DUBLIN, Ga. — Sunday was a rich day for African American history in Dublin, with the ninth annual Martin Luther King Jr. Oratorical Contest. It was open to middle and high school students who gave speeches on this year's theme, African Americans and the Arts.
It was held at First African Baptist Church- where a teenage boy, Martin Luther King Jr., gave his first speech at an oratorical contest on April 17, 1944.
Angela Williams is a church member who's been attending the church for 23 years.
"Sometimes it's not really talked about- that Dr. Martin Luther King actually got his start here in Dublin, so that's a little piece that's left out of the big picture," Williams said.
Laura Irwin is also a church member who's been attending since 1957. She knows firsthand what it was like in Dublin before the Civil Rights movement.
"When I went down to the city hall to register to vote, I had to read two paragraphs of the constitution," she said.
Today, African Americans no longer have to prove they can read before they're allowed to vote- which is why First African Baptist Church celebrates the people who fought to make it that way.
For nine years, they've been holding the oratorical contest in Dr. King's honor to inspire students like Trinity Mack.
"We're actually the same age because he was 15 and I'm 15 as well," she said.
Mack is a West Laurens High School freshman who entered the contest for the first time. She hopes to someday be a lawyer and strong leader like her role model.
"It's just like really crazy that I'm doing the same thing he did and he just made such a difference in the world, and I'd like to do the same thing," Mack said.
She shared what she learned from the Harlem Renaissance with the crowd at church and what she's going to carry forward with her from one man that paved the way for everyone else.
"All the things that were thrown at him, and all the adversity, and he just went through that so diligently," she said.
Because she also diligently practiced her speech, she went home as the second-place winner for her age group.
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