Impact Club Students Prepare for Tuesday MLK Assemblies

While most of us were off work and school for Monday’s federal holiday honoring Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birthday, we returned to the course of our daily lives on Tuesday. For members of Overlake’s Impact Clubs, this week was a continuation of the civil rights leader’s work in social justice and protest. The students are hard at work preparing for Tuesday’s MLK assemblies for our entire study body.

This year’s theme is Taking a Knee for Justice and will include presentations by a former professional football player and a local high school football team that took that stand last season. “We wanted to hear the message from someone that would be the most qualified to address the impact of professional sports and protest,” says Gaurav N. ’18 who leads Overlake’s US Impact Club. “As an athlete, Pellom McDaniels, has been on that professional stage, but we also wanted an academic person who could speak to the power of sports and social justice.”

Gaurav adds that what makes McDaniels unique is his connection to art. As curator of African American Collections at Emory University, McDaniels conveys the history of the African American experience captured through visual arts with such mediums as painting, photography, and sculpture.

Director of Diversity Mahtab Mahmoodzadeh, along with several Overlake students, took part in Monday’s MLK Day Rally and March in Seattle. They joined thousands in taking to the streets with signs proclaiming that change is needed and we all win through unity. She reminded Overlake’s marching students that Dr. King’s protest was not welcomed and popular at the time. “We often go back in history we have this view of like ‘Oh, they were so wonderful. They were so great!, “explains Mahmoodzadeh. “Anytime you want to create transformative change in a society and push towards issues of justice around marginalized communities, it’s going to be met with opposition.”

Overlake will honor the opposition that the Garfield High School football team displayed last fall in their Take a Knee protest. With many players personally experiencing racial profiling by police, the team was joined by their coach in the protest during the national anthem. Several members of the team are expected to be at Overlake Tuesday for the recognition. “Their community will remember their protest long after they’ve played their last game,” says Gaurav. He goes on to ask us all, “What do you want to be remembered for and what will be your legacy?”