As Terrance Patton-Hill, 15, Flint, began to speak the famous words, the others followed along, mouthing the speech as he went.
Teen performs King speech
Hear an excerpt of the Rev. Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech delivered by Terrance Patton-Hill, 15, a 10th-grader at Whittier Classical Academy in Flint.
"Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice."
The words thundered through the room as Patton-Hill, Christopher Young, 15, Flint, and Michael Williams, 16, Flint, delivered the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech.Flint Public Library on Monday, Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
They repeated the words, syllable by syllable, standing in the dimly lit kitchen of their mentor's home. Their voices projected across the room, rising and falling with emotion. There's reason to be emotional: Nearly 40 years after King's death, the dream, they say, still has not been realized.
"There's still racism in America, ... we still haven't finished with what Dr. Martin Luther King started," Patton-Hill said. "He basically wants everybody, all ethnicities, to be equal to one another."
The boys began memorizing the speech almost a month ago because they believe the powerful words could help close the racial gap.
"This is a very powerful speech, and it sends a message not only to African-Americans, but to every different kind of race," Williams said. "It teaches us how to get along and communicate well with other people."
The competition is organized by John Rhymes. Rhymes runs two groups -- Gamma Delta Kudos and the Kappa Leadership League -- and allows any of the group members to participate. Williams is an 11th-grader at Mt. Morris High School, while Patton-Hill and Young are both in 10th grade: Patton-Hill at Whittier Classical Academy and Young at Southwestern Academy.
Frances Gilcreast, president of the local NAACP, has heard students from Rhymes' groups present the speech in the past. Hearing the entire speech by the boys is a moving experience, she said.
"I think I still cry just as hard every time I hear it," Gilcreast said.
The speech is moving to her, she said, because the dream still has not been fulfilled.
"When he says. 'I have a dream,' he means he has a dream that things will be better," Gilcreast said. "When that dream is fulfilled, there won't be a need for me, for organizations like the NAACP, anymore."
King first recited portions of the speech in Detroit in June 1963, but his delivery on Aug. 28, 1963, made it legendary. That's when he spoke to more than 200,000 people from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.
At the time, the speech highlighted the struggles faced by African-Americans, said Rhymes. Today, the speech doesn't mean quite the same thing, he said.
"We've lost so much of our touch with reality," Rhymes said. "We've lost touch with our heritage in some ways."
The speech -- and learning it word for word -- helps reconnect the boys with that heritage, Rhymes said.
The student Rhymes chooses also will recite it and King's "Message to Black Youth" at the library Monday as part of its King Day celebration.
Rhymes does a good job preparing the boys, said Wanda Harden, the library's public relations coordinator.
"We are trying to bring the community together," Harden said. "We make our community a better place through respect. Dr. King's speech communicates that."
Young said he hopes members of all races hear a clear message when listening to the speech.
"I just can't assume by skin color or anything that: OK, they don't like me. He's with that group. She's with that group. You know?" Young said. "So you gotta go out and just reach out to everybody."