Spotlighting Joy and Justice during Black History Month

I am excited for this week’s annual Soulful Celebration, a huge community gathering sponsored by our Black Student Union featuring music, dance, and spoken word performances from students and staffulty. This year, as the school welcomes back alumni honoring our 20th Anniversary, we are excited to add an art exhibition from photographer, Victor Alvarez ‘14. This promises to be a joyful culmination of Vistamar’s recognition of Black History Month.

It is important that this event does not stand alone to highlight black history, black joy, and the daily pursuit of equality and justice. This past month, our Morning Meetings have had walk-in music from black artists and genres including jazz, motown, rock, and hip-hop. We have had a speaker series amplifying black voices and spotlighting transformational black people in American history. Resoundingly, we are reminded that black history is American history and black culture is American culture. In advisories, our students have been prompted to consider social justice topics and reflect on progress and obstacles. Every Morning Meeting dismisses with the phrase: “Today is a great day to make a difference.”

Vistamar was founded on the principle that access to an excellent education is the most impactful way for our young people to make a difference. Twenty years ago, the visionaries sought to compose a learning community that reflects the demographics of Los Angeles, where we learn together and learn from each other across our diverse identities and lived experiences. Our policies and programs have woven this commitment into the fabric of our school. For example, the school’s equitable hiring practices seeks to generate a diverse pool of candidates for our openings, create an inclusive vetting and interview process through search committees, and a feedback vehicle where we are able to match the candidates’ skills to our specific needs. This process contributes to staffulty excellence while minimizing bias in the process.

While heritage months give us the opportunity to promote awareness and inclusion of historically marginalized people, the work to build an inclusive and just community is a constant daily effort. The Portrait of a Vistamar Student concludes that our students cultivate the skills, knowledge, and demeanors to “uplift their communities with confidence, generosity, and compassion”.