Young Ethnic Scholars invites everyone to “Wake Up, Wellesley” a series of four biweekly, online conference-style discussions on racism in Wellesley, intended to illuminate the injustices and microaggressions that permeate various dimensions of our children’s and our neighbors’ everyday lives. We hope to bring the national dialogue to our home and incite a collaborative effort among our community members in developing an action plan for eradicating racism in our town.
As the pandemic subsides and we are able to safely convene in person, this discourse will continue as a bi-weekly or monthly meeting. “Wake Up, Wellesley” is intended to serve as only the beginning of an ongoing commitment to acknowledging our privilege, lifting up our black neighbors, and actively promoting equality. Wellesley will refuse to let this movement lose steam. Wellesley will not allow these voices – growing increasingly hoarse with every hour – to go unheard. Wellesley will set an example for the rest of Massachusetts, for the rest of our nation, on what it means to listen, learn, and change.
We are holding our first panel-style discussion on Tuesday, June 16 at 6 PM. It will be a Zoom meeting broadcasted live to YouTube on this channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUrpmU5aNJdN64NTP9wo4rA?view_as=subscriber. This first meeting will provide Black members of our community with the opportunity to share their stories and illuminate the racism in our own schools, stores, and community spaces. All are welcome – residents of Wellesley and beyond – to listen to Wellesley’s own students’. Here is a list of speakers (names you will recognize as having left indelible imprints on our school community!) who have generously agreed to give their time and share powerful anecdotes of their experiences as black members of this community: Kayla Reid, Bongani Msikavanhu, Keleyia Rochelle, Yasmine Jaffier, Zoe Gomez, Sierra Sinclair. Hope to (virtually, from a safe social distance) see you there!!
This is a partner event offered to the Wellesley community by Young Ethnic Scholars, students of color and allies of Wellesley High School taking action against racism in our community.