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The Voices of Change
NTPS Black Student Unions are at the forefront of the student-led struggle for equity
Written by Editor-in-Chief Ahna Rader
On January 31st, the front lawn of River Ridge is alive with "Good morning!"s and seven a.m. yawns. Students park or jump out of their parent's car and pull their heavy backpack over both shoulders. First bell rings. Most student head to class, bumbling down familiar halls and walkways. However, when the warning bell rings, declaring the start of the day, a considerable group of students remain on the sidewalk in front of the school. These students, about 100 strong, make up the River RIdge Black Student Union. Ever since a River Ridge student named Ahmari Steplight was called a racial slur by a Capital High School student at a basketball game, the BSU was discussing a strike. This Monday was only the start of a week-long student strike in the name of ending racial injustice and rape culture in North Thurston Public Schools.
"We've been talking about a protest for years," River Ridge BSU member Laila Markland said. She's been a part of the BSU for almost 4 years. The incident with Capital certainly sparked public debate about racism and accountability in our schools, but such themes have a longer history in NTPS. "In the middle of planning the MLK assembly, we were watching all these things unfold and then there was a new administration and changes in our principal," Markland explains, "All these were happening, and nothing was being done to address the harassment and racism. Why would we plan an assembly to build community and collective when there really is no community right now because it's so unsafe?" Students of color and those who have been sexually assaulted feel unseen and unheard by the current administration in NTPS schools. "If we want to build community, it doesn't happen by remaining in the system that oppresses and harms us. We have to go outside of that," Markland said. Instead of preparing a traditional Martin Luther King assembly, the River Ridge BSU began organizing for an academic strike.
So what was the meaning of these protests? "At the heart of the protest was being heard, to get some kind of change to happen," Timberline junior Levi White explained. Students of color and sexual assault victims have made it clear that much of the ignorance they encounter comes from their school's administration. These students feel as though their school administrations are working against them and not in their best interests. River Ridge sophomore Serenity Sharp said, "As a group, at first it [our goal] was to really get the attention of our administration. They were acting like these things weren't happening. I had some friends who had personally had some bad incidents and I wanted to show them support and show them that we're willing to fight for them. Our goal ended up being to get an investigation on our current administration." In our schools, a distrust between the "higher ups" and the student body has become extremely apparent. "I kind of avoid administration because of all the stories I've heard. I never went to them, I didn't feel safe doing that," Sharp shared.
The BSU insists that this rift can be overcome by open communication. "As you progress through the K-12 system, you automatically defer to the one voice in the classroom, the teacher or the principal, and you stop questioning," River Ridge Art educator Christie Tran said. "You're trained to do that at such a very young age." Tran believes that we could all benefit from democratizing education. Democratizing education is a belief based upon giving students greater autonomy in school. It happens when the administrative hierarchy is dismantled and students have a say in the way they are educated.
"There needs to be student-led things. Not adding students to a superintendent's council but like having councils and committees that are led by students," Markland said. Rather than the limited opportunity for how and when students can share their thoughts like student boards and action councils, the BSU is seeking spaces in which students can directly interact with administrators and staff. "They need to hold spaces for students to come to them, to let them know what's going on," Sharp said.
BSU students are also pressing fro student advocates who can speak for and represent peers in meetings with staff. Sharp believes there needs to be distinct changes in administrators who are involved with the students and who show that they actually care and want to build community with the students that have been hurt in the past."
Since coming back to school, equity demands have been met by opposition claiming the timing is off. COVID-19 has decimated Timberline student morale. The 2021-22 school year has introduced unforeseen challenges like physical fighting, theft and arson. These challenges are often used as reasons why addressing rape culture and racism are not prioritized. Instead, we have a new lunch detention system to discourage tardies and the "Character Strong" advisory program. Currently the administration is focused on rebuilding what we lost during COVID-19 -- and little else.
Ironically, the community that our administration is seeking may be exactly what the BSU's reform demands can offer. Students at the academic strike claimed they found greater community within the week-long, student-led protest than they've found in their schools all year. "It was all of these students coming together to create the community that they didn't have. To be a part of this and watch the students like to connect and share their stories and be very open and vulnerable in a way that they
don't get to be because nobody listens to them inside that building," Markland said.
Timberline's Levi White described the protests as a "good experience." Sharp said, "It was beautiful to see, out of so much hurt, a nice community can be built with the protests." There is clear significance in a student-led event fostering a strong student community.
Tran was one of the few adults present at the protests. "Given the opportunity to create programs for themselves, they weren't just out there, you know, waving signs. They were quite organized," she said. "They went through safety procedures, emergency procedures. They had agendas [and] processed hurdles that were thrown at them. These young people are just engaged in so many levels, high levels of learning and growing, that they don't receive enough credit for."
The River Ridge BSU released a series of demands following the protests. These demands outline "cahnges that they felt needed to take place in order to create a safer school environment." The demands range from protections for students that chose to strike to a full investigation of NTPS by the Washington State Department of Justice. At the heart of the list is a hope for negotiation. "The district and administration doesn't see us as a student-led movement. They see it as like 'we're taking orders from the BSU advisors' rather than coming to the table and having a conversation," said Markland, "It's really about normalizing conversations about race and sexual assault in schools and classrooms because it's not talked about." Conversation between the district and the BSU is ongoing. "We've experienced a lot of stalling from them. They're showing promise, that they want to change, but we're not seeing the results yet," Sharp said. Between meetings with the district, the River Ridge BSU discovered that all of the demands "were already written in district policy," but unimplemented. "We are pursuing a class action lawsuit," Markland said.
The BSU is not acting out of spite. Levi White is seeking change. Serenity Sharpe wants justice. Laila Markland believes in equity. "This system was built for certain people. It was not built for people of color, women or people of the LGBTQ community and other marginalized communities, so tehre are a lot of people who exist in those communities and are underserved in the education system. There is a need for student voices because no student 'or human being' should have to be in an environment where they're expected to perform and not given the same resources [as others]," Markland said.
The students involved in the protests have made it clear that they want collaboration with the district, rather than passive listenig. "I know the students are willing to put in the work to collaborate. I think the rigitity of the system is getting in the way. There needs to be a way through it," Tran said.
In order to address harm toward black students and sexual assalut survivors, the district will be forced to redesign the way that students and administraators interact. To put it simply, in the words of Laila Markland, "We need to see change."