Melanin Minds (African American Culture Club) at Morristown High School was initially founded by a couple of seniors and juniors (including myself) in order to make other students aware of many of the social and racial issues not only in our society, but in our High School.

This year, as co-presidents, Bella Simon and I have worked diligently to prepare weekly meetings in which we open a discussion about race and social divides in America. From hands on activities like privilege walks to open forums, we have worked to ensure that we open up a necessary dialogue between our peers. All ethnicities now contribute to a safe atmosphere which has inevitably enlightened and advanced the discussions where all voices are heard.

Before our last meeting (January 10th , 2016), I got an email from Kendall Rogers, saying that he would like to play a video from the MLK Breakfastin which the speaker asked the audience “What Are We Doing?”. Kendall ultimately led the discussion that day. He encouraged us to answer that question for ourselves. What were we doing in the midst of so much injustice? It was in this conversation that the idea of a silent protest to Trump’s Inauguration would emerge. We decided we would all wear black and sit in silence in the main atrium and the word spread quickly. Bella Simon, Chania Moss, Gianna Mitchell, Angelina Bonanno, Caleb Septoff, Kendall Rogers, and I would be the leaders of this initiative but we had no idea of the impact that we were going to have.

The next day we had a meeting with Mr. Lockman (one of the administrators at our High School). He expressed his concerns and we had a long discussion about the potential consequences of having a protest. While we both came into the meeting with very different intentions, we were eventually able to find a middle ground. We realized that having a protest would potentially bring negative and radical connotations to our club that would inhibit long-term progress in our High School. After extensive discussion, we decided that rather than “bashing Trump” we would promote political awareness, and our #GetWoke initiative was born. The term “woke” means to be awake. According to Urban Dictionary: “Being Woke means being aware.. Knowing what’s going on in the community”. The opposite of being “woke” would be being asleep- meaning that you are indifferent or ignorant to political issues. #StayWoke has been a popular term for some time now however we thought using the hashtag “GetWoke” would be more accurate since most kids were (and still are) “sleeping”.

The days leading up to our Political Awareness Day bore a lot of stress and tension. We didn’t get much sleep, we missed other club meetings, we stayed after school, and we communicated continuously through text and email all in preparation for Friday. Rumors still spread that it was an “anti-Trump rally”, “a sit-in”, a “protest”, etc,... but as leaders we did our best to emphasize that our goal was simply to make students politically aware.

The sign we made after school and hung in the main atrium.

On Friday we passed out handouts about what we were doing:

During the event, we asked Trump and anti-Trump individuals if they knew who their congressmen and senators were and if they knew what their stances were on major issues. Almost everyone had no idea who their congressmen and senators were, and that is truly alarming. These are the people that represent us and yet no one knew who they were. On our site, we advocated political awareness and provided explicit details about how every student could make their voice heard.

The turnout was greater than any of us expected. Other club meetings were canceled because so many students were coming out to show support. The main atrium filled with students wearing black in support of our cause.

The start of lunch as the main atrium began to fill with students. Photo by: Bella Simon.

Many Trump supporters (wearing their Trump gear) showed up too- some against us and others in support. Many who supported Trump had heard the rumor that it was an anti-trump rally so after we explained our intentions of Political Awareness, many became much less defensive. There were still students who were upset that we “took their seats” and some screamed “White Lives Matter” but with the support of our administration, everything remained calm.

Trump supporters standing with Misha Howes (middle right) who does not support Trump. Photo by: Trevor Stephney.

Bella and I walked around the school to pass out handouts; Caleb, Kendall, and many others initiated conversations with everyone. It was truly an inclusive event. By the end of lunch, we passed out over 300 flyers and filled the atrium so tightly that it was hard to maneuver.

As the day came to a close, I began to reflect. None of us who organized the event supported Trump but we knew we had to put our own viewpoints aside in order to send an even greater message. We cannot change who is president, but we can control how we act. It doesn’t matter who you support politically; what is more important is that everyone has a comprehensive understanding of what is happening in our country. This day was not just about Trump. It was indicative of a changing political climate that we should ALL be paying attention to, whether we agree with the policies or not.

Alexandra Monfalcone, who also wrote an article about the eventsaid, “If we hadn’t done what we did today, I would have been a lot angrier”. She was 100% right. I realized that this day brought our High School together. Many other school districts have been enforcing disciplinary action on their students for expressing their opinions on the matter but our High School worked together to find a middle ground. In the midst of tension we were able to find not a “negative peace which is the absence of tension” as MLK once said, but a “positive peace which is the presence of justice”.

As we move forward with our club, we will continue to draft new ways to get more people to come, to continue the dialogue. This was only one small step in the right direction, and there will be many more to come.

Just a few of the students who attended. Photo by: Trevor Stephney.

For more information visit: mhsmelaninminds.com

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