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Dashers Dialogue on Racial Injustice
D A S H E R S D I A L O G U E A B O U T RACIAL INJUSTICE
BY MADELINE ZUKOWSKI, DSHA ’11
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In the wake of recent racial injustice and a push to educate fellow classmates to eradicate racism, the DSHA Student Diversity & Inclusion Council has—and are in the midst of—developing a plan to engage students. Between organizing a virtual Dasher Dialogue in early June following the death tions continue, the council knows the community is listening and feel it is their responsibility to help make a true difference.
Ahmaud Arbery. Breonna Taylor. George Floyd. These names have become part of the community and country’s vernacular. Protests erupted all over the world while DSHA students were at home, participating in virtual learning. For many, DSHA marks a safe space to work out feelings and talk through current happenings with their friends or faculty members. Because of the social distancing required due to COVID-19, many students reached out to each other and faculty members virtually, looking for a way to discuss the recent events.
Enter the DSHA Student Diversity and Inclusion Council.
Dialoguing With Other Dashers The DSHA Student Diversity and Inclusion Council, student-led and run, is made up of a dozen or so students who are passionate about promoting and celebrating diversity, equity, and engagement within the DSHA community. They are best known around the school for running and organizing the monthly Dasher Dialogues, conversations that create a safe, open, and respectful place for students to share their thoughts and opinions, and ask questions on topics like immigration, cultural appropriation, and mental health, among others.
of George Floyd, to ensuring important conversa
The killing of Floyd and ensuing conversations surrounding systemic racism called for a Dasher Dialogue. The council sprang into action, organizing a dialogue over Zoom on June 9. Topics of discussion included the effects of systemic racism in the community and wider world; the death of Floyd and protests that arose from it; and the importance of educating oneself on racism and the effects of it in the country. Seventy-six faculty, staff, and students joined the conversation.
“I think the Dasher Dialogue went well,” said Dami Awosika, DSHA ’21, one of the senior leaders of the council and moderator for the conversation. “We were able to talk about how the current movements affect us personally, and how systemic racism and privilege transfer into our school life. It was great to see all kinds of different people and even teachers add adequate input, offer solutions, and express their feelings.”
Justice For George Awosika first asked students to share their reactions to the death of Floyd. While she said she was
THE WHEN AND WHY OF THE STUDENT DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION COUNCIL
2015-2016 | The council was created when former World Languages Faculty Jim Wilkinson became the first Diversity and Inclusion Coordinator. Wilkinson reached out to the student body to ask for volunteers to create the committee. The first year, 15 student volunteers planned in-school diversity and inclusion events, including Dasher Dialogues, which began in the spring of 2016.
2018-2019 | At this time, the council became a part of the wider DSHA Student Council, whereas they had previously operated independently. This also gave them a consistent schedule within the co-curricular SPRING 2020 structure. 2020-2021 | Currently, 12 students serve on the committee. In the upcoming school year, they plan to run Instagram live dialogues with students and community professionals focused around current events and how they affect DSHA; plan more in-school diversity events such as Multicultural Week, Black History Month activities, etc.; and feature “wise quotes” from faculty about diversity and inclusion.
— Laetitia Faye, DSHA ’21
taken aback, she wasn’t shocked. Laetitia Faye, DSHA ’21, added that she was saddened that another Black person had to be killed before others started to realize that changes need to be made.
“It seems like a cycle,” she said. “Someone dies and then people protest for a bit, and then things go back to normal. The uprisings we see now are continuing, and that gives me hope and helps me to see the light at the end of the tunnel.”
Students Become The Teachers While the conversation was dominated by students, as is the goal of the Dasher Dialogues, the faculty and staff were given an opportunity to listen and learn.
Some white faculty and staff asked questions on how to better support students of color, as well as family and friends.
Awosika added that she has had hard conversations with her little siblings. “I remind them that Black is beautiful,” she said. “Telling them that they are worth something and they are going to be something, despite what others might say, is so important.”
