By Cathy Zhou ‘21
On Friday, January 17th, the St. Mark’s community came together to celebrate its diverse cultures and identities on Community and Equity Day. The day ended with an exciting performance named UMOJA, which means “unity” in Swahili. After an uplifting opening theme by the choir, the show proceeded to different pieces performed by affinity groups. These included a poem by Leila Frederick ’21 and a lyrical song by the Southborough society, videos from the J-team, GSA, and Los Leones, a Chinese pop song by the ASA Band and K-pop dance, a rhythmic dance by BLU, and readings from the Men’s Group and Openly Secular.
The planning and organization of the UMOJA were a critical part of such an amazing performance. According to Jenny Tang’20 and Samantha Wang’21, the brainstorming for this event started as early as December. Hoping to preserve the tradition of UMOJA, the prefects, including Felicity Keyzer-Pollard’21, Naila Strong’20, Jenny Tang’20, and Samantha Wang’21 worked with Ms. Zhu and Ms. Loris Adams to structure the event and provide advice to each affinity group leader on directing their unique performances. They came up with new ideas combining with performances from past years. The active planning and rehearsal started once when students came back from Christmas break. In three rehearsals before C&E Day, the leaders and performers refined their shows. These preparations culminated on Friday as a rich cultural celebration.
However, the prefects said that there were still areas for improvement. According to Tang, the rehearsals and planning coincided with the end of the first semester, which posed significant challenges for the leaders and performers. Next year, they wish to start earlier and find a better time in the year so that the rehearsals could work out more smoothly. Besides, since the Pathways prefects worried about the performance being long, they intentionally tried to cut down the time of the show. However, UMOJA turned out to be shorter than expected since transitions were much quicker during the show than in rehearsals. They wish they could arrange the sequence of performances so that more affinity groups can present their diverse perspectives.
In general, UMOJA received exceptional feedback. Clara Hua ’21 commented, “it was nice to see each affinity groups showcase their work and culture through such creative projects.” Anni Zhang ’21 said that the BLU dance was her favorite part of the show. “The rhythm and movement of the dance were very dramatic and mind-blowing. As an audience, I was engaged.” Ryan Paik ’20 explained that UMOJA is an exciting event that he looks forward to every year and thinks that it is especially beneficial for those who are new to the school.