Speaker Series
Our Opening Doors speaker series is an ongoing forum to provide education and discussion on topics of interest related to the mission of A Better Chance of Andover.
Black History Month February 2021
Throughout Black History Month, A Better Chance of Andover celebrated Black American poets through our social media channels.
We shared poetry reflective of the rich and evocative Black American experience on instagram and Facebook, including video reads from members of our community.
At A Better Chance of Andover, we believe that honoring the achievements of Black Americans should be championed 365 days a year, not just the 28 days of February. With that in mind, we will continue these efforts and honor this amazing poetry throughout the year.
To get us started, Olivia, daughter of Board member Sandis Wright, provided us with a valuable and succinct introduction to the meaning of this time.
You can link to all of our Instagram posts from the images below.
To get us started, Olivia, daughter of Board member Sandis Wright, provides us with a valuable and succinct introduction to the meaning of this time.
Mark Ayers ‘69 Recites “Everything Must Change” by Benard Ighner. Mark Ayers came to A Better Chance of Andover in 1967, our very first year, and graduated AHS in 1969. Here he recites “Everything Must Change,” a poem written by Benard Ighner and performed as a song by Nina Simone on her 1978 album “Baltimore.” The poem addresses the inevitability of change, but ultimately leads the reader to focus on and find comfort in the known elements of life. ☀️🦋❤️
Doyinsade Awodele Reads “To Black Women” by Gwendolyn Brooks Brooks’ message to black women inspires powerful and precise tenacity. 🌸 About Gwendolyn Brooks from Poetry Foundation: Gwendolyn Brooks is one of the most highly regarded, influential, and widely read poets of 20th-century American poetry. She was a much-honored poet with the distinction of being the first Black author to win the Pulitzer Prize. She also was poetry consultant to the Library of Congress—the first Black woman to hold that position—and poet laureate of the State of Illinois. Many of Brooks’s works display a political consciousness, especially those from the 1960s and later, with several of her poems reflecting the civil rights activism of that period.
As Nikki Grimes explains it in the opening of her book “One Last Word”: “The idea of a Golden Shovel poem is to take a short poem in its entirety or a line from that poem (called a striking line), and create a new poem using the words from the original. Then you write a new poem, each line ending in one of these words.” In this collection, Grimes honors poets of the Harlem Renaissance by writing poems inspired by theirs. Her poem “David’s Old Soul” is built from “The Negro Speaks of Rivers” by Langston Hughes. Look for the bold font in each poem to notice the ‘striking line’ and see the beauty of this literary technique. ✨
Bonnie Zahorik, board member, reads “To the woman I saw today who wept in her car” by Bianca Lynne Spriggs. Spriggs addresses this poem to the woman weeping, but shares her words with the world. She shares for those who can understand this moment as either woman, and the experience of grief.
Lauren Kosky-Stamm, host parent, shares “A Small Needful Fact” by Ross Gay. In July 2014, “Staten Island man Eric Garner told officers “I can’t breathe” 11 times while in a chokehold by Officer Daniel Pantaleo — his last words. These words and the protests that followed Garner’s death are the backdrop for “A Small Needful Fact,” a poem by Indiana University professor and poet Ross Gay. Much of the press surrounding Garner has focused on the violence of his death, while the poem puts a needed spotlight on his life, Gay said. “What that poem, I think, is trying to do is to say, there’s this beautiful life, which is both the sorrow and the thing that needs to be loved,” he said.” Excerpt from PBS: https://www.pbs.org/.../small-needful-fact-eric-garner
In this work, Lorde speaks as an honest parent experiencing her adolescent daughter growing up. A self-described black, lesbian, mother, warrior, poet, Audre Lorde dedicated both her life and her creative talent to confronting and addressing injustices of racism, sexism, classism, and homophobia.
Kiarra’s shares a powerful recitation of Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have A Dream” speech, delivered at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, 1963. This recording was shared during service at South Church Andover as part of our collaborative celebration with local faith communities during the weekend of Martin Luther King Jr. Day. You can watch all of these MLK services below.
“Facing It” is a poem by Yusef Komunyakaa. From 1969 to 1970, Komunyakaa served in the Vietnam War as a correspondent. In “Facing It,” Komunyakaa’s response to his war experience is deeply shaped by his visit, a year earlier, to Maya Lin’s Vietnam Veterans memorial. It’s not hard to see why the poem has been recognized by R.S. Gwynn (and many others) as “the most poignant elegy that has been written about the Vietnam War.” “ Read more at Poetry Foundation: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/articles/69414/yusef-komunyakaa-facing-it
We concluded our poetry posts for the month with Laura Gregory, Andover Select Board member, and her daughter Sydney (AHS ‘ 20) reading Maya Angelou’s Caged Bird.
Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration 2021
Our first series was held Martin Luther King Jr. weekend 2021. A Better Chance alumni and Scholars shared reflections during the services of local faith communities. Listen to their powerful messages. You can link to each of the services from the images below.
Alumna LaKisha Williams’s reflection during Sunday morning services at West Parish Church Jan 17, 2021
The service at Christ Church Jan 17, 2021 where Mark Ayers, graduate of our first ABC class, spoke.
Ballard Vale United Church service on Jan 17, 2021 where Alumna Anita Holmes share a personal ABC reflection.
Andover Baptist Church’s annual MLK Jr. Day Program Jan 18, 2021 where Alumna Doyinsade Awodele spoke.
Katarina Curtin, a board member and Brooks School ABC Alumna spoke at the Faith Lutheran Service Jan 17, 2021
Temple Emanuel’s Friday night services where Alumnus Ian Dowe spoke Jan 15, 2021
South Church service on Jan 17, 2021 where Alumna Dia Keita and Scholar Kiarra each shared King’s speeches.