This post was written by Gillian Spangler,

Episcopal Service Corps Member working with iACT

On Martin Luther King Day, our nation came together as it does every year to celebrate a great, courageous American hero. One such gathering in celebration was at St. Stephen’s Episcopal School, where 300 students came together, sat ten to a table, and engaged in a special Red Bench conversation around the topic of prejudice. Because St. Stephen’s has a strong mission to create a student body that is economically and racially diverse, the tables were representative of many different backgrounds.

Thirty of these St. Stephen’s students attended a training by iACT a week prior in order to become table hosts. Having students host tables of their peers created an even stronger atmosphere of community and partnership for this event. The students found that the Red Bench structure allowed them to get to a greater depth than typical conversation amongst their peers. They were able to speak from a deep and often vulnerable place about how they had experience or observed prejudice in their lives.

I believe this is what Dr. King had in mind when he talked about his vision for America. People from all different backgrounds relating to one another on a human level, listening with open hearts, and tackling the difficult topic of oppression head on. I recently saw the video of Valarie Kaur speaking on New Year’s Eve. She posited a powerful and moving question to the audience: What if our America is not dead, but is a country waiting to be born?

My response to the current state of America has been to feel hopeless and powerless. But when I reframe this country into a story of the phoenix, that of death and rebirth, I feel hope. I found a powerful source of this hope when I looked across the diverse room of young people, bravely willing and able to engage and speak their truths in a peaceful and respectful manner. That is what I want our America to be reborn into. That is what I want it to look like.