By Paige Cooper ’16, Staff Writer

February 6^th was Social Justice Day, the fourth day of Revolution Week. Throughout the day, the Kaltenbacher Hall was filled with displays on significant social justice issues including sexual assault, misogyny, homophobia, transphobia, and racism. While the displays made valid points and received a lot of attention, in some cases they created confusion and did not truly illustrate the intentions of those involved in creating them.

The most powerful display covered one wall of the common area and presented pictures of rape victims holding up signs of what their rapists said to them. The aim of this brutally explicit display was to illustrate the reality of rape. While the display did meet its intentions, it had the potential to offend or cause discomfort to members of the community who have been impacted by sexual abuse. This was not the intent.

Morgin Goldberg ‘15, president of POWER and director of the display, stated, “The intention was to do something visually arresting in a direct and meaningful way.”  Many people were drawn to the area throughout the day by that exhibit along with others created by Umojja, the Gay Straight Alliance, and Political Action Society. Goldberg believes the goals of the installations were met and that they were “a testament to the spirit of progressivism at Newark Academy.”

While the creators and even many of the students not involved in the creations were thrilled with the results of the display, some students felt as if the displays were controversial and in some cases actually insulting. Ben Barba ‘17 stated that the “all men can” hashtag on the wall of the rape display was offensive to males because it makes the argument that all men can and potentially would rape females. While his argument is valid, Claudia Hyman ‘16, a member of POWER, explained that the hashtag was actually the name of an organization and not a stab at males in our community. But because the quote appeared out of context and was not explained, it caused controversy for some members of our community.

Other displays showed victims of different social injustices, with the names of these victims written on a paper bag that rested on the floor of the common area. A board addressing racial inequality showed victims who had been murdered by police due to the color of their skin. A wall displaying transgender and homosexual students listed potential situations of suicide along with the names of real teenagers who had killed themselves due to insecurities and mistreatment. The exhibits displaying these social injustices truly proved how bold and progressive the students at Newark Academy are and how dedicated our community is to creating awareness and helping causes that are prevalent both inside and outside our immediate community.

Although there may have been some controversy along the way, students at the Academy succeeded in showing respect for each other and a better understanding of causes that touch many, if not all, students in our community. It was astonishing to see the impact that these exhibitors made not only on each other, but on older audiences as well, such as the many teachers who were also emotionally moved by the exhibits. Newark Academy continues to maintain its reputation as an accepting environment, which was demonstrated by the respect and admiration these social justice presentations received. It is clear from interviewing students involved in the creation process that the intentions of these presentations were not to cause harm or offend anyone, but instead to create necessary awareness in a brutally honest and inspiring way.