“Our Generation Will Do Better” - Students Respond to Profound Rally and Share Some of their Actual Speeches

By Avanthi Chen (Contributing Writer) and Kaylee Oppenheimer (Managing Editor)

On Sunday, June 14th, hundreds of people from our community gathered at Draper Park for the “Our Generation Will Do Better” Rally, organized by T’nyas Catalan and a group of graduating seniors. The rally was in part a fundraiser for 914United, a “therapeutic-education” organization based in Yonkers that advocates for the youth and the formerly incarcerated. Over $4,000 was raised for 914United, and over $1,000 for Black Lives Matter. Throughout the event, there was music (by a group called Esnti), dance, and many inspiring people from our community, who shared their experiences, perspectives, and dreams for a more racially aware and inclusive community.

Reflecting on the rally, T’nyas said that it was “an amazing experience” and that “I was surprised by the number of people that actually came up to me and said ‘We hear you guys,’ and I was surprised by how much of the administration came out, because people of color don’t really feel like we’re heard…we felt like people actually came out to receive a message and they heard it and they accepted what we were saying respectfully and I just liked that.”

Ben Halperin, another student who has been an integral speaker at these protests and rallies said, “I thought it did a good job of highlighting black voices, which is really important, because it’s dangerous when this movement is overshadowed by non-black voices, just because in the end that’s what this movement is about; it’s about the injustices faced by black people when it comes down to the core, and police brutality faced by black people every day in this country.”

Looking into the future, T’ynas said that students of color from the Rivertowns already have connections and that the majority of the Rivertowns are predominantly white. She added that we can go further, too: “We want to connect with Yonkers, we want to connect with the Bronx, we want to connect with everyone. So, what do we do next? What’s the next step? Let’s not just connect with the Rivertowns, let’s not keep doing the same thing over and over. Let’s push out and branch out more.”

Ben Halperin also shared his concerns about the movement being corrupted: “I’ve been going to a lot of protests in the city and I’ve probably been to three a week and I just hope in general and even across the country it doesn’t get co-opted by people who don’t want to focus on its core and co-opted by anarchists or radical white people trying to push their own personal agenda, and I really hope it doesn’t fracture because I think it has a lot of support throughout the country, throughout the state, and in our own town.”

Many of the speakers from the event kindly shared their speeches with us, which we have reprinted in the hyperlinks below. Click on the name to view the FULL SPEECH! We’ve also offered brief synopses and highlights:

T’nyas Catalan, a graduating senior, welcomed everyone to the “Our Generation Will Do Better” Rally and introduced the organization 914United, the recipient of the events’ fundraising efforts. She emphasized the importance of “fixing home first,” and looking to our own community for racial disparities, when fighting for racial justice. She called out the lack of representation in our curriculum and faculty here at Hastings, empowering the young people in the audience to continue pushing our teachers and administrators to prioritize these issues in the future.

“We deserve to hear and learn our history, read our books, celebrate our culture and be represented in our halls just the same as your children already do. In order for these changes to happen we need to remove and make changes to the restrictions that have kept them from happening in the past. We need more representation of people of color on all boards that make vital decisions for our school district and community. We understand that a lot of what we want does not happen overnight, BUT we cannot start towards change until we take the first steps.”

Another graduating senior, Avanthi Chen, talked about the shortcomings of our education system when it came to the lack of representation and racial literacy in our curriculum. Calling on our educators and administration to make this a priority, she emphasized the importance of intentionally teaching students about systemic racism despite racial discomfort.

“Treating police brutality as a controversial topic teaches the one person of color in class that our fear of the police isn’t valid. It teaches our white peers that it’s okay to deny and invalidate our experiences and continue to dismiss racism as something that doesn’t apply to us.”

Josh Thigpen, a rising junior at HHS, talked about his experience as a young black man in Hastings, expressing his anger and sadness for the lives lost to police brutality and the treatment of African-Americans in this country. Ending with a brief call to action, he expressed his pride in his identity and hope for the future.

“I'm proud to be black and I understand that my life will be different than others at this point but I do hope that we can make a change and one day in my lifetime black people won't have to fight for equality and justice but it will be given without question.”

Another rising junior, Paige Martin, made another powerful speech about the racism she and her family had faced moving into Hastings, and the lack of representation among her teachers. She called on our administration to make diversity and representation a priority, and challenged all Hastings residents to have these difficult conversations.

“The one teacher that I had who was African-American talked more about the injustices that were happening to people of color than the majority of my teachers combined. I remember whenever I would walk into the classroom everybody would be talking about how uncomfortable these conversations were. I didn't realize it then, but thinking about it now the uncomfortable conversation are the conversations worth having. And I just want to thank that teacher for trying to educate us when nobody else would.”

In a call to action to our school and administration, Iyra Chandra, a Hastings alum, emphasized the importance of racial literacy and representation of people of color in our faculty.

“I want to challenge Hastings and the Board of Education to think more innovatively and intentionally about the knowledge Hastings students are taking with them into the real world. The lack of education on diversity and inclusion leads to ignorance which in turn continuous oppressive systems, especially in forms of anti blackness.”

Kalani Martial, a rising senior, expressed his outrage at the events of the past few weeks and the history of police brutality in African-American history, in a speech calling for police reform and pointing out the problems of bias and corruption in our policing system.

“We need major police and prison reform, we call for a sense of security when we see police not fear and we call for an unbiased justice system that cares more for objectivity rather than simply getting the job done.”

Ben Halperin, another graduating senior, talked about his experience as a Chinese-American here at HHS, and dove deep into the history of racism against Asian people in America. He explained the dangers of the “model minority myth” and emphasized the need to aim our focus at deeper systemic racism in America. (We have also included an excerpt from an interview with Ben about a formative experience traveling throughout the South).

“The very same racist institutions that gave the Asian-American community the privilege of becoming a model minority, also treated black people as second class citizens for centuries. This racism is deeply ingrained in all aspects of American culture, whether we like it or not.”

Marlee Edwards, a graduating senior, spoke about her experience growing up black in Hastings, and how the lack of representation both in the curriculum and the faculty impacted her, calling on our administration to step up and make representation a priority in the future.

“The next step is about education and reform, and our generation will be the change. We will continue to pursue the establishment of an equitable sharing of the facts and the history of Black people. We will continue to demand equity and diversity in our classrooms and community. We will continue to be the generation that pushes for change. ”

Jenice Mateo-Toledo, Diversity Coordinator, delivered a call to action to many of the leaders and educators in our community, asking them to continue the work of diversity and inclusion despite how exhausting it may be.

“As a member of the Hastings School District for twenty-one years I have witnessed a pattern in our equity, inclusion, and diversity work. We often begin the work, move forward, then it stalls. Then something occurs and we restart the engines, move forward, and then it stalls. Then something else happens, we restart the engines, move forward, and it stalls again. Why does this happen? This happens because this work is difficult. It’s exhausting. It’s never-ending so we lose our stamina. What we have learned is that racism doesn’t take a break. It’s insidious. Just when we think we have “solved it,” it morphs and shifts and takes and on new forms. So we have to continuously readjust.”

To see a video of the event, check out the Facebook Live video here.