection and Acceptance: All applicants will be notified whether they have been selected. All scholarship recipients must be able to attend the MLK Scholarship Ceremony. You may be asked to present your response at the Ceremony.
• Response Format: Choose one of three ways to respond meaningfully to the prompt: a 500 to 1,000 word essay or a spoken word piece.
  • Type your response. Use MLA or APA format, double spaced, with a cover page. If some other form of written response (such as a poem), double space it and include the cover page. You will be uploading a Word or PDF document. Your works cited can be pasted into the submission form separately.
    • A link to a recorded performance (hosted on YouTube) may also be provided. Students may be invited to an in-person presentation of their work.
    • When incorporating content from a book, speech, or other sources, give proper attribution in your manuscript by including the name, date, and type of the source you are citing.
    • The name of the student should NOT appear anywhere on the document with the exception of the cover page. Each submission must have a cover page with the following information: your full name, student ID, phone number with area code and email address.
    • The page number and your 7-digit student ID should be in the top right-hand corner of each page.
• How to Submit: Register for the scholarship and submit your response through the online MLK Scholarship entry form by the deadline.

Apply for the MLk College Scholarship

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• Eligibility: Current 9th through 12th grade students from Moreno Valley and Val Verde unified school districts (MVUSD and VVUSD).
• Due: Sunday, November 24 11:59 pm
• Response format: 500 to 1,000 word essay, typed.
  • You do not need to worry about any essay formatting as you will be inputting the text directly in the online application form.
    • Ensure there is an extra line between your paragraphs.
    • Denote sources in the body of your essay in MLA format.
    • Use MLA format to construct your works cited
    • If it is over 4,000 characters including spaces, ensure to break your essay at the end of a paragraph, not in the middle of one, and paste the second part of your response into the overflow field.
• Acceptance Requirements: If chosen, you will be contacted by Moreno Valley College representatives. You will be asked to submit a portrait photo and expected to attend the Martin Luther King, Jr. Scholarship Ceremony to accept your scholarship award.
• How to Submit: Register for the scholarship and submit your response through the online MLK Scholarship entry form by the deadline.

Apply for the MLK High School Scholarship

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