Mass Academy Celebrates Day of Diversity
Junior Staff Writer Mary O'Brien '26
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The yearly Day of Diversity at MAMS is a time to celebrate the multitude of different cultures represented at our school. The festivities included a viewing of Twilight: Los Angeles by Anna Deavere Smith, speeches and race cards by all the juniors, cultural performances, and food. This event is mainly for the juniors as it occurs throughout the entirety of a school day, but some seniors visited as well to either perform or sample the food.
Twilight: Los Angeles is a one-woman documentary play about the LA riots in 1992 starring Anna Deavere Smith reciting first-hand accounts of the riots. We watched this documentary on Day of Diversity because it portrays a diverse group of viewpoints, which is the focus of this day, and it skillfully discusses racial injustices in America as seen by multiple groups of people. Twilight fits really well with the MAMS Day of Diversity as it focuses on telling the stories of each person, discussing their hardships, and their communities.
Each student gave a heartfelt speech about their culture, traditions, and roots. The stories ranged from how a family ended up in America to traditions unique to their immediate family.
The juniors were challenged to create their own race card as an assignment for Humanities. The concept of race cards comes from the Race Card Project started in 2010 by Michele Norris, which encourages people to write their thoughts on race and identity in exactly six words. The race cards were placed around the school where they were able to be observed and discussed by the students. It was an interesting experience to see the worldviews and struggles of my peers and learn about the different aspects of their cultures.
As for the food, every junior brought in a dish that represented their culture. The dishes were separated into three categories: appetizers, entrees, and deserts with the addition of a drinks category for mango lassi and chai. Taking a walk through the room, you could start off with the appetizers, seeing everything from Bhel Puri to Irish soda bread to Potato pizza and Sichuan Spicy Cold Noodles. Then in the entrees section, there was Barbecue Pulled Pork Sliders, Barszcz z uszkami, Japchae, Pastitsio, and more. Finally, on the dessert tables, there was Tres Leches cake, Apple Impromptu, Medovik, Tarte aux fruits, Pink fluff, and so on. Even though Mrs. Small warned the class against attempting to sample all of the dishes in one go, there were definitely still attempts. How could one not want to try all of the dishes when there was such a wide array of delicious food?
Lastly, there were four performances by juniors, one by a senior, and a henna station. Three of the performances were musical, featuring piano, violin, trombone, saxophone, cello, and flute. There was also a recitation of excerpts from the Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri and a Bollywood-themed dance performance.
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