PEA Engages in 29th MLK Day Workshops

Last Friday, the Academy celebrated its 29th annual Martin Luther King Jr. (MLK) Day. The central theme of this year’s program was Gen Z Activism. The night before, the event kicked off with an MLK dinner for the guest leaders and the MLK Day Planning Committee that was followed by UnSilenced, a series of performances in which PEA community members expressed their feelings on topics of justice.

This year’s keynote speaker was Andrea Taylor, President and CEO of the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute (BCRI) and mother of Trustee Wole Coaxum ’88. In addition to the opening ceremony, students were required to attend Precious Knowledge—the Half-and-Half workshop led by Priscilla Rodriguez, Eren McGinnis and Jose Gonzalez—and a workshop of their choice, ranging from “Poetry as Protest” to “The Community and the Police.”

The community gathered in Love Gym for the Opening Ceremony, where seniors Chinasa Mbanugo and Elliot Diaz delivered their commencement speech. Taylor followed with her keynote speech, “The DNA of Gen Z: Agency, Creativity and Legacy”, which focused on the historical background of youth activism and the power of youth today in the political and social justice landscape.

Many PEA members received Taylor’s message positively. MLK Committee Co-Chair and English Instructor Mercedes Carbonell said that Taylor was able to “offer some historical legacy that we want to remember and is authentic in her belief in Gen Z activists.”

MLK Day Planning Committee member and senior Malobika Syed felt as though Davis appropriately addressed this generation’s responsibility to advocate for social justice. “I would say that the keynote speaker hit the nail on the head. Especially in today’s climate there is a lot of importance on Gen Z activism. This is our time to take responsibility and accountability,” Syed said.

However, some students were less responsive to Taylor’s speech. “I think it was fine but it was a rather dry speech,” lower Zach McConnell said. “I have no doubt in her qualification, her experience and her knowledge but I just don’t think she did the best job in sharing or presenting that.”

David France’s Revolution of Hope, a visiting youth orchestra from Boston, and Exeter’s Concert Choir and performed as well before the students dispersed to attend their workshops.

During the Half-and-Half workshop held in Assembly Hall, Rodriguez, McGinnis and Gonzalez spoke on their fight to keep the Mexican American Raza Studies Department from being removed by the Tucson High School board while examining Paulo Freire’s levels of consciousness: naive, magical and critical.

Lower Nina Weeldreyer was touched by their story and said it gave her a new perspective on the education system. “It was just a rude awakening of how America advertises itself as this great big melting pot of ethnic and cultural differences but behind the scenes makes every effort to silence the voices of diversity to remain in control, and the lengths they will go to to ensure that, even at the costs of young people’s educations,” she said.

Among the workshops of choice, Poetry in Protest was another popular option, with poet Theresa Davis leading a moment of reflection on the invisible workers whose jobs often go unappreciated in society. Through poetry, Davis connected the idea of valuing invisible workers with the idea of “turning down money and compromising values to the Montgomery board where people refused to give their money...in order to force change.”

MLK Committee member and upper Alisha Simmons felt that Davis left a lasting impact in her workshop with her presentation of poetry as a source of lesson in creating justice. “It really displayed how powerful words can be in showing a different perspective or using them as protest,” Simmons said. “It means so much to me to be here especially as someone who identifies...as a queer, black woman poet.”

Another popular workshop, led by musician David France, demonstrated how music could be used as a platform for social change. France identified the four principles that shaped the lives of Martin Luther King, Gandhi and Mother Theresa and explained how they led him to “create the orchestra that uses music as a vehicle for social change.” France himself is an advocate for social justice and the founder of the Roxbury Youth Orchestra, a youth orchestra that targets inner city children and “seeks to democratize access to classical music.”

Other students attended an Asian American activism workshop hosted by alumna Julie Chung ’16. For the workshop, Chung used the Harkness method to aid Asian American students in finding their place in the diverse scene of activism and race. “Rather than a race-first politics, I explained how I saw that my Asian American identity gave me access or a platform to discuss certain issues and connect with certain communities,” Chung said. “In the end, I wanted them to understand that my liberation is tied to your liberation.”

Upper Aiwen Desai, who attended the workshop, appreciated Chung’s confrontation of racism within minorities. “It’s especially eye-opening to hear about others’ experiences with anti-black racism in their communities,” Desai said. “I knew that anti-black racism was prevalent in the Asian community, but I had never been in a space dedicated to talking about the problem.”

Six student leaders from BCRI hosted a workshop highlighting the legacy of Birmingham hero Reverend Fred Lee Shuttlesworth. Sydney Cook, one of these six students, explained their goal of spreading the message of love in activism. “The biggest message I wanted to leave at Exeter was probably the importance of learning, as well as love,” she said.

Following last year’s controversial keynote, much of the student body was curious about how this year’s MLK Day would turn out. Syed believed that these year’s events catered to a larger audience whose opinions may not be as polarized. “[Both years] served different purposes and were both important in their own ways,” Syed said. “Last year’s MLK Day was very polarizing, which left the campus kind of shook. Whereas this one united people a lot more because it wasn’t as polarized or charged.”

Senior Eugene Hu agreed, saying that both years had their pros and cons, especially with the mandatory Half-and-Half workshop. “I liked the keynote better, but I think that the mandatory workshop was not as intense or as thrilling as the one last with the Asian American improv comedy artists,” Hu said. “Overall it was good, but when compared to last year, I would prefer this year.”

Lower Logan Valenti suggested that as a result of the controversial speech last year, this year’s speakers were rather toned down. “Both keynote and the assembly felt like they were trying to dial back, and try to go in the opposite direction with the most neutral thing for the keynote,” said Valenti.

Despite varying opinions, Carbonell hopes that students were able to take away the general message of activism from this year’s celebrations. “My hope for our community is that there is a moment in the day when we each feel something shift, settle in, sway in a pattern that allows us to rise up,” she said. “As Zora Neale Hurston’s prophetic line states: ‘There are years that ask questions and years that answer.’”