Your Turn: A Poem

by Mrs. Sandra Sohne-Johnson

I’ve given you nearly 46 years

Almost a half-century on this earth

Raised in Western educational systems

Your history

Your language

Your God

Your culture

Your norms

Educated

My fault?

46

No escape

Television

Magazines

History books

Museums

Movies

Neighborhoods

Schools

My fault?

I’ve given you nearly 46 years.

Invest one hour, one day, one week, one month of your time in me.

Am I not worthy of your time?

Am I not worthy of your energy?

Am I not worthy of your love?

Will you be my ally?

Do you have my back?

Does my life matter?

Do you have the will to try?

Donate

Protest

Read

Listen

Stand up

Say something

Do something

Take action

Educate yourself

46 years

Almost a half-century on this earth

Educated about you

When will you learn about me?

Mr. Alex-Zan is a local figure known for his workshops and socioemotional innovation, though he is additionally known for being a member of the Charlottesville

The City of Charlottesville and Albemarle County, prior to the late 1950s, equally have a troubled past through the process of school desegregation and integration. Following the 1954 decision in Brown v. Board of Education by the United States Supreme Court, the Charlottesville City School District refused to integrate local public schools and denied transfer requests from Black families for the 1955 academic year. A consortium of local Black families sued the Charlottesville School Board the following year in an effort to integrate the schools, and the United States 4th District Court promptly ruled in-favor of the families. Later, in 1957, the Charlottesville City School Board attempted to appeal the case to the United States Supreme Court but did not succeed. Following the orders to open all schools to Black families, the Charlottesville City Schools refused and ceased operations beginning in 1958. Though, following pressure from local, outraged families, the schools reopened in February 1959 in a limited capacity. The following September, at the opening of the school year, twelve students (known as the “Charlottesville Twelve”) successfully integrated Lane High School and Venable Elementary School. That September, Mr. Alexander walked the steps of Venable Elementary accompanied by his mother and two future classmates.

In his visit to the Upper School, the stage of Grisham Hall focused around a crowded rectangular table adorned on each side by signs detailing some of Mr. Alex-Zan’s characters and mantras. As he explained lessons of thinking before acting and on “watching your words,” he introduced one of his principal characters, YoGo. YoGo, whose name stands for “Yo! Let it go!,” is meant to teach people of all ages within the Charlottesville-Albemarle community to take a moment and “let it go”. As detailed in his presentation, YoGo is one of Mr. Alexander’s five characters and one of his 100+ copyrights and four trademarks. As Mr. Alex-Zan’s presentation spanned topics of mental health, peer pressure, achievement, and well-being, he remained engaging to all audience members and radiated energy of warmth and enthusiasm. After Mr. Alex-Zan’s invigorating presentation, the impact of his excitement and joy was palpable throughout the school. His messages of self-confidence and kindness were appreciated by many, and our School was so fortunate to welcome such an impactful trailblazer of local history.