The flags raised this morning outside Denny International Middle School had a first-ever addition – the Pan-African flag along with the USA and Washington State flags. The flag-raising was at the conclusion of a celebration featuring student speakers from three schools, organized by Keenen Allen Ladd, who facilitates the Kingmakers program at Denny. He began the celebration, introducing emcee Heyab Gebru, a Denny 8th grader:

Speakers in that section of the program included Denny 8th grader Eyob Mengesha, who declared, “What matters is that we stand together … it doesn’t matter if our family came here generations ago or a few years ago.” He was followed by Denny 7th grader Kh’Monni Wilson, who spoke about the stories of Black women, “too often … overlooked.” And Chief Sealth IHS 9th grader Surafel Hadgu read three poems.

In the next section, featured speakers were Sealth 9th grader Ayub Ali – who spoke about being your true self, as reinforced by his time in the Kingmakers program, telling younger students to remember “your voices matter” – and Roxhill Elementary 5th grader Skye Kenard, who presented the Pan-African flag’s history.

Then a musical moment, with everyone invited to sing along to “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” also known as the Black National Anthem:

The flag-raising concluded this first-ever celebration, and everyone got out of the 25-degree chill and into their classrooms.