Reflections on MLK Day
I sat in the front row of Love Gym listening as Andrea Taylor spoke. But, as I periodically turned around to look, I couldn’t help but notice that one third of the student body was falling asleep. Behind me, a lower had completely dozed off. The drone of Taylor’s tame words echoed throughout the gym. The scene was a stark contrast to last year’s incendiary keynote speaker. After what seemed like an hour, she finished speaking. The students sitting in the front portion of the gym jumped up to their feet, while the rest of the student body slowly got up to join them. Taylor received a standing ovation that, in my opinion, was given more likely for her achievements than the speech itself.
As the students filed out into the corridor outside the gym, almost nobody talked about her speech. To be frank, the material of her speech was rather unmemorable: I wasn’t able to recount anything she said about Gen Z activism. It’s also the case that most of the student body felt divided on the quality of her speech; either you understood and liked it, or you found it boring. I believe that many walked into the gym wanting to engage with Taylor’s speech, especially after the incredible Unsilenced performances from the previous night. But the simple fact is, I, along with many others, did not learn a lot from her speech. I do not know how to be a Gen Z activist—was I hoping she would tell me how to be one? Considering the title of her speech, yes. I did my best to listen and engage, but to me, her words didn’t come through. In the dining halls afterwards, barely anything about her, MLK, or Gen Z activism was heard—because there was nothing to talk about.
This is not to criticize the merits and hard work put in by the MLK committee, Andrea Taylor or any of the workshop leaders. Great things have been said about Asian-American activism, Hottentodden, Exonian Encounter and many more. I am sure, however, that many in the student body share the same view: MLK day was boring, or, at least, the required portions were. Precious Knowledge, the mandatory workshop, was lacking a takeaway. I didn’t understand what to take from the workshop other than the fact that political cartoons can display multiple viewpoints, something I already understood. I felt that the lengthy discussion about Paulo Freire’s theory of conscientization was mediocre at best, with many students leaving with “what was that all about?” as we walked out of assembly hall, going about our days as if nothing ever happened.
In contrast to MLK day last year, this year was a complete 180° turnaround. The mandatory workshop last year, Stir Friday (an Asian-American comedy group), was dynamic, fun, engaging and had a lot of lessons that stuck with us. It was well suited for a high school audience, in comparison to Precious Knowledge, which seemed like a college lecture. In addition, the keynote speaker last year, Lourdes Ashley Hunter, was much more effective in terms of creating discussion among the student body due to the surrounding controversy. This is not to justify Lourdes Ashley Hunter’s actions in any way or to say that her methods are the only way to spark controversy. The name-and-shaming of a faculty member and the lashing out toward a white student were definitely unacceptable behaviours from a keynote speaker. The key difference between the two speakers, however, is that one gave us something to discuss, and the other didn’t. Last year, all the classes I had the next day were discussions on what happened. Everyone had something to say, and it was useful because the student body was leaning into the discomfort of the issue. Open discourse between people allows for the flow of ideas and, in turn, allows new ideas to form and ideologies to change.
At the end of the day, Taylor’s message may have been heartfelt and her merits may have been incredible and Precious Knowledge may have had ‘cool’ information and lessons, but it did little for the student body. As I sat in my common room after check-in, I couldn’t help but feel disappointed, not by the discussions surrounding the day, but by the lack of them.