“Boston Black Alumni Bring New Perspective”

November 2016 ______

On June 25th of this year, the Black Alumni Advisory Committee (BAAC) of the Boston Latin School Association (BLSA) began efforts to help the school rise to the challenge of decisively, fairly and transparently responding to complaints of racial distress. In the intervening, the BAAC has developed a mission and formal plan for active and meaningful engagement.

The BAAC mission is:

With recognition of our good fortune at having attended a unique school that for nearly 400 years has prepared students for unlimited success in life, the Black Alumni Advisory Committee’s (BAAC) mission is to assist in creating an inclusive, nurturing and rigorous environment for all current and future Boston Latin School students. Specifically, BAAC partners with Boston Latin School and the Boston Latin School Association to critically appraise, promote, enhance and monitor the vital work the BLS leadership implements at the school level.

Our most urgent priority is to confirm that Boston Latin School is a safe learning environment for enrolled black and minority students. Our ultimate aspiration is for the school to seamlessly blend the duties of preventing racial distress and fostering academic resiliency so BLS can sustain its reputation for excellence as the country’s best public school as well as its first.

Exercising the BAAC's Proactive Advisory Capacity

The BAAC’s mandate includes functioning in a proactive advisory capacity to Boston Latin School leadership on relevant issues affecting the school.

On September 17th, we met with Head Master ad interim Michael Contompasis ’57, Associate Head Master Jerry Howland ’65 and Special Assistant/Diversity Officer Dr. Al Holland. Many of us were impressed by their presentation and resolve to create an even better Boston Latin School. They clearly understood the new reality of 2016 − that Boston Latin School needs diverse students as much as diverse students need Boston Latin. This new reality is proven by the data: In 2016, only 26 of the 46 black students offered admission to Boston Latin School chose to attend the school.

On September 20th, BLS school leadership circulated the “First Impressions” letter reporting on the remarkable changes underway at the school so far this year. The BAAC concurs that these reforms and innovations constitute early progress in a positive direction.

On September 26th, U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz announced that her extensive investigation confirmed that racial insensitivity was occurring at Boston Latin School. We firmly believe this resolution should accelerate and sharpen the reforms underway at the school.

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The BAAC intends to convene key stakeholders at all levels to help advocate for and build an even better Boston Latin School.

The BAAC Action Plan

At the September 17th meeting, the BAAC spent considerable time identifying the problems. It was decided that in order to contribute helpful solutions, our members should form working groups that focus on different aspects of the challenge:

1. Internal outreach to students and teachers to provide mentoring and resources; 2. External community outreach to increase interest in applying to BLS; 3. Infusion of black scholarship into the curriculum or encouraging black scholarship by students; 4. Improved communications to better describe the BLS story; 5. Fundraising to help defray the costs of specific programs requiring funding.

These working groups are currently meeting and determining pathways forward that will continue through 2016-2017 and last into the future.

Document continues on following page.

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BAAC Voices: Black Alumni Student Experiences at BLS

As BAAC members, we share a valuable perspective. We know Boston Latin School, we care about Boston and we can talk about race. Accordingly, we offer this candid collection of black student experiences at BLS written by our members. The first entry is from the graduating class of 1943 and is followed by entries spanning the graduating classes from the 1970s to 2010.

Dr. Clifton R. Wharton Jr. '43

“BLS has always been closely tied to the city of Boston. During the 1930s and ’40s, you could literally see it, in the way that the student body reflected the racial and ethnic richness of Boston’s neighborhoods. These were years when ethnicity in Boston was less concentrated than today. Roxbury was mainly Jewish, for example, although blacks, Irish and Italians also lived there in significant numbers. The general excellence of Boston’s primary schools meant that youngsters from all neighborhoods – therefore from all racial and ethnic groups – tended to compete for admission to BLS on roughly equal terms. No matter where you lived, how much your parents earned or what kind of clothes you wore, what was important was the vigor of your mind and the quality of your achievement.

