Nine place in MLK Jr. Oratorical Speech Contest

Nine students placed in their grade divisions during the 2026 MLK Jr. Oratorical Speech Contest that was held at the historic First African Baptist Church on April 12.

Arthur P. Ayotte (first place), Memajae D. Davis (second place) and Kemonte A. Davis (third place) won in the upper high school grades 11th and 12th. 

Zachary B. Brazeal (first place), Malcolm K. Rayner (second place) and Sydney E. Howard (third place) won in the lower high school grades 9th and 10th. 

Christian A. Lee (first place), Aisha Saxena (second place) and Sahara Aliece Brown (third place) won in the middle school grades 6th through 8th.

The  following were the prizes for each division – $500 for first place, $300 for second place, $100 for third place and $10 for participation. 

“I feel the contestants were outstanding like the previous oratorical speech contest we’ve had,” said Jerry Davis, who is the chairperson of the MLK Jr. Oratorical Speech Contest committee. “We have been amazed at the presentations that the young people were making and this year was the same as well.” 

Davis believed that all of the participants were from Georgia. He said they promote the event through Visit Dublin GA through Miriam Lewis.

“This is open to everyone who wants to participate,” Davis said. “We have a great committee.” 

The sponsors for the event were Oconee High School National Alumni Association (OHSNAA, Inc), Fort Valley State University National Alumni Association, Inc, (FVSUNAA Inc.), VisitDublinGA and First African Baptist Church.

The history of the oratorical contest started many years ago, according to an article by Harriett Claxton in The Courier Herald dated April 18, 2015.  It referenced an oratory being held 86 years ago (1930), that was sponsored by the N.G. McCall Elks Lodge. It stated it was one of the best presentations or oratory exhibited in Dublin.

The Annual Oratorical Contest was revised at the suggestion of the Georgia Tourism Resource Team, a part of the Georgia Department of Economic Development.  One of the highlights of the report was that a young Martin Luther King Jr.’s first public speech was held in Dublin, at the First African Baptist Church on April 17, 1944.  It was confirmed in his autobiography.

“We re-started the oratorical speech contest back in 2015,” Davis said. “I always try to make a difference in the community. I know that by having an oratorical speech contest, one of the things I found difficult when I was attending college was make a presentation in front of a live audience. I know at some point in time, you are going to have to make a presentation. We just wanted to give the kids an experience prior before it being necessary in high school and college.”

– Horace Austin contributed to this report.