The importance of educating oneself on the issues, regardless of skin color, was stressed throughout the conversation. Madeline Cesarz, DSHA ’21, asked where she should start, with countless articles, websites, and resources on social media and elsewhere on the internet.
The chat feature on Zoom quickly filled with books, movies, and podcasts that could be used as education tools with recommendations submitted by students, faculty, and staff.
What’s Next? While this Dasher Dialogue was a starting point in the wake of Floyd’s death, the DSHA Student Diversity and Inclusion Council quickly made plans to continue the dialogue.
Celebrated on June 19, Juneteenth commemorates the freedom of all enslaved people in the United States. The council posted a guide on their student-run Instagram as a tool to educate the community about the holiday.
In addition, Awosika plans to run mini-Dasher Dialogues on Instagram live, discussing current events and how they affect the DSHA community. The plan includes having guests on Instagram live, both current students and community professionals, to engage with the audience and converse about feelings in and around school in an informal environment.
Awosika also hopes to hear from the community with regard to the topics they would like to discuss when Dasher Dialogues are held in-person again.
“It’s important to discuss the situations in school, our feelings, and embrace our power to be heard,” Awosika said over Instagram live June 23 when discussing her hopes for the future. “Even if our Instagram live discussions only reach a few people, it’s that many more people whose voices are being heard.”
Highlight and celebrate diversity within the DSHA community.
Promote a welcoming community while fostering genuine respect for and acceptance of each other’s differences.
Help all members of the student body feel safe and heard while at school.
Serve as mentors to incoming students of color.
Plan monthly Dasher Dialogues and other events (such as Black History Month activities and Multicultural Week) with other groups within the DSHA community.
Sponsor and lead the Diversity Conference, a bi-annual conference which brings students from all Catholic area high schools together to engage in best practices surrounding diversity and equity.
Work on and learn more about issues of diversity and inclusion within DSHA and the wider community.
Serve as a link between the DSHA student body and DSHA administration.
T H E I M P O R T A N C E O F D I A L O G U E A N D L I S T E N I N G T O O N E A N O T H E R
In addition to the Dasher Dialogue you read about on the previous pages, the DSHA community has held additional, ongoing, and intentional conversations to process racial injustice in our systems and society, and to reflect on action steps to take as our community and country heals and moves forward. DSHA stands in solidarity with the Black community and believes that creating space to dialogue about racism and racial injustices is a necessary step in order to act with and fight for love, mercy, and justice as both a community and individuals.
Wishing to Be Where the Civil Rights Leaders Were
Two weeks after the death of George Floyd and amidst protests that arose from it, Theology Faculty Lisa Metz and MUHS Diversity Director Rene Howard-Paez met with a group of students who were scheduled to go on the DSHA and MUHS Civil Rights Pilgrimage.
The conversation was held on the first day the group would have embarked on the trip — June 10. Students shared thoughts about the events of racial injustice seen in the weeks and months prior, as well as what actions they could take in the upcoming weeks and in the long term to actively support racial justice.
The pilgrimage, filled with prayer and reflection, would have led students to historic civil rights places, museums, and monuments across Alabama, Tennessee, and Missouri.
Although the trip was cancelled due to COVID-19, Metz and Howard-Paez led the group in discussion surrounding what led them to sign up for the pilgrimage. “I was most looking forward to having the opportunity to walk in my ancestor’s shoes in order to better understand their struggles towards the establishment of civil rights,” said Zaria Johnson, DSHA ’21.
2020-2021 All-School Read
All incoming and returning students are required to read Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson over the summer. DSHA chose the book in early spring and announced it as the all-school summer read on May 18. The book will be used as a theme throughout the 2020-2021 school year.
This non-fiction book tells the story of Stevenson and his non-profit the Equal Justice Initiative, a law office in Montgomery, AL that defends those who are low-income, incarcerated, or wrongfully convicted.