In a sense this was elitist – an elitism based not on birth or position, but upon individual intellectual ability and scholarly performance. Bright youngsters could excel in the early grades, win admission to Boston Latin School, and graduate with honors – regardless of ethnic group, family circumstances or which side of the tracks they lived on. We were all held to a single standard of excellence. The only universal characteristics of those who did succeed were ability, commitment and hard work. Not everyone measured up. In our Boston Latin School Class of ’43, out of 622 who enrolled, about 260 graduated; more than half fell by the wayside. But also that year more of my BLS classmates were admitted to Harvard than the number admitted from Andover.

A reporter once asked me to name the most important subject I had studied at Latin School. I told him it was not a subject but a lesson. I learned not only the importance of excellence, and not only the importance of equity, but also the profound complementarity of the two. Innate ability is distributed randomly among all those who make up our society, and all of us have an equal right to realize our fullest potential. Equity demands excellence as the only standard worth pursuing. But excellence without the opportunity and the right to aspire is only a hollow shell.”

Prince Charles Alexander '75

“I reconnected with Boston Latin School in 2010 after 35 years of self-imposed exile from the institution that taught me excellence. Assistant Head Master Famulari had asked me, in the graduation lineup, what college I was attending. I was so proud to announce that I would be attending Brandeis , the alma mater of civil rights activist, Angela Davis. He looked me straight in my face and said, ‘you’ll never finish,’ and walked away from me. I was stunned,

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and vowed in that moment that Boston Latin School would never subject me to another moment of racial hatred like those I had experienced, specifically in my senior year.

My class was the last all-male class at Boston Latin School. I survived quite a few racial incidents, one of which was gum being thrown in my afro by a white student. Another was being called the n-word in the hallway by a student from South Boston that had been emboldened by the racial climate of busing that was sweeping the city in the final two years of my time at BLS. There were too many others to even recall, and perhaps I have just plain blocked them out, but my mother, Marie N. Alexander, was well known by Head Master Wilfred L. O’Leary. As an EEOC (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission) officer, mom was well versed in the systemic racism that permeated American culture, all the way down to even the first public high school in America.

By my senior year, I had been elected president of the Black Student Association. Please remember, this was during the heart of the busing crisis in Boston and BLS students from South Boston, Charlestown and East Boston were displaying verbal solidarity with the racially disparaging , and actions, of their neighborhood bullies. The Black Student Association became a voice for black students as we stood up to counter uncorked racism with requests of civility in our halls. My firm stance for positive treatment and positive interaction with my fellow classmates led to three suspensions during my senior year. Needless to say, my activism was not appreciated by the BLS administration.

Yes, I did go to Brandeis. I did graduate. I have three Grammys and have created records that have sold in excess of 40 million units. That success led me to a position at the best contemporary music institution in the world, Berklee College of Music, where I have created and shaped curriculum across the college. And, each day, as I drove past BLS on my way to work, I thought about the relationship that some people have with their alma maters. They love to give, they love to interact; they love to identify with their schools. I had none of that. But, despite the pain, BLS had shaped my excellence; this is the paradox of many successful black people that graduate from predominantly white institutions!

One day, I decided to change a harsh reality. My yearbook (which for all of my life and for every version that was purchased) has a disparaging remark as the ‘quote’ below my picture. I knew that this was not what I had written. It was a vile insult against me, and was carved in text for all to see … forever. My plan was to become better than the creeps that marred my legacy. I came up with an idea of giving a large computer gift to my alma mater. The Boston Globe was informed and that story (http://archive.boston.com/yourtown/news/back_bay/2010/09/grammy- winning_producer_heals.html) now lives in my yearbook right next to the remark that fueled my self-imposed exile.

This was in 2010. I met the head master. I reconnected with Paul Pitts my band mate from the ’70s. I told them, and all that would listen, my story of surviving a racially charged environment at BLS during a turbulent time in our city’s history. I felt like I made a difference, if to no one other than myself and my immediate family.

I was invited in 2014 by Jordan Owens ’15 to speak in her excellent documentary ‘African- American Students and Their Experiences at Boston Latin 4

School’ http://africanamericanbls.weebly.com. Jordan told me that there was no longer a Black Student Association at BLS. I thought that shocking but resigned myself to thinking that perhaps her generation was just disconnected from a racial narrative. Just before Jordan’s graduation, I was invited to the unveiling of her documentary before a small group, and later before the entire BLS student body and faculty. At the larger event, my pride for this young black female student’s quest for ‘self’ caused me to openly weep; no, scratch that … I cried … like a baby … and wanted everyone to see it. She is I, and I am she.

