Head of School Update 1/18

Dear Odyssey Community,

Today is a day set aside to reflect on the work of our greatest civil rights leader, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. In years past, for many of us working in education who are privileged in our society, it was a time to point out and lift up the fact that injustice persists; it has been delayed and thus denied. As Dr. King said in his speech “The Other America” (1967, Stanford University), 

“...I've heard this over and over again. There are those, and they are often sincere people, who say to Negroes and their allies in the white community, that we should slow up and just be nice and patient and continue to pray, and in a hundred or two hundred years the problem will work itself out because only time can solve the problem.” 

This day was a time to remind those with the means to make social and political change that the work is not complete, that economic inequalities and hidden segregation persist. As Dr. King said then, “But we must see that the struggle today is much more difficult. It's more difficult today because we are struggling now for genuine equality.”

Things are different now.

The slow, but steady, tide of change initiated by the civil rights movement has stalled. Whatever the causes–economic insecurity and disparities, social media, the insufficiency of our political systems, etc–the foundations upon which civil rights are based are threatened.

As Dr. King said, “And we must see racism for what it is. It is a myth of the superior and the inferior race. It is the false and tragic notion that one particular group, one particular race is responsible for all of the progress, all of the insights in the total flow of history. And the theory that another group or another race is totally depraved, innately impure, and innately inferior.”

What would Dr. King say in a speech today? What deeper insights would he have about our current conditions? What kind of nonviolent civil action would he be leading? We definitely know that he would be calling out for solidarity and action that makes an impact in our communities. As we move through these challenging times, let us do so together. 

With Gratitude,

Anne and Peter