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Pelham High School junior Danielle Sanders is one of 12 finalists in a national essay contest held by the National Liberty Museum in Philadelphia that marked the 50th anniversary of the Selma civil rights marches. (Martin J. Reed / mreed@al.com)

Reporter's note: Here's the text of Pelham High School junior Danielle Sanders' national award-winning essay she wrote for a contest held by the National Liberty Museum in Philadelphia that marked the 50th anniversary of the Selma civil rights marches. For a story about Sanders writing the essay, follow this link.

I am the dream. I am the dream that Dr. King saw fifty years ago. I am that little black girl whose first friend was a little white girl. I am the student in class who is known not by the color of my skin but by the content of my character. I am the little black girl who has grown up in what used to be known as the state with the most "vicious racists." I am the little black girl from Alabama. Because of Dr. King's ideals of freedom and equality, I have grown up in a different time; a time where freedom is not only a word on a slip of paper but also a word with meaning. A time different from where people of a complexion such as mine were not given the same liberties and rights, yet where one of us is now leading this great country. Because of the honorable fights fought by those before us, we are already born with the freedoms and rights that so many died and fought for; it must be us who continues to protect these rights through our own education, our own government, and our own acknowledgement of how far we have come and how far we have to go. The time is now.

Education. It is education that has taught us about freedom, it is education that has given us self-confidence, and it is education that Dr. Martin Luther King fought for you and me to have. It is through education that we are able to empower ourselves in order to fulfill our purpose in life. We all have the freedom to become lawyers, doctors, teachers, and politicians. It is education that gives young people a larger view of themselves. And it is education that will push us out into the world so that we may have more leaders, speakers, and icons, such as Dr. Martin Luther King and Gandhi and those who provided so much knowledge before us.

Dr. King once posed the question, "How long will it take?" How long will it take for the riots to cease, for the shootings to stop, and for the injustices to be addressed? There is still work to be done fifty years later. It is time to wake up. Once and for all, we must reject revenge, reject hatred and reject aggression. We must open our eyes and reject what the past is trying to bring into the present. Let us acknowledge how we are able to sit on a bus without worrying whom we will have to give our seat up to. Let us not quiet those who speak out, let us not reject someone who does not pray to the same God, and let us not deny the people's right to protest. Instead we must encourage the opinions of others, embrace those of a different religion, and join in on peaceful assembly. It is proven just as Thich Nhat Hanh said, "Freedom is not given to us by anyone; we have to cultivate it ourselves. It is a daily practice." And as the old saying goes "practice makes perfect."

It is our civic duty to protect and defend our freedom. Doing so means encouraging young people to fulfill their responsibility to vote. To vote for a leader who encompasses the morals and values that were bestowed upon this great nation in which we live. So that one day we can watch the president we voted for lead this nation and that we as people can say, we have contributed to our freedom. So that maybe one day, after becoming registered voters, we are able to serve on a jury to determine cases like that of Trayvon Martin, to determine whether or not a civil right was violated. Because it is cases like this that makes people worry about their freedoms. Freedom where a young man cannot walk down the street with a hood on and with skittles in his pocket without being questioned or accused. This is where we have got to do better.

We must do what is necessary to protect and advance our freedoms for those to come after us. In the words of Maya Angelou, "I know why the caged bird sings." The caged bird sings of hope, perseverance, and about the hope of things to come. I too, sing with the caged bird.