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Connecting the Dots on MLK Day 

The documentary style of journalism, a big part of Soledad O’Brien’s lengthy media career, affords her the time to probe an issue.   

“In a world where we have become focused on a sound bite — everyone has eight seconds to tell their story — to have a long time to spell out issues and give people context and help them understand what is happening in the world ... that is a luxury,” Ms. O’Brien said in an interview shortly before she addressed students, faculty, and staff at a convocation on Tuesday, January 21, a day set aside at Loomis Chaffee for conversation and reflection about Martin Luther King Jr. and his legacy. After the convocation, students gathered for various workshops, and a series of additional MLK Week events are scheduled for upcoming days.  

Ms. O’Brien has anchored and reported for network and cable TV, is the founder of Soledad O’Brien Productions, and has received numerous media awards.   

Ms. O’Brien’s address to the Loomis community explored the history of the civil rights movement and Dr. King’s role, including aspects that are not widely known or understood.  

She showed some clips from documentaries about not only Dr. King, but also Rosa Parks, best known for her role in the Montgomery bus boycott in Alabama in 1955. At the time, Blacks sat toward the back of a bus and whites sat in the front.  If the “white section” became full, Blacks had to give up their seats. On this day, each of the four seats in the row had to be vacated even though there was only one white person needing a seat. Ms. Parks refused to get up this time. 

Ms. O’Brien said Ms. Parks is quoted saying she was “tired,” but that quote is often misinterpreted to mean she was fatigued after a long day of work as a seamstress. “The reality was, and she would say this over and over and over again, and no one would really listen to her, that she was exhausted by being treated as a second-class citizen. So when she said she was tired, it wasn’t, you know, I had such a long day working as a seamstress, it was racism is grinding me down — and today I’m done,” Ms. O’Brien explained. 

That day and every day for the next 13 months, Rosa Parks was part of a movement that led to a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that bus segregation is unconstitutional. The Montgomery bus boycott also helped lead to the rise of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. as the face and voice of the civil rights movement. At the beginning of the movement, he was a young preacher, tapped to lead because of his ability to get along with various factions in the cause, Ms. O’Brien noted. 

“He didn’t come in as this powerful figure,” she said. “He started as this regular guy.” Perhaps leading change can come from any of us, she said. 

Yet leading social change in the 1960s and leading change today will inevitably look different. 

“The church is not the center of life as it was back then,” Ms. O’Brien said. “All those meetings took place in church. Those protests were led by pastors and religious leaders, so today what replaces that and how? And Dr. King rose as this leader. Who is that person today or on the way today? How does social media play a role in this? Do marchers even have an impact today? Do we care enough about any issue to say, ‘For [13] months I will put myself in discomfort because I believe in something so strongly’? Do we believe that today? I don’t know. I think those are all questions for you to consider when you think about the impact and legacy of Dr. King." 

In response to a student's question about social media’s role in social change, Ms. O’Brien was quick to say she did not know all the answers, but did know this: “We are in a time of transition. The church is not leading this conversation right now, and it might not ever again. You might not have that one single leader. ... The model might not be marches or sit-ins. What that is going to be I don’t know, but I know for sure you are the folks who are going to be on the forefront of it.” 

MLK 2025 celebration: Jody Reilly Soja, Soledad O'Brien, Roland Davis

Head of School Jody Reilly Soja, convocation speaker Soledad O'Brien, and interim Director of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Roland Davis.  

The student leaders of PRISM — seniors Izzy Heflin, Sydney Hallowell, and Christine Wu, and junior Aster Conway-Reppert — each played a role in the convocation’s introductions. Before Ms. O’Brien spoke, Roland Davis, the interim director of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, and Head of School Jody Reilly Soja offered reflections on the day. Izzy noted this was a day of celebration but also a call to action. 

Ms. O’Brien had talked about the call to action in the interview before she took the stage. 

“It is very easy to look back at events that happened a long time ago and think it’s irrelevant to me today in my life, especially if you are a young person,” she said. “I think it is interesting to help students connect the dots about some specific things that happened in the civil rights movement that are relevant today to their lives. And what I also have always found interesting about MLK Day is that it is about doing acts of service, investing in your community, and figuring out how you want to serve the people. The story of MLK is interesting and relevant and important and resonates today.” 

Students went about connecting those dots later in workshops, ranging in topics from “faith and justice” to “music and the civil rights” to a screening and discussion of the film 13th, which is about how the 13th Amendment led to mass incarceration in the United States 

The Chamber Music Ensemble performed “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” a cherished song sometimes referred to as the Black National Anthem, at the start of the convocation. Ms. O’Brien, who after the convocation said she was moved by the beauty of the Chamber Singers’ voices, could be seen taking a video during the performance. Improv jazz also was played before and after the convocation.  

Jody, in her address to the crowd, talked about visiting the Legacy Museum in Montgomery, which provides a journey through racial injustice in America. She talked about sitting in the pews of Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church, where Dr. King was pastor when he helped organize the Montgomery bus boycott. She spoke of the church as being “charged with the strength and power of history.” She spoke about all the juxtapositions she saw as she walked the city, starting with the museum being built on the site of a cotton warehouse where enslaved Blacks had worked. 

More dots to the past were connected by Roland when he introduced two special guests, Windsor Mayor Nuchette Black-Burke, the first Black woman to lead the town as mayor; and Emily Rodriguez ’90. Roland also gave a nod to faculty member Adrian Stewart ’90. Emily and Adrian were leaders of PRISM in 1990 and advocated for a special convocation in recognition of MLK Day, Roland said. 

“Our gathering here today could not have happened without their efforts 35 years ago,” Roland said. “Students, as difficult as it may be to grasp, what you do now can make a difference for our shared future. Never underestimate your power to change the world for the better. These two alums are evidence of this.” 

Junior Sophie Posamentier

Junior Sophie Posamentier lends her voice to a improv jazz performance at the start of the MLK convocation. 

Roland went on to connect even more dots, saying his father, Willie, was, like Dr. King, a graduate of Morehouse College in Atlanta. They were not in school at the same time but were connected by a shared mentor, Dr. Benjamin Mays, a leader in the civil rights movement and the president of Morehouse from 1940 to 1967.  

“Because of his relationship with Dr. Mays, my father was friends with Dr. King and spent many nights at King’s house,” Roland said. “I grew up hearing many stories about Dr. King and Dr. Mays. The theme of this year [at Loomis Chaffee] is the power of storytelling, and with this in mind I wanted to share the [stories] with all of you so we understand the connection we all have with the past. I wanted you all to know your connection to this day through the Loomis Chaffee alums in this very place.” 

After the convocation, Emily said she was inspired by the day’s events. 

“It is clear to see that Loomis is embracing diversity robustly,” she said. “This is important to the school, and I think it is wonderful. I am so happy to be invited back and to share the day with everyone.”  

More MLK events are scheduled this week, including student performances during the day on Thursday and a concert in Hubbard Performance Hall on Thursday at 7 p.m. On Friday night there is a poetry slam in the SNUG. Thursday's concert, which also is open to members of the greater Windsor community, features performances by Windsor High School’s Teens of Praise and the Shades of Yale a cappella group. 

A video of MLK Week events.

Chamber singers 2025 MLK

Members of the Chamber Music Ensemble performed “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” a cherished song sometimes referred to as the Black National Anthem.

 

 


 

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