The Civil Rights Journey Explored During Kent Place School’s Perspectives Day

On Monday, January 13, 2014, Kent Place School hosted its school-wide Perspectives Day.

This year’s theme, “The Past, Present and Future of Civil Rights: The Journey Continues,” commemorated milestone anniversaries such as the 60th anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education and the 50th anniversaries of the March on Washington, the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act; celebrated the lives of those who led nonviolent struggles, such as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and President Nelson Mandela; and considered the role each student plays in creating a better world for herself, her community and the generations to come.

“This year’s Perspectives Day was a call to action,” stated Henaz Bhatt, Kent Place Director of Diversity. “The journey for human rights around the world and in our own communities is one in which we all play an integral part.”

The full-day event, celebrated by all three divisions, included reflective discussions, hands-on activities and guest speakers.

A highlight of the day was the keynote address from Nontombi Naomi Tutu, gender and race activist and Archbishop Desmond Tutu's daughter. Tutu shared her story about growing up as a black woman in apartheid South Africa to now living in Tennessee.

“We have to pass on something even better to those who are going to come after us,” stated Tutu. “We are those then who pass on a community, a society, a country, a school that values the human dignity of all.”

Another speaker during the day was Jenn Borchetta, Civil Rights lawyer and senior counsel on the NYC Stop & Frisk case. Borchetta, who spoke to the Middle and Upper School students, discussed constitutional rights and shared her intimate knowledge of the recent case.

The Middle and Upper Schools also listened to a powerful panel of two alumnae — Karen Rowe '72, Kent Place’s first African American graduate and professor of communications in California, and Lisa Anderson Todd '60, who was involved with Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and the Mississippi Freedom Summer in 1964. They gave students a glimpse into Kent Place’s history and shared their life experiences in the journey for equal access and opportunity.

While Upper School students participated in small group discussions in the afternoon, the Primary and Middle Schools enjoyed watching “At the Table with Dr. King,” a multimedia, spoken word and live music performance that calls students to action and service in their communities by responding to their life’s passions.

Primary School students also read the book Sit-In: How Four Friends Stood Up by Sitting Down by Andrea Davis Pinkney. The book is about the infamous Woolworth’s lunch counter sit-in and how it was a defining moment for the civil rights movement. The reading was dedicated to Franklin McCain, one of the Woolworth Four, who passed away this weekend.

These layered perspectives created multiple opportunities for learning and discourse throughout the day.

“It is important for our students to feel empowered in the role they play to make a more equitable and inclusive space for themselves and the generations to come," Bhatt said. “As Ms. Tutu reminded us, in the struggle for human rights, we are both recipients and trailblazers: recipients of the gifts and liberties gained by the struggles that came before us and trailblazers who help manifest a world worth dreaming.”

Perspectives Day was created to help build and sustain a bridge between diverse experiences and cultures. In giving the girls a day to immerse themselves in the perspectives of a vastly varied group of people, Kent Place hopes to provide them with meaningful exploration and understanding of the views of others and themselves as global citizens. For more information about diversity at Kent Place, please visit http://www.kentplace.org/diversity.