Academic Dean Heather Mansfield is hoping to offer summer book clubs for incoming freshmen to discuss the book and dialogue around events of racial injustices, with conversations led by the DSHA National Honor Society students. Ongoing discussions will occur across all grade levels throughout the upcoming school year.
An Ongoing Commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Engagement
In response to recent discussions among the DSHA community about the issue of systemic racism, faculty and staff had multiple discussions over Zoom about how DSHA can continue to work toward intentionally becoming part of the solution.
In early 2019, DSHA worked with Derute Consulting Cooperative to begin a full curriculum review during the 2019-2020 school year, which will continue in the 2020-2021 school year and beyond. Other recommendations from the cooperative included additional teacher and administrative staff training, opportunities for structured student dialogue, and a complete visual audit of the school environment.
The TSC were asked to reflect on how they fit into DSHA’s Diversity, Equity, and Engagement strategic plan, which includes improvements like access to AP and dual-credit classes for underrepresented students, improving the intercultural competency of the entire community, and creating a culture that ensures all students feel valued.
To learn more about Diversity, Equity, and Engagement at DSHA, visit dsha.info/diversity.
D A S H E R S U S E T H E I R V O I C E S T O F I G H T SYSTEMIC RACISM
Among the rise of conversations surrounding systemic racism and racial injustices this spring and summer, two young DSHA alumnae have found their voice in the national spotlight.
Tamia Fowlkes, DSHA ’18 Meet the Press – NBC News
On June 5, Tamia Fowlkes, DSHA ’18, was featured on Meet the Press: College Roundtable, moderated by Chuck Todd of NBC News. The discussion centered around the dueling public health crises of COVID-19 and systemic racism. Fowlkes is a rising junior at UW-Madison studying political science and journalism. She currently serves in a virtual fellowship at NBC; she is an Andrew Goodman Foundation Ambassador; and she also holds two additional internships at the Big Ten Voting Challenge and the Wisconsin State Journal. Fowlkes was nominated to interview for this opportunity by her professors at UW-Madison independent of her NBC fellowship.
During the roundtable, she and two other college journalists interviewed NAACP President Derrick Johnson. Fowlkes specifically asked Johnson: “How do you think students and campuses can leverage weight and power when they are asked to address racial injustices and microaggressions on their campuses without money or support in a general sense? And how do we make a change in a different way than in 1968 and end up where we are now to ensure that the change we make is lasting?”
To view the full clip posted on June 8, visit NBC News on YouTube.
Ameera Pearsall, DSHA ’20 | National Public Radio
Following the death of Ahmaud Arbery, National Public Radio asked its audience to write a poem about his death — to help “shine a light on what's been going on in our country that helps push us toward change and explores what's to come: chaos or community.” Lines from various submissions were pulled and formed into one collective poem entitled Running For Your Life: A Community Poem for Ahmaud Arbery. Ameera Pearsall, DSHA ’20, answered this call. Several lines from her submission were chosen to form the collective poem published by NPR. On June 17, she was interviewed by WUWM — Milwaukee's NPR — to read her work in full. She was also asked to further reflect on why she decided to write the poem, the death of Arbery, and the call to fight systemic racism.
To listen to the full interview, where she encourages listeners that “we can choose to do better,” visit WUWM.com.
For the next unarmed black person gunned down in the streets.
For the next unarmed black person unfortunate enough to meet someone who saw threat before they saw human.
I am sorry.
I am sorry that your life has become a metaphor. I am sorry the only song they know to sing for you is tragedy.
were ever meant to be.
Sorry I cannot ask what you would have wanted.
Sorry my fingers are stained with ink while a sidewalk exists that is stained with your blood.
I am sorry that we all know your name now; that we will forget it far too soon.
I am sorry that your story was written for you; that we have made you the hero of a battle you never got to choose. I am sorry that we cannot do more; that all I can do is write this poem; that I do not know enough to do more.
I am sorry that it doesn’t matter that I am sorry.
I am sorry that I have made this about me.
I am sorry that this is not enough; will never be enough.
I am sorry.
I am sorry.
