UnSilenced: MLK Day
By: Jacqueline Subkhanberdina, Sheala Iacobucci, Andrew Yuan
The weekend before Martin Luther King Jr. Day (MLK Day), students normally pack into the Assembly Hall for the Academy’s annual UnSilenced event. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, however, the Academy community virtually gathered for performances on Friday evening.
Featuring poetry, dance and music, event organizers upper Siona Jain and seniors Nahla Owens and Dillon Mims independently raised money for Indigenous New Hampshire, an organization aiming to “not only highlight the contribution of the Indigenous Peoples to the Granite State but also build an enduring relationship between non-Indigenous and local Indigenous communities in NH,” according to their website. As of publication, the fundraiser has raised $810 for IndigenousNH.
“We hope you leave feeling inspired, empowered and unstoppable,” Jain said to kick off the event.
Although the virtual setting presented unique challenges, it also provided new opportunities. Jain, Owens and Mims drew inspiration from the virtual UnSilenced in the spring term. “Kiki [Aguilar], Alisha [Simmons], Audrey [Yin] and Erin [Choi] really paved the way for us,” Owens said.
Owens hoped UnSilenced would ramp up excitement for MLK day similar to past years. “We really wanted to work hard to replicate… that feeling… when you’re seated next to your classmates, and you get to see maybe someone from your team or from your class or club go up on stage and absolutely kill it.”
The Afro-Latinx Exonian Society (ALES) hosted a watch party on Zoom, allowed for real-time commentary and support. “The mere fact that UnSilenced continues during the pandemic, the BLM movement, and the recent domestic terrorist attack in D.C., is a testament to the strength and will of our generation to do better and be better,” Aguilar said.
“We wanted to give our performers complete freedom and artistic license to speak on the issues that impacted them,” Owens said. “And naturally one of those issues that came up was the Black Lives Matter movement, and just being Black in America.”
Owens hoped the UnSilenced performances reminded the community of its proximity to issues of racial justice. “It’s not just some far off issue,” Owens said. “You actually have classmates and teammates and peers that are having to deal with some of the challenging experiences.”
Upper Shantelle Subkhanberdina closed the event with her rendition of Lauren Daigle’s “You Say.” Subkhanberdina missed “the energy that comes with physically performing,” but considered the event “fantastic” nonetheless. “I was stunned… the most special part of UnSilenced was that, if just for an hour, it truly brought me back into the Exeter community.”
