Princeton Prize for Race Relations Awarded to Three Packer Students

Video documentary inspired by, dedicated to civil rights pioneers earns first such honor in New York City

June 10, 2008  — Three Packer students have been awarded the New York City Princeton Prize in Race Relations for their documentary film titled “Sticks and Stones May Break My Bones, but Words Will Never Hurt Me?”

The Princeton Prize, awarded in 21 cities by local alumni volunteers, states that its aim is “to promote harmony, understanding, and respect among people of different races by identifying and recognizing high school-age students whose efforts have had a significant, positive effect on race relations in their schools or communities.”

This is this first time the prize has been awarded to students from New York City.

The three Packer students, Adeyemi Mchunguzi ’09, Ali Salas ’09, and Marcel Salas ’09, participated in a Prep for Prep-sponsored trip in the spring of 2007 called Sojourn to the Past. This ten-day civil rights journey through the south featured intense stories and lessons from speakers who witnessed and created the Civil Rights Movement — including Congressman John Lewis, and Elizabeth Eckford, one of the nine pioneering black students who integrated Little Rock Central High School in 1957.

“We learned about the power of witness and the power of words,” said Marcel Salas about the trip.  “We learned that there are more indirect, verbal forms of violence happening every day. We were motivated not to be silent witnesses.”

“We came back from the trip haunted by the stories we heard, but also energized and motivated to recreate and share what we learned,” said Ali Salas.

“We thought that a new club or a committee wouldn’t have the impact we wanted,” said Adeyemi Mchunguzi. “We felt that the best way to get people interested would be a film.”

The trio set out to make a video exploring the power of biased language, focusing on the ‘N-word’ and the phrase, “that’s so gay.” On camera, they asked students and faculty of all backgrounds to share their thinking on the use of racist and homophobic language. The resulting 12-minute documentary, titled “Sticks and Stones May Break My Bones, but Words Will Never Hurt Me?” was shown to Packer’s Upper School in January of this year.

The film opens by saying clearly that Packer actively supports diversity efforts, but that even in the most inclusive environments, “issues of biased language hit home for many.” It ends with the following questions: “If we don’t mean what we say, then why say anything?” and “When will we be held accountable for the things we say?”

“Students and teachers alike have thanked us for presenting something so provocative in an artistic way,” the three wrote in their prize-application essay. “Teachers followed up the film viewing with class discussions instead of the lesson that they had planned for that day.  Some teachers even asked us if we could provide a lesson plan for more follow-up,” they wrote.

Martha Haakmat, Packer’s Diversity Coordinator, shepherded the students through the filmmaking process.   She has been awed by the film’s impact, calling it “a mirror through which Upper Schoolers were afforded the rare opportunity to look at themselves critically.”

“The fact that this lesson came from fellow students only made the effects more lasting and more real,” Ms. Haakmat says.

On the weekend of May 2 and 3, Adeyemi, Marcel, and Ali joined fifteen other regional prize-winners at the first-ever Princeton Prize Symposium on Race, held at Princeton University.

“A number of Princeton Prize organizers found me to say how impressive our students are and to ask about Packer and our diversity efforts,” says Ms. Haakmat.

A month later, the prize was officially presented to the group at a recognition ceremony on Tuesday, June 10, 2008, at the Princeton Club of New York.

Hue Rhodes, New York City Princeton Prize in Race Relations Chair, said the Packer students’ application rose to the top because of its focus, leadership, and sustainability. “Making a documentary is difficult and requires an incredible amount of leadership,” he said. “And the fact that it is being shown at other schools and in workshops — and even has been integrated into the very tour [Sojourn] that served as inspiration for the project — that says a lot.”

After a screening of their documentary at the Princeton Club, the group’s work was lauded by the event’s keynote speaker, New York City Schools Chancellor Joel Klein. “Issues of race make people uncomfortable, and things that make people uncomfortable aren’t easily changed,” Mr. Klein said. “Most people want to live in a post-racial world, but it can’t happen by wishing it. You must make it happen.”