On Monday, Jan. 20, Southwest seniors Milana Doné, McKenna DeRiese and Thursey Cook were awarded the Community Contributor Award by MLK’s Youth Rally and March planning committee. 

In honor of the 25th Annual Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Youth Rally and “Walk Together” March, people have been interviewed and shared their stories also donating their shoes and autographing them. Since August, the girls have been making templates that showcase the interviewees life stories.

“I got to interview a lot of influential people from the mayor to the superintendent to just some other influential people around Lincoln,” DeRiese said. “What I learned is that them fighting for equity is not them actually physically fighting for equity but it is all the life challenges they have been through that makes them stronger and makes them wanting a change even more.”

   The award was created to recognize young people who made an input and carried on MLK’s values which are inclusivity, equity and hard work to make a change. 

“I am so incredibly proud of this crew,” adviser Brandi Benson said. “These three have put in tireless amounts of time and countless amount of hours into telling other people’s stories and showcasing other people’s lives, so it was really cool to see them being recognized.”

After receiving the award, girls joined the “Unifying March” and walked through the streets of downtown Lincoln with other people calling to action the need for a change.

“Just going there had a great sense of community,” Doné said. “All these people following in the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. footsteps, doing it out of peace and not out of hate was really great.”