RULES

WELCOME TO MLK VOICE 4 YOUTH!

MLK VOICE 4 YOUTH provides a platform for young people grades 7-12 to speak out on issues important to them, reflecting MLK's commitment to social change and justice. Students choose from 150 American Activists spanning different causes and eras, to develop their message for change.

Registration begins on 9/21/24 and ends 1/15/25. The competition culminates in semifinals and finals where contestants creatively show case their talents in spoken word. A diverse panel of 7 judges select the finalists and winners.

THE RULES

Participation is open to students’ grades 7 through 12.
Contestants may choose their activist hero from a list of American activists, past or present, whose leadership and actions reflect Dr. King's principles for change and inspires them to action.
The message must be original, authored, composed, and performed by the student(s) identified on the registration form.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is an emerging technology with limitations. If contestants use AI, please refer to the section below on ways contestants MAY and MAY NOT use AI to prepare their presentation for MLK VOICE 4 YOUTH 2025.
Contestants may perform solo or collaborate with a maximum of five peers (e.g., duo, trio).
Only one video may be entered into the contest per contestant/team.
Video entries must be recorded in a format acceptable to upload to YouTube and comply with YouTube’s terms of service for submission to the contest.
Presentations are to be 3 to 5 minutes long.
Video resolution needs to be HDTV resolution, 1080p (1920x1080 pixels, 16:9 aspect ratio). Video must be in one of the following formats: AVI, WMB, MOV, or MP4 format (MP4 and MOV format preferred). No commercial content is permitted (music, video, animation). No professional (paid) assistance may be used in production of the entry. Any entry doing so may be disqualified.
Finalists are required to perform their message live and to submit an electronic copy (Word document) of their presentation prior to their performance. Failure to do so may disqualify the contestant, and the contestant with the next highest score will qualify to compete at the finals.
Submission of an entry into the contest does not transfer ownership of any copyright in the entry to MLK Voice 4 Youth.
Audio effects, accompaniment, costumes, and props are NOT permitted. Contestants should bring photo ID to all contest events.
Until the contest has concluded, your video/entry is not to be publicly shared online other than to place it on YouTube for submission to the contest.
Prize money will be divided equally to the winner(s).
Past first-place winners of MLK VOICE 4 YOUTH are not eligible to compete.
Decisions of the judges are final.
The MLK VOICE 4 YOUTH Planning Committee reserves the right to limit the number of registrations from any one school or organization.
All entries, videos, and parental consent must be received by, 5 PM, Wednesday, January 15, 2025. Registration opens International Peace Day, September 21.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) & Your MLKVOICE4YOUTH MESSAGE

Ways You MAY Use AI:

Brainstorming for ideas
Brainstorming key words to research topic
Search for resources available in a school or local library
Reviewing your writing for grammar and punctuation
Simplify the language in a source to make it more understandable
Example: You can use an AI chatbot to ask questions to begin your research and help brainstorm ideas and keywords. Examples of questions:
What are several quotes pertaining to education by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr?
What are key words to use when researching Civil Rights Movement?
What have historians written about Dr. King’s contemporaries?

Ways You MAY NOT Use AI:

Ways You MAY NOT Use AI
Allow AI to create a presentation for you.
Use AI to write your piece or develop your script.
Let AI do your analysis. The wording should be uniquely your own.
Beware – If you write phrases AI does not know, AI tools may “hallucinate” or provide made-up or incorrect information.

TO ENTER MLK VOICE 4 YOUTH 2025

Complete the Entry/Release Form and Parents Consent Form. Each student participating in the contest must complete both forms.

If you choose to enter the contest in-person or virtually, you will receive your performance time (and Zoom link if virtual) after the contest closes.

If you are entering the contest by submitting a YouTube Video, please follow the instructions below:

Follow these steps to upload your video

Sign into your YouTube account & click upload button
Select the video which you would like to upload;
Add a title (Video title) and brief description;
Select unlisted from the YouTube privacy drop down; and click publish

Your privacy

Set the video’s private setting to “unlisted.”
When you upload a video on YouTube, by default it is set as a public video, so change it into unlisted. “Unlisted" means that only people who know the link to the video can view it.
Any video that is released to the public or set as private will not be considered for the competition.

IMPORTANT NOTES

Please ensure that your video is in accordance with the Google Terms of Service, Google Privacy Policy, and YouTube Terms of Service.

Video entries must contain “MLK VOICE 4 YOUTH 2025” in the title of the video. The format for the title should be “MLK VOICE 4 YOUTH 2025 / Your Unique Video Title”.

Finalists will be notified by telephone. All finalists will be offered a one-on-one coaching session to prepare to present their piece in-person at the MLK VOICE 4 YOUTH Finals.

IMPORTANT POINTS TO NOTE:

Bonus marks given for memorization.
Submission of an entry into the contest does not transfer ownership of any copyright in the entry to MLK VOICE 4 YOUTH.
Contestants have creative freedom.

For additional information or questions about the contest contact Jane Rubini at 302-655-3379 or email info@mlkvoice4youth.org .

AMPLIFY YOUR VOICE