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Finding Unity Through Understanding
Feb. 24, 2021 -- In late spring of 2020, Gianna Cook saw TV footage play over and over of the shocking images of George Floyd, an African-American man in Minneapolis who was killed by police officers arresting him for allegedly trying to pass a counterfeit $20 bill at a convenience store.
The rising eighth-grader at Mendenhall Middle School watched the subsequent rallies for racial justice and then, at her parents’ prompting, viewed several documentaries outlining the historical struggles of African-Americans and how those struggles have carried over into the present. The bi-racial family also discussed black student unions and their fight for justice during the 1960s and ‘70s.
Gianna thought about all she had learned over the summer, and realized students at Mendenhall Middle needed to address race in an open, honest setting. When the 2020-21 school year began, Gianna was even more determined to have these discussions with her classmates, given what had transpired over the summer.
“I wanted it to be open to all races, not just Black students,” Gianna says. “I wanted students to learn about African-American culture and promote unity — not degrade other cultures.”
That’s the origin story of the Ebony Society, a new student club at Mendenhall that meets once a month — virtually. Gianna is its founding president. After just four meetings, the new club already has 13 members.
Gianna and other Ebony Society members have worked hard to build excitement about the new club, which speaks to the backgrounds and culture of many of their classmates. Mendenhall Middle, one of 22 schools in the district that serves middle-school children, is a minority-majority school. African-American students make up about 41 percent of the school’s population, with white students representing about 34 percent. About 16 percent are Latinx, with 9 percent identifying with another race or as multi-racial.
Gianna gathered support from two teachers at Mendenhall, Sylivia McLean and Serena Wiggins, who helped recruit members and set up meetings.
Since the club’s initial meeting in November, members have gathered to discuss the Black Lives Matters movement and the Tuskegee syphilis experiment and how it created distrust among African-Americans about the COVID-19 vaccine. Most Ebony Society members, including Gianna, didn’t know about the experiment, and were horrified.
“I don’t want that to happen again,” she says. “If it does, then it will affect everybody.”
Members also researched and wrote about important historical events to create a PowerPoint presentation that will run on the school’s announcements page on Canvas. The March meeting will involve a discussion of African-American musicians.
Gianna says she doesn’t know whether the Ebony Club will continue when she transitions to high school — hopefully one of the early colleges — at the end of the year. She hopes someone will pick up the mantle and keep the club alive, so a new crop of students can learn about African-American history.
“I’m very passionate about the club, and I’d like for others to be, too,” she says.