First Place
Avianna Soto, Cache
The Successful Career and Life of Myrlie Evers-Williams
From the start of her career to the end, Myrlie Evers-Williams was a brilliant woman who fought for racial equality. As soon as she graduated from college, she wanted to hep in the world of social work. Myrlie and her husband worked with the NAACP to investigate racial attacks on African-Americans. Together they took a risky job most people would not take. This job led them to death threats from white supremacists. This is just a prime example of Myrlie making sacrifices of her life for everyone’s equality. Myrlie Evers-Wiliams was a powerful woman during the civil rights movement, using civics, civility and collaboration to help others. Read the full essay
Second Place
Jillian Shultz, Coweta
Wilma Mankiller: Fighting for Feminism and the Cherokee Nation
When thinking of the Civil Rights movement, most people think of the plight of African Americans in the 1960s but another group that has had to fight for equal rights are the Native Americans. Wilma Mankiller, during her time as Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation, demonstrated the characteristics of civics, civility, and collaboration by advocating for the improvement of the way of life for her people with the help of the United States government. Read the full essay
Honorable Mention
Nehemiah Auxer, Tulsa
Civility
I am a different race that’s not hard to see
Equality seems normal until I get stung like a bee
From the jokes I hear from peers
Racist jokes put me to tears
This is not the civility I remember being created
I am just a person whose life has been raided
Does equality even exist anymore
Nobody speaking the truth from their heart’s core
I am human just like the rest of you
I'm tired of being called Jackie Chan or Kim Jung Un
Everyday my feelings get hurt like a sting from a bee
Remember, just cause I’m Asian doesn't mean I can’t see
Read the full poem
Honorable Mention
AdyLynn, Anderson, Lawton
As a seven-year-old living in Florence Al, I was certainly not socially, culturally, or politically aware. What I was aware of was fun, and that's why I was eager to march in the annual gay pride parade. I did not know what “gay” meant, nor did I really know what “pride” meant. What I did know was that my mom and her very close “friend” were going to let me carry the rainbow flag and march near the head of the parade. We had hardly reached the first corner on the parade route on that beautiful June day when a reality I did not understand, but absolutely did not like, confronted me for the first time. I wonder what corner it was that Pauli Murray came to in her life that pushed her to become one of the most indispensable influencers in the LGBTQ rights, women's rights, and African-American rights arenas of the American Civil Rights movements. That we both turned our comers is a similarity I truly treasure. Read the full essay