Student Advisory Board Spotlight: Alexandra Audrain

Each month, GSPA will feature work from Student Advisory Board members working at high school newspapers, news websites, newsmagazines, literary magazines, broadcast channels and yearbooks.

Black Lives Matter: Marietta’s initiative

By: Alexandra Audrain

Section Editor

Marietta High School

This story originally appeared in the Pitchfork student newspaper. Reprinted with permission.

The Black Lives Matter movement has empowered many minority groups in the United States to rise up and fight for their rights to justice and fair treatment by their government and for significant, systemic change.

Marietta has deep roots in racial tension dating back to the eras of slavery and the Civil War, and the city has not been immune to calls for change and reform in its policies and treatment of Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC).

“This city has a rich, controversial history when it comes to race relations from the Civil War to the integration of Marietta High School. Some of my old friends and I got to talking, and we wanted to make sure we made our contribution to the history of Marietta as well,” Elizabeth Garnes said.

Garnes, Marietta High School Class of 2019, along with former classmates Taylor Colbert, Trevon Burkhead, Jordan Rollo, Sydney Le and George Krivsky decided to plan a march in protest of the treatment of Black people in America by law enforcement. Sparked by the murder of George Floyd at the hands of officers of the Minneapolis Police Department, thousands of marches and protests occurred calling for policy reform and justice for Black people killed by police.

“We felt as if the issues that the Black community face on a daily basis were often overlooked by the majority of Marietta because they weren’t personally seeing or being affected by them. We hoped that maybe if we held a march, it would not only allow our community members to protest these injustices but to take a stand in our community,” Rollo said.

The march was planned in cooperation with the Marietta Police Department and the City of Marietta to ensure the safety of the protesters. On June 7, hundreds of members of the community gathered at Zion Baptist Church in masks to protest the treatment of BIPOC by law enforcement and demand change locally in Marietta, as well as in federal policy.

“I was really moved by how the march turned out. With just two weeks of planning, we had over 700 people come out and even in the heat of all that was going on at the time, everyone wore masks and remained very peaceful. I think that really made a statement in our community,” Le said.

The calls for change did not end there. As the new school year began, students, alumni and members of the community were determined to use this movement to ensure real change was made in their city and in their schools and to not turn a blind eye to racial inequity in their environment. Several Instagram accounts were started for the purpose of calling attention to injustices or instances of harassment towards minorities in the Marietta school system. @MHS_Student_Alumni_Coalition was started by several current and former students of Marietta High School including Melina Barbuto, Class of 2014.

“This account is to talk about issues plaguing MCS and to work on ways that we can demand change. Since the coalition was created by alumni, we don’t want to overwhelm the voice of current students but rather elevate them and have them feel supported,” Barbuto said.

Another account, @BlackatMarietta, was created anonymously to allow students, alumni and staff to share their stories of instances where they felt harassed by or unsafe because of another student or staff member at Marietta City Schools. The page has posted hundreds of stories from members of the Marietta community and has gained over 1000 followers since its creation in late August. Several posts include censored names of students and staff, and while some are calling for disciplinary action for those accused, without a formal report, it is not possible to thoroughly investigate the situation. However, Keith Ball, Principal of Marietta High School, does plan to share these posts and hopes that students and staff, whether they have previously been involved in the alleged situations or not, can learn from the stories students were willing to share and be a better ally for their students or classmates of color.

“An open social media page is not the best way to [report racially charged encounters]... I think it’s important [the staff members named] understand where the kids’ truth is. What are they gonna do about it?” Ball said.

Principal Ball, along with the other Marietta High School administrators, were approached by students, alumni and parents on Tuesday, Sept. 8, with suggestions on how to move forward and create a better environment for students of color at Marietta High School. The forum was led by Colbert, Class of 2019. Her suggestions include establishing more diversity in all levels of staff and leadership positions throughout the school, students and teachers being held consistently accountable for racist/discriminatory language, education on topics regarding race relations and microaggressions and offering class options to learn about Black history. Administrators present at the forum listened and discussed programs they were already working on.

“A lot of [plans for change] are already in place. We’ll be having a meeting with [alumni and current students], realizing that current students might not feel comfortable, but the ones who do, inviting them to the table,” Alisha Green Wyche, an assistant principal at Marietta High School said.

At the forum, Colbert brought up a lack of diversity among administration. She pointed out that people of color being represented as administrators would likely make students of color feel more comfortable reporting racially charged encounters or harassment.

As one of the Black administrators at Marietta, Green Wyche recognizes the importance of having POC represented at the administrative level.

“I think over the last two years we’ve been really intentional about [creating a diverse staff]. I think the concern is just making sure that, yes we’ve created that, but do those staff members of color feel comfortable enough to also articulate what they’re seeing,” Green Wyche said. “One of my issues has always been that I don’t feel like students feel comfortable coming to administration… I think as adults we need to figure out a way that we, first of all, build that relationship with you all and students to feel comfortable with us.”

To further the efforts of educating staff members about racial inequality and how to be a better ally for their students, Principal Ball has mandated that all staff members at Marietta High School take part in trauma-sensitive training known as JEDI.

“It’s called JEDI training: Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion. It includes us looking at real systemic issues, not just in Marietta, but now how issues outside of Marietta have kind of infiltrated Marietta and, for years, been allowed to live in this space and keep students uncomfortable,” Green Wyche said.

Through mandated training, Ball hopes that staff will learn to check their own biases and become more anti-racist and a better ally for their students of color. As a white man leading a school diverse in race, religion, culture, and ideology, Ball believes that to attack the implicit biases of many of his students and staff he must first offer education.

“I think looking at it from more broad and more compassionate terms, we can do anything. It’s the narrow minded, short viewed, biased approach that really creates the biggest problems. Not just for students but for me to try to solve. I can’t make you be less myopic, I can’t make you be less biased or less racist. I really have to attack it from a training standpoint, and then an accountability standpoint,” Ball said.

Jermaine McCann (11) has been one of the most vocal students fighting for change and advancement of the cultural fluency at Marietta High School. He hopes that, moving forward, his efforts will translate to tangible improvement in the quality of education and level of inclusion for People of Color at his school.

“The purpose of this movement for me was to really advocate and speak up for others who look like me, and even the ones who don’t, within our schools and community. I've always been taught to stand up for your people and fight for something good, something you believe in. I hope to see more inclusive listening and action plans directly and indirectly benefiting the welfare of students so we can really begin to embody what Marietta is and should be,” McCann said.