4 minute read
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
The speech below was delivered by Leon Pinkett '20 at Calvert's all-school assembly on January 17, 2020, in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. Leon would like to thank his mentor Sra. Sandry Sachar.
Three miles is the distance from my house to Calvert School, but the truth is that it feels more like three hundred miles. Three miles away a kid like me is expected to live to nineteen or twenty. Three miles away a kid like me isn’t supposed to know their father. Three miles away a kid like me doesn’t get the same quality education. And three miles away a kid like me doesn’t get a warm meal. I’m one of the fortunate ones. I’ve broken the stereotypes and assumptions of what a kid three miles away is supposed to be.
Since we are remembering Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. today, it would only be natural for me to quote his famous I Have A Dream speech, but I’d rather bring something else to your attention: being comfortable. Throughout my life, there have been multiple occasions where someone has said something wrong, ignorant, or just rude. I have shied away from standing up for myself or using it as a teaching moment, just so I and the people around me could stay comfortable, and I’m sorry for that. I’ve done those people a disservice by not teaching and helping them grow in their knowledge of what they did not understand. I thought that I was doing the right thing because that's what kept the situation comfortable, but the truth is the only one that benefited from it was me.
I used to have this quote on the lock screen of my phone; it said, “A comfort zone is a beautiful place but nothing ever grows there,” and I told myself that I would live by that quote every day. But if I’m being honest, I haven't. Nothing I did represented that quote. I still did the same old thing, backing away from opportunities and challenges just because it didn’t feel natural. A couple weeks ago, I went through the pictures that my dad had stored on his iPad. As I looked through the pictures, I saw all of the activities I used to do, and I realized how many things I quit
Leon Pinkett '20 delivers the keynote address at the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day all-school assembly.
because they were too far out of my comfort zone. As I was going through the photos, I felt as if I was traveling through time, but at the end of that journey I realized the amount of time I wasted. Sometimes I feel like I let my family down because I know they didn’t use everything they had to allow me to be one of the fortunate ones, one of the kids from West Baltimore to go to a great school and be presented with opportunities, just for me to be comfortable.
Dr. King’s message was about equality, but if you look at it a little closer he’s telling everyone to stop being comfortable. Stop being comfortable with treating your human brothers and sisters as if they are less than you. Stop being comfortable with creating separation between the human race. Stop being comfortable with hurting people. I can guarantee you that he wasn’t just talking to white people; there were some African Americans who became content with the way things were, so he was also telling them to stop accepting their situations and being treated like they are less than human.
Middle School students, Mara O'Reilly '21 and Xavier Thomas '21, listen closely to Leon's speech at the annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. all-school assembly.
Time is a gift, but it is a very limited gift. We should use the time and the opportunities that are given to us because if we wait too long those opportunities won’t be there for us anymore. A comfort zone may feel safe, but in reality it’s keeping you from those new ways of thinking and those new experiences that will help you not just grow, but thrive. Like the quote on my phone said, if you stay in that place of comfort, you won’t grow, you won’t know, feel, or understand anything that it is outside of that place if you are not willing to step out and be uncomfortable. So let us all try being a little uncomfortable in this year, 2020. In the words of Martin Luther King Jr., “The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.”
