Chapel Hill High School’s Advancement Via Individual Determination group (AVID) held a virtual assembly using Google Meets on February 25 in which North Carolina Poet Laureate Jaki Shelton Green spoke to students involved in the program.
Green was named the state’s poet laureate in 2018, the first African American to receive the title. She is both a poet and an educator who has released eight collections of poetry while teaching and speaking at various colleges and universities across the nation—including Duke University, where she instructs a course on Documentary Poetry. Green also owns SistaWRITE, an organization intended to create an empowering community for female authors.
Following an introduction from Chapel Hill High School sophomore Carlos Merida, Green launched into what she called “an informal, down-to-earth conversation,” hoping to facilitate a group discussion rather than lecture to those in attendance.
“I don’t care how far you go in your academic education. You need to know how to build community,” Green said. “It is essential to understand the value of the people who are going to hold you up—people that you can reach for when you need them.”
Throughout her address, Green offered personal anecdotes and vignettes of her family’s history to stress a theme for students: achieving prosperity in the face of racial prejudice.
Another central purpose of the session was to illustrate the importance of the stories each AVID student holds—ones that warrant expression through artistry.
“You have stories,” Green told the audience of around 45 students and staff members. “The bottom line is we must never allow anyone to disenfranchise our voices to mute or erase our voices.”
Green’s words, rolling rhythmically from her Google Meets tile to the speakers of the attendees’ computers, prompted junior Sol Ramirez—a musician, puppeteer and director—to meditate on the importance of art in a communal environment.
“I think the art of others helps reflect our own thoughts, feelings, ambitions and struggles,” Ramirez said. “I think art in any form is one of the staples of having a good and thriving community.”
Stuart Phillips, a Communications Specialist in the district’s Office of Community Relations, praised Green for stressing the accomplishments and potential of the students in attendance throughout the session.
“I loved her reflection on the importance of AVID students identifying as achievers,” Phillips said. “She said how proud she was of students who name themselves achievers, and then she said, “We create our own universe,” which is wise and valuable.”
Green’s emphasis upon community is a fundamental part of AVID, which provides support and a welcoming energy for its members, some of whom will be first-generation college students.
“AVID is a family and community within itself,” Ramirez said. “The ID in AVID stands for Individual Determination: we’re supposed to empower and uplift ourselves individually, and then continue to raise others up with us.”
The assembly was arranged by English teacher Michael Irwin and AVID coordinators Joanne McClelland, Nikke Eason and Kimberly Jones.
“Ms. Green is a highly accomplished writer and educator and, having heard her speak previously, we knew she’d be an impactful and motivational speaker to our AVID community,” Jones said.
Eason said that Green—in stressing the importance of both individuality and community in empowering students—embodied the spirit of the AVID program.
“She promoted the key ideals of AVID: community, self-motivation, advocacy and cultural pride,” Eason said, while also noting that a number of Green’s maxims and proverbs proved inspirational.
“‘Push through fear,’ ‘What we keep, keeps us’ and ‘We are all our ancestors’ wildest dreams’ were catchphrases of Mrs. Green’s that resonated with me,” she said.
