On Tuesday, January 23rd, St. Mark’s School honored the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. with a full day of music and special workshops. Faculty, student, and special guest facilitators led a wide range of workshop and discussion opportunities, while the award-winning ensemble of Dave LeMieux & House of Soul provided musical bookends to open and close a vibrant and diverse day-long experience. This was the January offering in the 2012-13 Gray Colloquium series. The Gray Colloquium is designed to engage St. Mark’s students in an exploration of one complex global issue annually. It has been made possible by the generosity of former St. Mark’s Board President and current School Trustee C. Boyden Gray ’60. This year’s Gray Colloquium theme is “Global Challenges”.
It all began at 9 AM in the Class of 1945 Hall at the Putnam Family Arts Center, with a presentation of “At the Table with Dr. King”. This dynamic multi-media experience featuring Dave LeMieux & House of Soul, national champion slam poet Ayinde Russell, exclusive video footage and compelling student involvement dramatized the “kitchen table moment” in Dr. King’s life, when in early 1956, at the height of the Montgomery Bus Boycott, the young Civil Rights leader found himself doubting his mission and exhausted by fear. “I was ready to give up,” he later said. Sitting at his kitchen table late one night, he began to pray, and then, as he later recalled, “I heard a voice saying, ‘Martin Luther, stand up for righteousness. Stand up for justice. Stand up for truth. And lo, I will be with you.’ … He promised never to leave me, never to leave me alone… My uncertainty disappeared. I was ready to face anything.” The powerful performance of “At the Table with Dr. King” used “kitchen table moment” as both a model and a catalyst for calling students to action. With young people in the 21st century wrestling with common social themes such as diversity, inclusivity, and global diversity, in “At the Table with Dr. King” Dave LeMieux & House of Soul conveyed the story of Martin Luther King Jr. and his message of social responsibility through call-and-response, and had the St. Mark’s audience on its feet and clapping.
Following the performance, a series of workshops were held at locations throughout the campus. In Taft Hall, one of the visiting performers facilitated a discussion of “Social action through music and the arts”, while next door in the Taft lobby, Ayinde Russell directed a workshop entitled “Poetry: Performance in the Slam Culture.” Guest performers led workshops on the history of the American Civil Rights movement (including ongoing diversity, inclusivity, and social justice initiatives) and the nature of a “Calling” (“what is it? how do you listen for it? how do you respond?”), as well as a Hinkle Room program entitled “Comparing and Contrasting Stories” from other countries’ histories of social struggles.
From St. Mark’s, Mr. Berryman led a workshop of Gospel music (in preparation for the upcoming visit from song leader Nick Page), while Ms. Sumpter and Ms. Sanchez directed a presentation on the history of racism. Upstairs in the Putnam Family Arts Center, Reverend Barbara Talcott, the School chaplain, used storytelling to convey methods of community building. St. Markers who attended the recent Student Diversity Leadership Conference led a program in the faculty room entitled “Revitalizing Your Identity”, and in the new admission office area, was a faculty facilitated program: “Managing Conflict in a Just and Equitable Community”. Finally, the largest number of students took the Harvard Implicit Association test and responded to the question “What is the value of education in a diverse community?” Each workshop was repeated again after lunch, so every student was able to take part in two different offerings.
After sports, the entire school community reassembled in the Class of ’45 Hall for a spiritual and celebratory concert by Dave LeMieux & House of Soul. This was, in essence, evening Chapel at St. Mark’s, and students, faculty, staff, and many of their families experienced a powerful and moving performance. Chapel was followed by sit-down dinner, with the performers as guests, and discussion continued in advisory groups to conclude the day’s program of activities.
In reflecting on the School’s Global initiative—central to the St. Mark’s 2020 Strategic Plan—as supported by the 2012-13 Gray Colloquium, Head of School John C. Warren ’74 noted that: “A Global citizen respects and values diversity, has an understanding of how the world works, is troubled by social injustice, participates in the community at a range of levels from the local to the global and feels an ethical responsibility to others around the globe. Dr. Martin Luther King was an inspiring exemplar of a global citizen who provides an example to us of that approach. Today we will have the chance to think about how his inspiration can guide us in concrete ways.
“I am proud that at St. Mark’s we do not limit our attention to diversity and equity to one day of the year or only after an incident has taken place,” continued Mr. Warren. “At the same time, I am aware that as a student and adult school community we can engage with issues of diversity and equity more deeply and more fully, a challenge I am committed to leading as we move forward. I am very proud of the work Ava Archibald is spearheading around community and equity affairs and of the work the community and equity committee is doing. I am also very proud of the work student groups, in particular the Black Student Union, the Gay Straight Alliance, and La Voz Latina are doing to move St. Mark’s forward in its approach to diversity and equity.”