Voicing the many shades of change

Seated on the steps of the cafeteria stage during this year's first Diversity Workshop, junior Jennifer Collins tearfully reveals the sensitive details of her difficult upbringing. Though the audience before her is full of strangers, she knows that they won't laugh at her, or comment on the personal nature of her story. They will simply listen.

Collins is one of the leaders of Diversity Workshop, a student-run organization dedicated to battling prejudice in the Blair community. The first seminar of the year was held Thursday, Oct. 11 and attracted more than fifty students, including some from other county schools.

The club tackles an array of issues, ranging from racism to political conflicts, and allows students from all grade levels and backgrounds to discuss their differences and encourage tolerance inside school. This year, Collins says that leaders are trying to attract more participants, working with classes and holding regional workshops to promote awareness of discrimination.

Bridging the gap

Blair's chapter of Diversity Workshop was established in 1998 based on guidelines from the National Coalition Building Institute (NCBI) and it seeks to foster a forum for student expression. Though Blair is one of the few MCPS high schools sponsoring such a club, its members remain committed to inspiring change in the local community. And while Blair is among the most diverse schools in the county, students in Diversity Workshop feel that there are still divisions among the student body - gaps they aim to bridge through an open-minded approach.

Larry Bell, director of the NCBI's Washington D.C. regional chapter, says that the Diversity Workshop program was created to enable students to communicate concerns with one another. "People, especially students, have to develop their own sense of pride for their community," he says. "Every issue counts, and the workshops aim to identify and change the behavior towards any stereotypes that still exist."

According to senior leader Claire Kalala, Diversity Workshop is founded on three basic principles: respect, confidentiality and partnerships. In the close-knit atmosphere, Kalala says that students feel comfortable sharing things they may not normally share with their peers. She stresses that the workshops have a "what happens here stays here" mentality and that trust is crucial in establishing a healthy relationship between participants.

Sophomore Sekou Sangare says that he was deeply inspired by his first workshop, amazed at the depth of discussion and the student initiative in addressing a variety of issues. "[In Diversity Workshop] we realize that we have much more in common with the people we never knew before or cared to listen to," he says.

Opening up, speaking out

Stretched across the stage during the October workshop, a blue line of tape is used to represent a cultural division. In "Cross the Line," one of the workshop's icebreaker activities, participants step over the boundary if the statement read aloud applies to them. While the activity begins with general questions about musical taste and other interests, topics get progressively serious. Issues for later discussions include HIV/AIDS, sexual orientation, pregnancy and abuse.

Throughout the workshop, the student leaders stress the importance of silence and emphasize the delicacy of some of the topics. "You have to be respectful of whoever is up there, because something might be affecting them that you may not even be aware of," Kalala says.

After the initial workshop, each subsequent meeting consists of training for new student leaders and other participants. During these sessions, students identify issues concerning the Blair population and discuss the necessary steps to solve the problems.

The workshops are also an outlet to share personal stories. During this October session, senior Ana Palomino, who is biracial, recalls a visit to her grandfather's predominantly white, rural hometown in Minnesota earlier this year. She says she was shocked when she was greeted with harsh ethnic slurs about her Latino heritage from her relatives. However, with the support of the other students, Palomino fights back her strong emotions on the stage, reminding fellow workshop participants of the painful prejudice that can exist even within one's own family.

Palomino knows that although it is hard to be open and honest, students eventually break out of their protective shells. "Some people will literally turn red up on stage, but ultimately, students become more outgoing and develop into better public speakers," she says.

Externalizing emotions

Apart from the over-arching principle of respect, the workshops have no rigid rules. Anyone is free to voice an opinion, however controversial or candid it may be, and students openly discuss racial slurs or epithets that would be taboo in normal conversation.

Such unfiltered discussions often take place during "Internalized Oppressions," one of the group's core activities in which students list all of the characteristics they don't like about their particular cultural group. Senior Brettney Oke, pointing her finger at her partner in frustration, explains her disapproval of the "N-word" and how black people, including herself, often use it in vain. Oke's statement immediately sparks a dispute over the use of the term in modern society. While some believe it to be an offensive label associating blacks with slavery, other students insist that the meaning of the term has evolved over the years.

Oke says that analyzing the effect of such derogatory slang is a primary goal of the workshops, as it requires students to identify the source of the stigma associated with each word or mindset and then discuss the consequences and solutions. "It is important to make the distinction between what we say to others, what we mean and how it can be negatively interpreted," Oke says. After each activity, members pledge to try to never discriminate against or judge another individual prematurely.

Voices from within

Following the first few activities, workshops move into more private territory. In "Hidden Identities," each student has to reveal three things that someone else would not be able to guess simply by looking at them. Kalala says that students start off with innocent revelations but soon uncover much deeper truths. In the October workshop, one student said that her brother has been to jail so many times that she has lost count. Another noted that schizophrenia runs in her family and that she often wonders if she will meet the same fate. The activity then transitions into what is perhaps the most powerful portion of the workshop - its dramatic conclusion.

All is silent as "Speak Outs," the workshop's finale, begins. Participants gather closely around the stage, anxious to hear what secrets will be revealed in the activity that Kalala describes as the soul of the session.
Collins steps forward and starts to explain the hardships of her past. During her early school years, she was at some points, literally, the only white girl at her school, in the inner-city streets of Baltimore. Though now more comfortable in Blair's multiracial student body, she says that back then, other students assumed she was "just a rich white girl." She explains that this was untrue, and that she, too, had a rough time adjusting to city life and making friends who were willing to see past her skin color.

Students are able to voice their most personal stories or emotional experiences to the rest of the group, Collins says. She explains that she is not hesitant to speak about her personal life in front of strangers. "Sometimes I am more comfortable sharing in front of large groups things that I may not have even discussed with my own family," she says. "The workshop environment fosters such a sense of privacy and support."

As Collins finishes her speech, the silence that echoes through the hall is finally broken by the applause of students - students who now seem to Collins less like a bunch of strangers and more like those who share a common goal of crafting change.

Diversity Workshop meets the second and fourth Wednesday of every month from 2:15 - 3:00 p.m.