Elian Castellanos-Contreras believes Martin Luther King Jr. always fought for what was right.
“Now more than ever, it is important for us to be like him,” the Oglethorpe County Middle School student said. “To be able to dream of better things and work for them.”
It’s young people like Castellanos-Contreras, an Oglethorpe County Middle School student who won this year’s Martin Luther King Jr. essay competition, who could be key to educational opportunity and racial unity, according to the Concerned Men of Oglethorpe County.
This MLK Jr. holiday marks the 20th annual Martin Luther King Jr. program, sponsored by the non-profit group, which was formed in the late 1990s and aims to provide equal opportunities for the county’s youth.
“A Nation Divided: What Would Dr. King Say?” was the theme of this year’s program at Mt. Zion Baptist Church in Stephens on Monday. It featured songs, prayer and words from members of the organization, along with essay winners reading from what they wrote about Martin Luther King Jr.
“(Martin Luther King Jr. Day) represents who he was, what he stood for and how we’re still as a people trying to make his dream come to fruition,” said first-time attendee Sarah Jewell, a resident of DeKalb County. “Even though a lot of things have taken place, we still have a ways to go.”
When the Concerned Men of Oglethorpe County was founded over 25 years ago, its goal was to work alongside the school system and community to help the county’s youth, specifically young Black men, receive an education.
In 2005, the group sponsored its first Martin Luther King Jr. program, serving as an effort to educate and unite the county’s youth and community, largely inspired by King’s famous quote, “We can all get more together than we can apart.”
The organization consists of 12 male members, including the Rev. Reginald Hunter of New Springhill Baptist Church, who has been president of the group since its start.
“We knew we had a problem in the county,” he said, regarding the original inspiration for the program. “When we looked at the landscape of Oglethorpe County, Black kids were not receiving the same amount of attention that other kids were. So what we tried to do is just bring something together where all kids received attention, to make sure that we’re moving forward.”
Now, the organization’s primary focus is on ensuring equal opportunities for all of Oglethorpe County’s youth. This includes urging 18-year-olds to vote and providing transportation to ensure they are able to get to polls.
The program’s annual Martin Luther King Jr. essay competition, which awards cash prizes to winners of age groups, is another way the organization serves the county’s youth. In addition to Castellanos-Contreras (OCMS), the student winners were Catherine Yauck (OCES) and Marin Sampson (OCHS).
Hunter said he and the group work closely alongside Superintendent Beverley Levine to address the community’s problems.
“I firmly believe that we must work together, and the Concerned Men of Oglethorpe County have been an integral part of our school system for many years,” Levine said during this year’s program. “If I have a student that needs mentoring, or I know that there’s a need in our community, I know that I can call on this incredible group to bring strength to our students and to bring assistance.”
Hunter, who lives in Madison County but was a resident of Oglethorpe County, said the county has become more unified, but is in the process of getting to where it needs to be.
“Youth is where it starts,” he said.
The group hopes to identify young people in the near future who can help carry the mission of the organization forward.
Patricia Smith, sister of group member George Gresham, has attended the program for three years.
“I think it’s a blessing for all of us to unite, it doesn’t matter about the color or the race,” she said.
Hunter said the Concerned Men of Oglethorpe County is doing a lot to help the youth in the community.
“It means the world to me,” he said. “I’m concerned about Oglethorpe County. I lived in Oglethorpe County. I want us to be one community, that at some point people can look at Oglethorpe County and say, ‘I want to take the ideas they got and implement them where we live.’”