And then Meggie and Kylie came on the heels of that event with their video. I am so proud of these young ladies. They created a voice for themselves, and simultaneously created a voice for haters that live in the Twittersphere and Facebook feeds. They do not need to stand up to racial hatred alone. They deserve better than that. These young ladies are our future leaders and BLS black alumni need to scream to the rafters in solidarity with B.L.A.C.K. (Black Leaders Aspiring for Change and Knowledge), ‘enough is enough.’ Responsible leadership (and accountable leadership) does not ‘wait out’ racial intolerance; it ‘roots out’ racial intolerance.

I am currently the father of twin five year olds. I have been telling my wife, a native New Yorker, that BLS is the only school for my children. Despite the racial climate I survived, I acknowledge that institution as the provider of a world-class education for the children of Boston. My wife countered with stories from a friend that BLS accused our friend’s son of stealing another student’s textbook. He did not steal the book but had retrieved it for the owner after that student had left it in a room. The book owner concurred with the story, but our friend’s son was still suspended. This young man is now a stellar member of the armed services who left BLS and thrived at the Boston Arts Academy. She told me of another friend whose son left the school under cloudy circumstances because the environment was not a good fit, and another friend who encouraged her bright children not to take the entrance exam because BLS would scar them as people. There is only so much smoke I can take before I must acknowledge that there is a fire.

So, here we are. I have one year of kindergarten and six years of school to help BLS get its act together! This is not an exercise in political correctness for me. This is the future of my youngest children. They deserve a great education in an inclusive environment that will not bankrupt dear old dad (remember, they’re twins and we get no twin discount for education). And that education WILL come from Boston Latin School, if I have anything to say about it (and they pass the entrance exam) because BLS will get its proverbial act together.

You know what I mean? You know what I mean! SUMUS PRIMI.”

Laura S. Brown '78

“I wanted this to be easy and plain, but even more than 30 years can’t take away the pain, the embarrassment, the injustice and anger.

Asked to write a few thoughts about Latin School and its current embroilment regarding race and the simplest thing I can say is ‘Amen.’ 5

Amen to Meggie Noel ’16 and Kylie Webster-Cazeau ’16 for tearing off the covers of this centuries-long wrong − the wrongful practice of subjecting African-American students to indifference, lack of support and at its worst humiliation in the face of racial taunts − abusive, violent language, disregard for their being, their states of mind and their feelings. A blank looking away and deafness to the strength and commitment it takes to endure in such a hostile environment, that’s the Latin School of my memory and the one that still refuses to budge.

I know; I’ve heard people say it’s different now. You can’t compare the 1970s to 2016. Then you were statistically insignificant, less than one percent; one black female face in the sea of thousands of white male ones. Less than 1% of even the 118 girls who were admitted in 1972; mostly white with a sprinkling of Asian Americans and me. That was still the age of the Breeder of Democracy, the cuing of silent bodies in cavernous and stoic halls.

As young women, we were made to feel that we were upturning Latin’s traditions. There were several male pedagogues who covertly acted in hopes that they could turn back the clocks and reverse the City Council’s decision that opened the doors of BLS to coeducation. How many females are now accepted parts of the fabric of Boston Latin?

As African-Americans, we were made to feel unwanted, undeserving, invisible men and a woman. I ached with each turning of the page of Ralph Ellison’s novel, one of two black-penned books that were included in the curriculum during my six years there.

When I read Meggie Noel’s Facebook post that August morning, I smiled. She wrote, ‘1,096 miles to go, Boston it’s been real …’ about her present journey to Spelman College, an HBCU.

It was in my final year at BLS that I made the decision that when I got out of Latin, I would never return. Recruited by hundreds of colleges throughout the U.S., I didn’t want to ever be trapped by tradition again! For that reason, I didn’t even attempt to go to Harvard, knowing its relationship with BLS from its birth. I looked elsewhere − to distant shores preferably.

My ‘so-called’ guidance counselor never spoke to me until that last year to find out what college I would be attending. In my heart, I wanted to go to a historically black college, where there was a semblance of me, and I could learn about the contributions and successes of black people. I’d been over stuffed with stories about classic white excellence.

I told him that an HBCU was near the top of my list. He sternly retorted, ‘You will not go there. Our students only go to the top 5% of colleges. Go back and think again about where you will go.’ My heritage and I were dismissed. I was rescheduled for a week later. That cut still stings to this day, but it gets deeper.

The following week, having seen the enthusiasm of Latin School men for Boston College, and wanting my counselor’s approval, when asked the question again, I said, ‘BC.’ He immediately turned red and blurted, ‘They don’t want you there!’ I knew he’d been holding that in for a long time. He meant here, at Boston Latin School. But they had me nonetheless for six years until I received my parchment.

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I returned his burning anger with an emotionless stare that I’d learned so well by example of Latin School to my presence. I said, ‘I need to think about my decision some more.’

I never went back to his office. Deep in my heart, I’d decided, I would never come back here, to this school. I didn’t even want to go to college after that day, so I wouldn’t give Latin another feather in its pompous Romanesque helmet.

What Latin has done, too often, to its African-American sons and daughters is to slowly and painfully extract their ‘rage to master,’ diffuse their passions for learning, and effectively drain their joie de vivre! This is what Meggie, Kylie and others have stood up to and said, ‘No more!’ I belong here. And, I will be treated as though my ‘black life matters’ because it does!

Sisyphus rolled a boulder up a hill only to hit bottom again and again. We who have labored and carried the weight of structural racism, along with those boulder-sized backpacks of books, year after year, have also ascended a mountain of achievement. Unlike Sisyphus, we’re not going back into the valley of disrespect and despair. We’re going to soar and Latin School is going to have to rise up with us. It’s going to have to reject intolerance and racial oppression cloaked in the vanity of elite education.

I have returned to BLS, and there are other black graduates who will be coming back too.

The first time I went anonymously as a television producer for Channel 5 because of an assignment. For one day, I saw change on the horizon as I noted the increased diversity of students and teachers who actually spoke with students, not at them.

It would be more than two decades before I’d go again. It was at the request of a senior African- American, female student, Jordan Owens ’15, doing a project on the history of blacks at the school. I wanted to support her scholarship, perseverance and just her!

The next occasion was when this situation exploded and the young organizers invited me to receive an award for my being the first black female student at this school. I gratefully received it. They made me proud. They made me feel a part of something unique and outstanding. I am so awed and appreciative for what they have done to force BLS to turn the pages of its story and move forward. I noted on their Facebook page, ‘It’s been a long time coming, but a change is gonna come,’ care of Otis Redding and Sam Cooke.

Finally, from time to time, I think about the two other black women who joined my class in 1974, entering in the 9th grade. The three of us, in our own separate ways, crossed the finish line in 1978.

I look for them in Latin School literature but do not find them. Like myself, I’m pretty certain that on that June day, they too took their hard fought diplomas and with made up minds vowed to never return to the place of their crucifixion. If you look at the alumni gatherings of our era, of the few African-American alumni, male and female, rare are those who have been involved with this school. It’s not for a lack of accomplishment or deserving on our parts. It’s because of a lack of compassion and nurture by this school when we were children and youth having our identities formed. That cannot happen again to any generation of Boston Latin School students − black, 7

brown or otherwise. Never again turn a deaf ear to our existence and our cries. Listen for the truth and act courageously! That’s what we expect from Latin School − insightful minds, the highest calling to civic engagement and social action, and brave hearts.

I’m so glad this school − through this ‘fire this time’ − is on the precipice of living in new ways!”

Reverend Dr. William Dickerson '80

“When I was a student at Boston Latin, my formative years there were very rough for me. I was living in the midst of a lot of racial tension due to court ordered busing and systemic racism. Being an athlete and a freshman starter on the varsity basketball team helped to give me a push when I needed it. Also, after my mom died during my sophomore year I had certain teachers who kept me motivated. Some of them often reminded me that my mother would be so proud of my Latin School diploma and accomplishments.

When I was in the seventh grade a white classmate of mine used to verbally harass me on a regular basis. He would taunt me with racially charged words. While in class the bully would kick my chair often and even bump into me unnecessarily. Since I was in Boston Latin School I wanted to be on my best behavior because I was charged to do so by my mom. Well, I told my mom and dad that I did not want to attend BLS anymore due to racism and the academic demands. My dad said that I could leave and attend another school. However, my mom who was a minister and a woman of great faith, told me do not let the devil win. Well, after I went back to school I had a physical confrontation with that student and after that I was determined to stay at BLS. I was convinced not to allow the devil to rob me of an advanced quality education. While at BLS, I was able to connect with other white students on a positive level, especially those who played with me on the basketball team.

I truly commend Meggie Noel, Kylie Webster-Cazeau and others of BLS B.L.A.C.K. for their audacious leadership and activism, which will serve as a model throughout the other Boston public schools. However, beyond just a visceral response I can truly say that I’m elated that I graduated from BLS. It opened doors for me immediately upon graduation.

If there are any parents of color and black parents in particular who are considering allowing their child or children to attend BLS, I think it’s a good decision. All children regardless of their race should be able to attend Boston Latin School. We should not allow racism to win.”

Ron Bell '81

“Ironically, this year I attended my 35th class reunion. One of my former classmates, Scott, who is a white male from Southie, asked me why I had remained silent around these recent racial issues. Scott told me that I was a person who could help bring healing to this troubling situation. I was surprised and flattered, especially as I hadn’t talked to this schoolmate of mine in years. As a black male growing up in Roxbury, it was surprising that we who were from neighborhoods that were at odds during busing in the 1970s were having a great dialogue about race and what 8

was happening at our alma mater. I told him about Meggie Noel and Kylie Webster-Cazeau, the two girls who I consider the Rosa Parks and Harriet Tubman of this generation. If Rosa Parks or Harriet Tubman had remained silent and stayed seated, nothing would have changed. I truly admired the courage of these intelligent young girls who came forward because I did not do so when I experienced racism at BLS, particularly from a teacher.

As a person from the community who has seen both sides, it really hurts me to see my alma mater, from which I am a proud graduate, get negative press, even though I was a victim of racism and remain in pain. Some say I should get over it and some have gone as far as to say that I lied and made everything up. This is not a time to finger point and blame folks. You would never stick a knife in an open wound and expect it to heal. You have to treat it gingerly.

The general consensus in the community was that black students did not feel welcomed. They felt invisible, and as if they were not treated with dignity or respect. My son was a student in the Exam School Initiative program. After attending the program for one week he told me he did not want to attend my school. Although I knew the benefits of graduating from BLS with its awesome alumni network. But when he told me how he felt going there, I felt his pain – and I could not blame him. I started to reflect on my experiences, good and bad. I thought about my time playing on the basketball team and how it kept me focused and later to become an all-city selection, thanks to one of my favorite teachers and assistant basketball coach Kenny Still. I thought about how I took advantage of the extracurricular activities playing on the football and soccer teams. I also remembered that I played trumpet in the school band as a sixie and participated in the Black Student Association. But I started to also feel the pain of attending Boston Latin and how tough it was in the academics. I would literally cry because of the intense workload, although it definitely paid off.

I remembered the pressures of declamation by reciting poems and sharpening my skills in public speaking, which definitely prepared me for my career and helping get elected and working for the first black governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. But other experiences were not so pleasant and I often felt invisible and treated unfairly. For instance, being traumatized during the busing era when fire alarms would go off and riots would happen between Boston English and Boston Latin schools. Although I was a student at BLS, many of my friends attended Boston English, which consisted of predominantly Black students. Boston Latin students were predominantly white. So, try to imagine how it felt for black students going back into class after riots . The most troubling and last experience was when my name was misspelled in the yearbook when I graduated. My name went from Ronald to Donald Bell. I was so proud to graduate from Boston Latin but it indeed ended on a bad note and caused me a great deal of pain and trauma. I remember changing the D to an R because I was too embarrassed to tell my mom who made sure I stayed and graduated from Latin. Every year I wanted to leave Boston Latin. Although I lived only a few blocks away in Mission Hill, I was always tardy because I didn’t feel comfortable there.

My question to all the BLS community during your time at Boston Latin is how did it make you feel? This is my story. I’ve heard many similar to mine. What is yours? Sumus Primi!”

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Ed Burley '88

“‘Look to the left of you, look to the right of you, in six years only one of you will be here,’ were the first words I heard the head master speak from behind his lectern on stage in the historic auditorium. Exiting into the empty halls and full classrooms, I encountered a special kind of silence for the first time − the sound of minds concentrating, the sweet sound of learning. This sound was overpowering, but in a fascinating way it proclaimed that an intellectual journey was unfolding.

I was so young! We all were. All of us who entered BLS in seventh grade and graduated spent ages 12-18 together − meaning we spent our formative years together. This factor is key to unlocking the Latin school experience: It helps explain why I, and so many others, feel that our classmates and the school are like extended family. Unlike in most high schools, when students meet in ninth grade, by ninth grade we were steeped in the same Latin School culture. By ninth grade, my school routine was well established: up early, classes, nights spent doing homework for 3-4 hours around the kitchen table before falling asleep, often on the kitchen table.

The treatment I received from my fellow classmates and the faculty was a respectful two-way street. But I know some friends felt that certain faculty violated the two-way street principle. The remarkable curriculum organized around the achievements of ancient Rome and Greece lacked much mention of Chinese or African achievements. But I was fortunate in that my mother’s keen interest in ancient Egypt and China exposed me to a broader context for understanding modern civilization’s sources.

Plenty happened over the intervening years. I survived having a terrible teacher for the subject Latin and later had a great Latin teacher in Dr. Carroll, who became an important mentor and guide through the college search process. I went from loathing declamation − standing in front of the class and reciting a memorized passage aloud − to excelling at it. In athletics, we played the suburban Dual County League schools and we lost all our football games freshman year − we got clobbered − and then by senior year we beat those same teams to go undefeated. That’s what I call a learning curve! That’s what I call teamwork!

Naturally, the healthy competition for the best grades, leadership positions and glory generated immense emotion and sometimes heartache. While painful at the time, these contests were important lessons − not about the way the world should be − but about how the world is.

The worst experience I ever had at BLS captured this duality. One afternoon, I was summoned from class to speak with an administrator. It turns out there had been a mugging in front of the school and he said I fit the description of the perpetrator. A series of probing questions followed. It was only the intervention of a teacher who vouched for me as ‘a good person’ that cleared me from questioning. This was a warning about the risk of race and the importance of extensive relationships.

The best experience I had broke the racial rules for friendship. My closest friends and I were racial risk-takers willing to explore uncharted and forbidden territory. Inside school, this meant standing up for each other. Outside school, this meant moving through a series of purple safe houses scattered throughout the city − Mattapan, East Boston, Dorchester, the South End, 10

Jamaica Plain, West Roxbury − where I am sure we had funnier talks and better and bigger house parties than any students before or since!

Then, like now, each entering class had a golden opportunity to remake BLS and I feel like we seized the opening to unify the culture. My memory is the school came together.

Personally, this experience created a trajectory that carried me through Dartmouth College and Yale Law School, New York City and Johannesburg and back home to Boston. Visiting the school recently, I stood transfixed in the empty hallway, listening to that fascinating silence − the sound of minds concentrating, the sweet sound of learning.”

Biree Andemariam '92

“I am proud alumna member of Boston Latin School and a product of the tail end of Boston’s ‘busing desegregation’ plan. I entered BLS in the mid 1980s having only been educated in the Boston Public School system and never receiving any entrance exam preparation. Despite this, I graduated at the top of my class and fully indulged in all that the school had to offer − strong academics, dedicated faculty and ample extracurricular activities. I credit BLS for catapulting me toward success as well as arming me with the skills needed to navigate a diverse world. I graduated from BLS having made close friendships with individuals from nearly every Boston neighborhood, representing richness in racial, ethnic and economic diversity. I attended the college of my choice. I am now a successful academic physician scientist educating the next generation of physicians and medical researchers. I hold multiple degrees from fine institutions of higher learning, but still proudly list BLS first on my curriculum vitae. I believe I fully owe my accomplishments to my parents and to BLS equally. I only have the deepest and fondest memories of my time at BLS where I was surrounded by committed faculty, diverse and lasting friendships, rich history, support and nurturing that has not been replicated since.”

Rashaun Martin '97

“When I arrived at BLS in 1990, I was living in a single parent household and my father had been in prison since I was in kindergarten. Since I was born during my mom’s senior year at Madison Park, she was only 30 years old, only had a high school diploma and had basically tagged along during my journey through the Boston Public Schools. She didn’t know anything about BLS and just had to trust that the system and the school would see me through. I struggled mightily as a student, not because I wasn’t smart enough, but I didn’t have the support system at home like many of my peers did. We were a long way from after school tutoring and Saturday School being available. I ended up repeating the 9th grade and joining the famous ‘seven-year club.’ I remember how in awe I was about being at Latin School. I fell in love with its traditions and pomp and circumstance.

Looking back, it was the most structured environment I had ever been in on a consistent basis in my entire life at the time and I think I needed that. The masters were tough but I was able to build a relationship with many of them, which was important. I found opportunities to volunteer, 11

especially in the main office and I joined all three choirs. These two activities gave me a sense of ownership in the school, which I know made the difference in my experience as a student. I’ll be forever grateful for the masters of color who supported me like the late Roseanna Fernandes, Sylvester Keitt and Paula Bagwell and my guidance counselor, Jackie Tibbetts. But most importantly, I would not have made it through if was not for Assistant Head Master Cornelia Kelley. I loved Mr. C. and could never figure out how he knew my name, but Ms. Kelley took me under her wings having seen my potential and taught me everything there was to know about the mystique of BLS and how if I worked hard enough, the school would change the projection of my life forever and it did.

I remember in my ‘second’ 9th grade, I was failing again and just before Christmas break, my math teacher Gerry Power pulled me aside in the hallway and told me that he didn’t think I was living up to my full potential. He said, ‘Rashaun, I want you to go home for break, get some rest and come back ready to work.’ I don’t know why but that singular moment of one of the masters unexpectedly caring about my well-being transformed my whole outlook. I became a different student academically as I began to match my involvement in school with my studies. In the end, I went from worst to first. I received my one and only approbation card second term senior year, became a Ward Fellow and received a couple of awards at Prize Night: the Class of ’57 Scholarship and the award for making the best academic turnaround amongst the males of which I was so proud. Mr. C. advised me to take the job I was offered working for Judge Wolf instead of working for the phone company and I became the first student coordinator of the Ward Fellowship. He also told me to go to the Catholic University for college in D.C. instead of trying to fight my way off the wait-list at BC. These were two of best pieces of advice a head master could have ever given me.

For me, I loved Boston Latin and still do to this day. The friendships I made have lasted a life time. I benefitted from its great diversity. On one hand, I had my boys who were black: Michael Beverly, Andre Noble, Derek Jones, Dwayne Evans, Daryl Edwards and Sidd Vivek. However, my three closest friends from BLS are white kids from Dorchester, Chris Farrell, Michelle Smith and Alicia Curtin. We are still friends today and our families spend time with each other. I can’t forget my man Matt O’Malley − my Irish brother from West Roxbury. I credit the school, along with the Roman , for making the singular difference in my success and who I have become personally and professionally. For a black male like me who could have easily been another statistic, BLS gave me every opportunity to write my own story and so I wear my alumni pin proudly and definitely bleed purple.”

Andrea Campbell '00

“I give Boston Latin School tremendous credit for where I am today, more so than Princeton University or UCLA. The school provided me with a solid foundation, unlimited opportunities and the possibility of achieving the ideal ‘American Dream’. While I had a pleasant experience at Latin, I am acutely aware that others did not and cognizant of the school’s decline in its students of color.

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While in my professional capacity as city councilor I was happy my office could assist those who had specific concerns related to Latin, to continue to hyper focus the issue of equity and race on BLS is narrow-minded and shortsighted. If we are serious about shifting the needle on major issues, including closing the achievement gap, eradicating poverty and homelessness, ensuring each student has access to a quality education and a supportive environment, and that every city resident has the opportunity to reach his or her God-given potential, then we, in government, and those committed and invested in the greatness of this city, must have a vision and effective plan of achieving that success.”

Ashley Miranda '08

“Boston Latin School is known for its academic rigor, but I can honestly say that I am grateful enough to look back on my Latin School experience and not see it as a slew of sleepless nights studying or droning days drowning in the workload. Outside of a few squabbles with Latin classes and AP Environmental Science class, school has always been the easy part for me. Academics were never my main concern. I was a first generation student from a Cape Verdean household, raised in the lower middle class area of Upham’s Corner in Dorchester. Being the only American-born baby in my large family, my parents ensured that my life was set up in a way where academics were my only concern, and that, inadvertently, this would mean that academics would never be a concern. So, naturally, with a rather mature and advanced grip on my academics, my entire Latin School experience − growths, struggles and successes − became grounded in the social aspect of it all.

The most life-changing part of my Latin School experience was the friendships I built there. Coming from the John W. McCormack middle school, where I was often outcaste as not being ‘black enough,’ I came to be very aware of my blackness at Latin. This was for the better, and sometimes for the better via the worst. But if it were not for the role modeling, the mentorship, the friendship and the guidance of faculty members Sandra Stuppard and Rashaun Martin, if it were not for the sisterhood with Adele Jean, Sherri Lowe and Kristely Bastien, if it were not for the kinship that they and I and we intrinsically weaved between the students of color in my graduating class and the classes surrounding us, I don't know if I would have ever learned to nurture my assertiveness and my authentic self, at Latin or beyond. I would have criticized and self-deprecated myself to oblivion. I would’ve let the social pressures of feeling like a spectacle (which comes whether my friends and I were making a spectacle or not) and the pressures of feeling like I wasn’t learned enough in comparison to my white and Asian peers, crush my already wavering self esteem.

Finding the familiarity and shared experiences among that support network transformed Latin from my school to my home − a transformation that was pivotal for the time, considering I was yearning for a stable family structure in a safe space away from my dysfunctional home life in an unsafe neighborhood.

Whether it was the hard way as the only non-Asian, lowest scoring student in Dr. Yu’s Chemistry II Honors class or whether it was the chill way, sitting on the floor after school in the hallway between Mrs. Stuppard’s homeroom and Mr. Martin’s office, crying and laughing and 13

arguing and tapping on each other and freestyling and filling in our quote book with my friends − I learned how to be my black self at Boston Latin School. When you spend your whole adolescence swimming in a sea of ambiguous blackness, being too black or too poor here but then not being black enough or poor enough there − a phenomenon that, in a relatively polarized city like Boston, can happen in the span of 20 minutes on a train ride home − being your authentic self is the most valuable lesson one can learn.

I can sincerely say that my six years at Latin, my six years of finding, fostering and family-ing that support network, is what propelled me into a school like Amherst College on a nearly full merit scholarship, fundamentally fearless, determined and confident in who I was, who I wanted to become, and what parts of me I was willing and unwilling to negotiate in that new stage of growth.”

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Media Contacts

For further comment on these perspectives, the media are invited to contact the following BAAC members:

Charles A. Alexander ’75: [email protected] Laura Brown ’78: [email protected] Reverend William Dickerson ’80: [email protected] Ron Bell ’81: [email protected] Magda Hernandez ’86, P’22: [email protected] Ed Burley ’88: [email protected] Dr. Biree Andemariam ’92: [email protected] Rashaun J. Martin ’97: [email protected] Andrea Campbell ’00: [email protected] Ashley Miranda ’08: [email protected]

The media and the public are invited to contact the Black Alumni Advisory Committee at: [email protected]

BAAC Members

Dr. Clifton Wharton Jr. ’43 Lee Daniels ’67 Prince Charles Alexander ’75 Laura Brown ’78 Reverend William Dickerson ’80 Ron Bell ’81 Oscar Weeks ’81 Stephanie Fowler ’86 Magda Hernandez ’86, P’22 Robert Alan ’87 Charmane Higgins ’87 Lori Smith Britton ’88, P’18 Ed Burley ’88 Kimberly Harris ’88, P'20 Arlene Morris ’88 Nicole Dumas ’90 Nigel Furlonge ’90 Tim Codrington ’91 Dr. Charlene Desir ’91 Dr. Biree Andemariam ’92 Dawn Smalls ’93 Rachel Skerritt ’95 Rashaun Martin ’97 Andrea Campbell ’00 Marcus Hughes ’02 Yvette Phillip ’02 15