Mayor Mike Spano and City Councilwoman Shanae Williams welcomed the winners of the annual Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Poem/Essay/Video Contest to City Hall last week. Yonkers students were asked to reflect on this year’s Black History Month theme, “African-Americans and the Vote,” as it speaks to the ongoing struggle on the part of both black men and women throughout American history.
Students submitted essays, videos and poems on the topic, and as every year, they were intelligent, impressive, and made everyone think.
Rafael Arellano, a seventh-grader at Cesar Chavez School, won the essay contest with his submission; Julia Diaz, a fourth-grader at Montessori School 27, won the poetry contest with her poem, “Give Us the Ballot;” and Laila Vaughan, a senior at Roosevelt High School-Early College Studies, won the video contest with her submission.
Musical performances by young students helped round out the event.
“Every day, month and year gives us all the opportunity to continue to work together to eliminate some of the social barriers that divide us as city, state and nation,” said Spano.
