ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. – A Pedro Menendez High School student was recently named the winner of this year’s Martin Luther King Jr. essay contest in St. Johns County.
Senior King Benford delivered his powerful essay Tuesday in front of the school board and drew a standing ovation from those in attendance.
“No one is free until we are all free. No one is free until we are all free. These words were thought by a man who thought of others before himself,” Benford said, delivering the first lines of his essay.
— King Benford (@benford_king) February 5, 2022
Benford wrote about the power of forgiveness, education, love and freedom in his winning essay to honor the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr.
“It kind of echoes what he was trying to say and where he stood up for not just for the rights of African Americans, but for the rights really, of all people,” Benford told News4JAX. “And he wanted to make sure that not only that African Americans would be free, also that, you know, all people could be free, regardless of their religion, color, their sex, the gender they identify as, all those things that kind of was, you know, highlighted in my paper and really emphasized.”
King, who has a 4.5 GPA, has plans to uphold those values when he attends the United States Naval Academy this fall to serve his country and play quarterback for the football team.
Pedro Menendez High School Dean Yanetta Smith has watched King grow as a student and knows he embodies what Dr. King stood for.
“He lives the life that he writes about,” Smith said. “He lives the life that he speaks about. Every day he displays the pillars of character on the campus of Pedro Martinez High School, but not on campus but also within our community. King Benford is a born leader.”
You can read his entire winning essay below: