Below are essays of the scholarship winners and finalists ... His speech was grounded in hope while confronting the reality of a nation failing to uphold its promise of equality.

You would almost have to be nuts to be filled with hope in a world so rife with hunger, hatred, climate change, pollution, and pestilence, let alone the self-destructive or severely annoying ...

Yet his words had a profound impact and influenced the lives of generations. His speech was grounded in hope while confronting the reality of a nation failing to uphold its promise of equality.