2010 Student Contests
“The great problem confronting us today is that we have allowed the means by which we live to outdistance the ends for which we live.”
Are you a Trumpet of Conscience?
In a 1961 commencement address, Dr. King asserted that America could not have second-class citizens and remain a first-class nation stating, “Now, more than ever before, America is challenged to bring her noble dream into reality ... .” He went on to suggest some of the things he believed must be done in order to make the dream a reality; among them was a call to recognize that scientific and technological advances (i.e., the means by which we live) were outdistancing cultural progress (who we are as expressed in art, literature, religion, morals and values). Dr. King declared that “we have allowed our civilization to outrun our culture, and so we are in danger now of ending up with guided missiles in the hands of misguided men. ... If we are to survive today and realize the dream of our mission and the dream of the world, we must ... keep the means by which we live abreast with the ends for which we live.”
2010 marks the 55th anniversary of the Montgomery Bus Boycott, where everyday people decided to “march” against injustice and unfair treatment. Harnessing their creativity and courageous power in the form of nonviolent direct action, their goal was to bring about social change. Students of the next generation added new and original forms of resistance --sit-ins, freedom rides and wade-ins-- to arouse the conscience and elevate the moral level of the nation.
Highlighting the creative energy and sense of individual participation [and responsibility] of the nonviolent resistance movement, this year’s contests consider how individuals can effect social change using the arts and other cultural mediums to raise awareness, encourage civic engagement and transform the consequences of social policies and practices for all Americans. Thinking about Dr. King’s general concern for humanity and his specific concern for the poor and oppressed, students should either create or critique an artistic work designed to inform, involve and/or motivate everyday citizens. Borrowing language from the vision of the Baltimore-based nonprofit, Civic Frame, “we believe that art in the form of documentaries, socially relevant feature films, music, dance, visual art, [and] literary art, ... as important witnesses to society, are great tools for framing social issues that are often difficult to define and discuss.” [See http://www.civicframe.org/whatwedo-mission.html ]