Silhouette February 2024

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ilhouette S

COLUMBUS SCHOOL FOR GIRLS

VOL. 69

ISSUE 3

February 2024

Martin Luther King Jr.: How Do We Carry On a Legacy?

Della Jones, XII

“I have a dream today,” famously said Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to hundreds of thousands of people in Washington D.C. in 1963. His dream of racial equality, his advocacy for civil rights in a country where those rights have been overlooked, his nonviolent approach to activism, and his tragic death motivated by hate when he was a man that merely preached love has made Dr. King a celebrated figure for decades. While his birthday is a nationally recognized holiday, the CSG community also celebrates his legacy through the annual MLK program. Although the program takes place in January, the Beauty of African American Culture Club (BAACC) begins planning the program that celebrates Dr. King’s life and legacy as early as October. “We began by asking administration for ideas for alumnae speakers,” remarked Justice Johnson, XII, who currently serves as president of BAACC. This year’s speaker was Olivia Nathan, ‘05, who is passionate about HIV prevention and giving medical care to underserved populations. “She leaned more into the theme than other speakers in the past, which I really liked,” said Justice. The theme of this year’s program was “Lifting Black voices, propelling youth forward.” “We tried hard to make the program youth-centered and to give a lot of voice to younger

students,” explained Justice. This goal was shown through the inclusion of two fifth-grade speakers and the Lower School performance of “We Shall Overcome.” Justice emphasized that making young and diverse voices is important to bettering the nation that we live in: “We are the generation that can continue [to fight for] MLK’s dream for equality.” The MLK program featured a step routine performed by Middle and Upper School students to Kendrick Lamar’s “Alright.” For nearly two months, the members met during the week to learn and perfect the choreography. Yori O’Neal, XII, helped plan the step routine: “It gave me some time to interact with the Middle and Upper school communities, all while doing something I love: dancing.” Yori helped make announcements, determine the number of participants, and choreograph the routine. “I wanted our routine to resemble that of a fraternity or sorority routine, but also be beginner friendly,” she explained. Today, sororities and fraternities often use step as a way to convey a message or simply for entertainment. At the MLK program, the result of this long planning and practicing process was an enjoyable, upbeat, and impressive routine. This year, the MLK program was an important celebration of culture, community, and power, while still honoring the impact of Dr. King.

Dr. Olivia Nathan sharing a speech with CSG.

CSG Step Team performs during MLK Program. Both photos courtesy of @colsschforgirls Instagram.

Mindfully Maneuvering

Mass Media Madeline Hansen, XII

Right now, you are consuming news media, but can you really trust this source? Each time you consume a news source (like this one!) there is a chance for misinformation and bias. With so many events happening domestically and abroad, it can be hard to research current events without coming across these problems. Researching a topic is a crucial part of taking steps towards becoming educated on current events, so I sat down with Upper School history teacher Dr. Tremper, who teaches the Research Capstone class. “Don’t expect to find the most trustworthy information on social media,” explains Dr. Tremper. She recommends using social media such as TikTok and Instagram to spark interest in a topic, but those media have no guardrails and cannot always be used as trustworthy sources. Another key to researching

is “reading widely.” “It's not going to be one source that explains everything to you,” Dr. Tremper urges. She suggests that students should read at least five sources and pay attention to the author's credibility and the credibility of their evidence. “What are the things the sources have in common? What do they corroborate? That is where you find the most facts,” Dr. Tremper explains. She endorses sources such as the New York Times, Associated Press, BBC, and well-known established news organizations. Additionally, she recommends looking at non-US news sources which can provide different perspectives beyond the US. The last piece of advice that Dr. Tremper has is to watch for news pieces versus opinion articles which can give you opinionated information. Librarian Mr. Baker also advised on the best way to explore current events. “Finding background information on whatever the topic is,” is how Mr. Baker begins to become educated on an event. Like social

media, Wikipedia can be a source to understand how a topic is generally talked about. But, check for quality references in any article of interest and decide if they're trustworthy enough to answer your question. Like Dr. Tremper, Mr. Baker recommends finding and following people you trust to be experts in the field. They can help you get a well-rounded understanding of the topic. Using two to three sources in a kind of media that makes sense to you is the last thing Mr. Baker suggests, as this will help you not become overwhelmed. Overall, when going about educating yourself about current events, two pieces of advice stand out. First, to find trustworthy sources that give current and trustworthy information, and second, to find a variety of sources that will give you well-rounded information to avoid relying only on bias, or opinion rather than facts. Hopefully, you now feel you can trust this article and take its recommendations for your future research!


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