Upper Schoolers Honor Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Upper School students paused to honor and reflect on the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., as the Diversity-in-Action Club (DIA) led a 90-minute presentation entitled "Dismantling Oppression: Finding Your Voice" on Thursday, January 24. 

 

Students began by introducing the cycle of oppression — moving from fear of difference, to stereotyping, to prejudice, to discrimination, to institutionalized oppression, and finally, to internalized oppression. They offered strategies to combat and interrupt the cycle, including becoming an ally and breaking the silence that reinforces the oppression. 

 

Facilitators asked students in the audience to agree or disagree (and then elaborate in an open forum) with statements about the Brunswick community, with regard to such issues as racially-charged language in music and respecting people’s beliefs and ideologies in spite of their appearance, race, religion, intelligence, or sexuality. 

 

Members of the DIA concluded by sharing their own stories and journeys toward finding their voices and identities throughout their Brunswick experiences — all of which echoed the words of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and the theme of the morning’s assembly.

 

“Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about the things that matter.”