Winston Wilkinson remembers seeing men and women soaked by fire hoses, attacked with cattle prods and canines during the civil rights movement.
He wondered if Martin Luther King Jr. was right in his message of non-violent resistance.
At the age of 18, Wilkinson felt the more militant views of Malcolm X better suited him.
After exploring the Methodist and Islamic faiths, he is now a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and he is running for U.S. Congress.
As a black, Mormon Republican, Wilkinson is ?unique,? but that?s not his platform, he told the University of Utah College Republicans at their kick-off event Wednesday.
?I want to maintain my values. The centerpiece of my campaign is education, but I also want to address social security and the size of government,? he said.
Wilkinson served as a political appointee in the Reagan administration and campaigned for education reform.
?Reagan compared education with military readiness?it was that important to him. America is on the low end of international competition. I want to change that,? Wilkinson said.
Wilkinson also promised a clean campaign against incumbent Jim Matheson.
?Matheson is a nice guy, but so am I. It won?t be a negative campaign,? he said.
Both of the men have recognizable names as well, said Wilkinson in reference to Brigham Young University President Ernest Wilkinson.
Utahns have a different view on guns, abortions and tax refunds than Matheson does, Wilkinson said. Wilkinson feels he better represents the residents of Utah.
Matheson has $300,259 in cash, while Wilkinson has only $7,232, according to the most recent federal campaign reports.
Utah also has less than a 1 percent black population, according to the 2000 census.
Because of numbers such as these, Wilkinson was very pleased with the recent redistricting of Utah, because it turned an area with a 54 percent Republican voting population to one of 62 percent.
Rommel Herrera, Wilkinson?s intern and volunteer coordinator, brought him to the U to get more students involved.
?Wilkinson?s main focus is education, so he wants to get the young people involved,? Herrera said.
Herrera wants to find people to be delegates for the GOP convention next spring, where they will vote on Republican nominees, including Wilkinson.
Anyone is allowed to attend the convention, but only delegates are allowed to vote.
Herrera is hoping to recruit delegates to vote for Wilkinson at the convention.
Herrera also goes to the high schools east of I-15 to recruit seniors to become members of the College Republicans.