A Burke County high schooler will represent the state of North Carolina at a national speech competition in May.
Malik Harris, a senior at Freedom High School in Morganton, will head to Hillsdale College in Michigan in mid-May to compete in the American Legion’s National Oratorical Contest.
“I was kind of shocked making the national level,†Harris said.
Malik Harris smiles inside the lobby of Â鶹´«Ã½ City Hall on April 7.
He’ll be facing off against students from Vermont, Minnesota, Alabama, Connecticut and California in the first round of the contest. Speeches must be focused on the U.S. Constitution.
“My speech focuses on how our Constitution requires that in order for us to continue as a nation, all the ideals that we hold fast and hold true to, in order for those to continue, we as citizens are required to be active participants in our democracy,†Harris said.
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He said anything can happen without voters holding government accountable.
“We’re starting to see that in politics now, the more tyrannical push from a government,†Harris said. “If we want to stop that, if we want to ensure that, regardless of what side of the aisle you sit on, we want to continue these democratic principles, it takes the individual, the people, to fight for that and to ultimately ensure that happens.â€
The winner of the national contest brings home a $25,000 scholarship that can be used at any college or university in the United States.
“I want to win, $25,000 is a lot of money, especially considering how much college tuition is,†Harris said. “But really, I just want to make sure that the audience feels my message. If I can leave an impact on somebody who doesn’t typically vote or somebody or who had once thought that our engagement in politics isn’t that big, if I can just impact one person, then that’s a win for me.â€
More than winning, Harris said he wants to make sure he continues to hone his skills. He hopes someday to go to Howard University School of Law to defend family and constitutional law.
“My biggest goal is to out compete myself, make sure that whatever I do at the national level, I do better than I’ve done in the past,†Harris said.
Students will give an eight to 10 minute prepared speech about the Constitution and citizenship, then they will be asked to give a three to five minute speech about one of four different constitutional amendments: The First Amendment, Seventh Amendment, 18th Amendment or the 26th amendment.
Harris had help preparing for the competition from two coaches and Freedom High School teachers Kelsea Savarimuthu and Laura McGlamery.
“I can definitely say that without the help of Ms. Savi and Ms. McGlamery, I probably would not have made it past the district round,†Harris said.
Savarimuthu said they’ve focused on getting Harris in front of as many crowds as possible, including having him practice in front of the school’s faculty and in front of AP seminar and AP language and composition.
“Both of those classes really focus on presentation and rhetoric, and really getting to the bottom of someone’s argument or their speech,†Savarimuthu said. “It’s been great for both parties because Malik gets his practice, gets his feedback from the students, and then they get practice in real time of practicing their lines of rhetoric and lines of reasoning.â€
When Harris is practicing in Savarimuthu’s classroom, she’ll clean up the room and try to make distractions so he can practice staying focused on his speech.
“Just a lot of encouraging him and making sure he knows that it’s important for him to be himself and to bring out the best of who he is in the speech,†Savarimuthu said.
Harris said throughout the speech, he calls on quotes from leaders across the political spectrum.
“There’s a portion of my speech where a phrase from each of those quotes I bring together and then I point that back at them,†Harris said. “Will you step into the arena? Will you face these hard truths? Will you ensure that this extraordinary yet fragile experiment called democracy continues?â€
He said he likes that he can take the words of inspirational leaders like Theodore Roosevelt, Abraham Lincoln and the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. together to renew their charge to listeners.
“It’s pretty cool how I’m able to take all of those and reflect it to, frankly, what is an urgent danger today,†Harris said. “I mean, the ideals of democracy we see every day being tempered and pushed back and halted.â€
Harris and the Berry-Chambers-Wright American Legion Post 322 are raising money for the travel expenses for Harris and his family to get to Michigan. Find information on
