By Isabell Macrina
In remembrance of the civil rights leader who paved the way for change, Needham High School in partnership with the Needham Diversity Initiative and Needham Interfaith Clergy Association put on a program for Martin Luther King Jr. Day Observance. This program, entitled “We The People,” honored his message of peace. It was a student-led celebration. 80 teens worked to put together the event and about 55 of them took to the stage as various performers. Along with this, the Black Student Union of NHS was raising money by selling their T-shirts in the lobby, along with various organizations and resources that focus on helping marginalized communities.
The program was broken into five acts, each highlighting the students or local Boston artists, including those of the past and today. It highlights the importance of writers, activists, innovators, naturalists and artists as the titles of each section and their influence in the Civil Rights Movement and what has shaped our world today.
Needham High School’s Jazz Quintet started off the night playing a few of the greatest Duke Elliot songs. Students of NHS read excerpts from Black literature in history including Dr. King’s “Where Do We Go From Here,” and Langston Hughes’ “Democracy.” Students also showed their original poems. Damian Acevedo shared his “People’s Assumptions,” a moving poem about his own experiences and other people’s judgement. Mahelissa Blanchard, Sewanu Dansu, and Amina Kamara performed their writing “Proof,” sharing their own perceptions of how people change themselves, despite telling others not to.
From OrigiNation Cultural Arts Center, the Girlz of Imani dance group showed multiple routines in varying styles moving from contemporary to rhythmic. NHS’s Bomb Squad Step Dance group performed their step dances, a percussive dance style that uses claps, stomps, and intricate footwork to create rhythms with their dancing. The NHS Puppeteers performed movements showing various impacts, beauty, and other events through their paper-mache puppets and stories through imagery. Their “Silence of Night” performance of trees surrounded in lights created a magical backdrop for the performances of the Needham High School Chorale.
Rev. Nicholas Morris-Kliment and Dr. Huma Farid from the Needham Interfaith Clergy Association spoke on the importance of reflecting on the commonalities we share. Both are parents, history majors, and care about their community; all of that is more important than separating from each other because of their beliefs. Brief remarks from community leaders, including State Senator Becca Rausch, State Representative Josh Tarsky, and Needham School Superintendent Dan Gutekanst, honored the importance of remembering days like this. With the recipients of the Dr. MLK, Jr. Scholarship Fund, the day drew to a close. It is times like this that aid in reflection of this country. Leaders like Dr. King made incredible strides for civil rights, it’s important that we don’t let that work go unrecognized for a second.
