Rosetta Lee challenged how we think about ourselves and others. Ms. Lee delivered the annual Martin Luther King Day address on Jan 20. She began the speech by defining terms, such as identity, and breaking it down into three categories: Internal, External, and Institutional. Internal identity is the set of characteristics that do not or cannot change about a person. Some examples of internal identity are race, gender, or religion. She stressed that the younger generation should be educated about these characteristics, recalling that when she was a child, as an able-bodied person who consumed media with able-bodied people, she never thought about people with disabilities. External identity focuses on differences that are not usually considered identity but can be determining factors, such as the language you speak, if you have a dialect, and the type of neighborhood you live in. Institutional identity is a sense of self shaped by roles in society, such as a position at a company.
Ms. Lee then talked about her upbringing, being born in South Korea with two sisters, and how her parents came to the United States. Her parents divorced, and then her father married another woman in the United States. Then her mom left for America, allowing the father to claim custody of his children and reunite the family there. Ms. Lee talked about how she knew her parents had made a great sacrifice for her by coming to the country, so she worked extraordinarily hard to get admitted to Harvard University. While at Harvard, Ms. Lee applied for U.S. citizenship, and during her final interview, her interviewer commented that, since she had attended Harvard, she was among the people the country wanted.
This comment prompted Ms. Lee to enter a period of deep reflection, which eventually led her to her current professional career. In the final minutes of her speech, Ms. Lee talked about how to find your identity through remembering your origin story and how you got here. She spoke about how this helped her find her identity and how she wanted to give back to those who are struggling to find theirs. Ms. Lee’s mission is to create a diverse, inclusive society for all; a community where everyone feels they belong.
Ms. Lee’s talk touched on identity, which relates to the early December Chapel about homophobia at Belmont Hill. The chapel featured the Travaglini brothers and Bennett Morris, who recounted their Belmont Hill experiences through an interview format with Ms. Schmunk and Mr. Grant. Their community received their words well, and, according to many, they had a genuine impact. According to a form that was sent out, 41% of students responded with a four when asked how well they remembered the chapel on a scale of one to five. Additionally, 25% of students responded with a three, indicating that overall, the community remembered the chapel well, considering that it has already been almost two months since it was given.
When asked about what they took away from the chapel, many students offered insightful comments like “I should take action if words are hurtful, even if they are not directed towards me,” and “Don’t be homophobic…saying the f-slur makes you look childish. Be wary of what other people say and try to foster a community that is accommodating to all people.”
Many students viewed the chapel as a reminder to be careful with their language and not say anything they don’t mean. This reflects well on our community, as it means that students can tell right from wrong. When asked if there had been times since the chapel that people stood up against a homophobic statement or act, the overwhelming majority said that they hadn’t witnessed such a thing at our school, and the few who did said that they spoke against it.
Finally, students were asked if having an ally give the chapel impacted their experience. The consensus was that it broadened perspectives and made the issue feel much more real. In the words of one respondent, “I think it gave a more relatable experience and also a role model to follow. Personally, I don’t identify within the LGBTQ+ community, but seeing someone up there who was heterosexual and interacting with the other two speakers showed me how I should act and what it might actually entail to have and support friends in the LGBTQ+ community.”
In the future, Belmont Hill should continue to have chapels and speakers like this to educate boys about how to be more considerate towards others in a genuine way, even if they are received as just simple reminders. After all, character is decided by the small acts and decisions just as much as the big ones.
