[Music] this year from Milwaukee's 40th annual MLK speechwriting contest students were given the topic of what affects one affects all it is the central theme from Dr King's letter from Birmingham Jail this is what Zeta Smith a fifth grader at Samuel Clemens School wrote a show of hands has anyone ever created something Us in Domino's I see your hand I see your hand I see yours too so my grandmother and I did the thing we decided to make a huge heart using dominoes first we drew a heart on a large poster board then we started to place the dominoes very carefully around the borders of the heart now placeing those Dominos was most frustrated because one nervous move and one will fall down now they're all falling down prematurely so I was careful placing the dominoes until it was time for me to push the first one down I couldn't wait as I put push to Domino and watch Domino after Domino topple over I was overjoyed at watching what they call the domino effect if you're wondering Zeta where are you going with this well here it is when I think of what affects one affects all I remember that Domino project I made with my grandmother I Vision this world as a huge heart and we the people are The Dominoes Dr King stated that life's most persistent and Urgent question is what are you doing for others well Dr King here's my answer I want to start a domino effect of compassion peaceful conversations and acceptance to change this world because what affects one affects all I want to be the domino effect of of acceptance to Fight Against Racism our world is made up of a diverse group of people and we all walk around here acting like we are afraid of one another yes I am an African-American female and yes I feel great about the skin that I am in but that does not mean that I am more privileged than anybody else I want to learn about people who live differently than I do by going to visit museums or maybe just having a simple conversation Dr King stated that yes we are on the move and no wave of racism can stop us accepting the fact that we are all different is okay because at the end of the day what affects one affects all no matter who we are next I want to be the domino effect of peaceful conversation to fight against gun violence it's a shame that I have to think twice about whether I'm going to be safe enough to go outside to play or not what right does anyone have to be so angry pick up a gun and take someone else's life what happened to Peaceful conversations at my school we partake in restorative practice circles every week in these circles I am learning how to have meaningful conversations with my peers that promotes positivity and respect amongst each other hopefully my generation will have the power to solve problems peacefully with effective communication instead of a gun Dr King stated that returning violence for violence multiplies violence one thing I know a bullet has no name on it anyone could be a victim because what affects one affects all lastly I want to be the Nino effect of compassion to help climate change listen here if we don't get the Earth that we share together healthy we will not have a planet to live live on climate change affects the food that we eat the air that we breathe and the water that we drink my school is becoming a green school and I am delighted I look forward to learning more about what I can do and how I can spread the news about having a healthier and Cleaner World in conclusion Dr King stated that we must all learn to live together as brothers or we will Parish together as fools the key word in this quote to me is together so as I spread the domino effect of compassion to fight against climate change acceptance to Fight Against Racism and peaceful conversations to fight against God violence I will keep the faith with the purpose of making this world a better place to live because what affects one affects all thank you wow Zeta that was an amazing speech have you written anything before or was this your first time this is my first time so what made you want to enter this contest Dr Martin Luther King's word and I just really like wanted to speak up how long did it take you to write this impressive essay uh like maybe like a few weeks or I would say like a month and your delivery was so powerful how long did it take you to memorize and just be able to enunciate the way you did uh the same time that it t that it took me to write it so what were you when you were writing this speech and you were kind of meditating on these themes what was was something that kept coming up for you that you thought was so important for you to share with others gun violence and why is that because a lot of lives are getting taken from it and a lot of children's lives kids your age thinking of how this issue impacts the city what are some of your hopes looking ahead uh I hope that they like chill down with the gun violence I hope they stop being rude to people because of the color of their skin and I just like really hope that they stop littering because it's affecting the animals and a lot more and you are our future so your opinion really matters so what can we expect what is the future of Zeta what do you want to do when you grow up when I grow up I want to be a pediatrician or a real estate agent and why because uh I want to be a pediatrician because I want to help kids out when they're sick and just like in general and I want I don't even I really don't know why I want to be a real estate agent it's just something that I want to be well those are both very um profitable professions and it takes passion to you know follow through with them is there anyone that you want to think that kind of helped you along this process uh my teacher can I do more than one people person okay my teacher my dad my mom and my grandma beautiful okay well thank you so much Zeta that was an amazing speech and I can't wait to see what lies ahead for you thank you for having [Music] me oh