Malden Reads and the MHS Black Culture Club held “The Hate U Give Showcase” on February 15 from 6:30-8:00pm in the MHS Jenkins Auditorium.
At the beginning of the event, exhibit tables were put out in front of the auditorium. In the interactive photo exhibit, a photographer would take instant pictures of people, then people would write their name and what they like about their culture at the bottom of the picture. Jodie Zalk, who is from Malden Reads and helped organize this event, “loved seeing people talking to each other about their pictures” and thought “it was rea
lly great seeing people discussing what they love about their culture and sharing together”. There were exhibits from the American Association of Arab Women, Anti-Defamation League, Chinese Culture Connection, Immigrant Learning Center, Malden Arts – Littler Free Libraries, Malden Overcoming Addiction, MHS Writers Den, North Shore Black Women’s Association, North Shore Hispanic Association, and the Outreach Community and Reform Center.
Zalk had “a great time collaborating with the MHS Black Culture Club”. She believes that “Working with students brought a different perspective to the Malden Reads kickoff event and helped shape the event in new ways”. She mentioned it was monumental for the MHS Black Culture Club since this was their first major event.
In the auditorium, the MHS Black Culture Club organized performances that related to the themes of the book “The Hate U Give”. The first performance was a poetry reading by Junior and Blue and Gold member Rebeca Pereira of the poem “Abecedarian Requiring Further Examination of Anglikan Seraphym Subjugation of a Wild Indian Rezervation” by Natalie Diaz and was followed by a dance performance by the Malden High Step Team. After, the MHS Play Production performed “Why We Tell the Story from Once Upon an Island. Junior Blondina Odivin and Sophomore Francia Ettienne ha
d a dance performance to the song “Fall” by Davido. After, Senior and Blue and Gold member Tobi Pitan performed stand-up comedy, which was followed by a poetry reading by Junior Birukti Tsige of the poem “Still I Rise” by Maya Angelou. Juniors Gerdley Cadet and Christina Charles, who are the president and vice president of the MHS Black Culture club respectively, performed an Anti-Oppression dance to the song “I’ll Rise Up” by Andra Day. The Malden High Step Club held a fashion show that showed the cultures of the world. The event wrapped up with a poetry reading by vice president Christina Charles of the poem “Unite Us” by Kosal Khiev.
Breakout sessions and workshops were held after the performances on the Anti-Defamation League, Malden Overcoming Addiction, and the Malden High Hatian Club.
The MHS Interact Club helped out with the event by sending students that are a part of it to volunteer. Senior Reyner Susanto, who helped greet people at the front of the auditorium and gave them directions, mentioned that he “enjoyed volunteering fo
r this event” and would like to volunteer for an event like this again.
Malden Reads will be showing movies at the library and at Malden High, have book discussions, and a night out at Boda Borg this year. They will be showing “Step” in the MHS library on March 14 after school. To find out about future events by Malden Reads, go to http://maldenreads.org/events.
