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Summer Program
Evergreen's Second Annual Social Justice Day
October 17th, 2022
This year's theme: Ally Is a Verb. Ally Is an Action!
October 13 was our second annual Social Justice Day (SDJ) for the Upper Division, and it already feels like an important Evergreen tradition!
On Social Justice Day, all students in grades 4-8 participated in a full day of programming featuring a morning keynote address, grade-level seminar classes from invited guests, and thought-provoking and interactive workshops led by our Upper Division faculty members!
Austin, Texas-based slam poet and speaker Andre Bradford, a.k.a. S.C. Says, opened the day with an assembly for the entire Upper Division. Bradford, who's a two-time Austin Poetry Slam Champion, the 2022 Texas Grand Slam Champion, and also the author of the book Golden Brown Skin, shared some of his own story with the students, and recited some of his poems as well. He left our students with an action-oriented thought: "If you want to change the world around you, start by trying to understand the people in it."
Workshops: Protest, Art, Vogueing & More!
SJD organizers and our own faculty and staff designed an impressive range of workshops so that students in each grade could choose which ones to attend. These classes addressed social justice from a lens of the arts, politics, protest, philosophy, history and more, and ranged from ""Designing for Equity & Accessibility" and "The Power of Music: Protest Songs in History" to "Creating a Sense of Belonging in the Undocumented Mexican Community," to "Gentrification and How it Affects Communities.” Students could consider environmental justice, or the arts, with options focused on Romare Bearden, Jean-Michel Basquiat, and chalk art.
“ So much thinking and learning happened, along with creativity, laughter, dance & movement, and joy! Students and adults were stretching themselves in ways that caused us to pause and reflect on what social justice means, not just in theory, but in concrete ways. Today would not have happened without intentionality and all of your support.”
— Our DEI team
The day ended on a high note, with a Samba Reggae performance by local group and dance instructors Bahia in Motion. Emerging out of the civil rights and Black Pride movements in Brazil in the 1970s and 1980s, samba reggae symbolizes Afro-Brazilian pride and represents resistance to oppression and the resilience and joy that arises despite suffering and amid great disparity, and Bahia in Motion's group brought this energy and history to share with our students!
Takeaways from the day will offer great discussion and follow-ups for weeks to come for Upper Division students. And stay tuned: Social Justice Day for Primary Division is in the works for this spring!
