BLM Week of Action in the Upper School

In honor of the BLM Week of Action 2023, the Upper School came together for an extended advisory time to discuss microaggressions and our responses to them at school. After an introduction in the Great Hall, pairs of advisories were assigned one of four possible scenarios to discuss as a group. The discussion was led by Taposhi Biswas, Upper School science teacher, and student leaders of Peer Activism and Advocacy Coalition.

The scenarios the students discussed involved the usage of racial slurs and racial scripts, and how we react to them. The students talked about their thoughts, feelings, and reactions they had based on reading their scenario, and discussed how they might plan to intervene if they observed similar situations in the future.

Interim Head Chaplain VJ Sathyaraj led an Upper School Chapel focused on BLM the following week. In addition to readings and mourning Tyre Nichols, the students heard from Upper School Religion/History and Social Studies teacher Evan Britton, who spoke about how we can maintain hope in a violent world. Read Britton’s full remarks.

Arun Sharma ’23 and Solomon Lamb ’24 then played piano and bass guitar while students sang “This Little Light of Mine."

Biswas ended the Chapel by saying, “This vigil is not a lonely one. We can all look out for one another, to keep us from harm and from harming.”