MLK Symposium: From Values to Action

Each year on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, the Millbrook community reflects on the renowned civil rights leader’s legacy and how we can continue his work. Dean of DEIB Patrice King and Assistant Dean of DEIB Tatiana Quintanilla lead the MLK Symposium, encouraging students and faculty to apply this year’s core value of integrity and stand up for their values.

Events kicked off in the Chelsea Morrison Theater, bright and early at 9 a.m. After watching a Tedx Talk by an inspiring teenage leader from Canada, those gathered took several minutes to discuss their own leadership capability. Finishing with a flourish, the group wrote down labels that others have applied to them on sticky notes, balled them up, and, as one, threw them onto the stage, powerfully illustrating their ability to shape themselves.

The students then split up by form for service activities. In Casertano Hall, IIIrd and IVth formers penned missives to senior citizens in care homes for Letters Against Isolation, spreading community far beyond campus borders. Meanwhile, Vth and VIth formers digitized historical documents in a Smithsonian Transcribe-a-Thon.

Following a quick break for lunch, students again separated into forms to participate in breakout workshops:

 

 

The symposium closed in the theater with various rousing performances. The Black Student Union delivered a poetry reading, step routines by the Steppas, a skit on engaging with current events, and an interpretive dance. Poet Gold then performed several of her poems, with a little help from the audience on the refrains. Ms. King closed the day by reminding us all to let our courage speak louder than our fear.

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