GRANBY TODAY
Grateful for inclusion, hoping for growth in tolerance By Naviah Barrow Special to Today Magazine
Black GMHS grad finds voice to call for change
A 2020 graduate of Granby Memorial High School, Naviah Barrow is a freshman at UMass majoring in legal studies.
This means that we work together to finally put an end
WITH RELEVANCE to the racially-driven stigma of 2020, it’s an appropriate theme to discuss what we see in our own small towns. Further, we can draw from the good and learn from the bad in an attempt to create a desirable environment with peak inclusivity and diversity. Here is my story: From attending Kearns School at 4 years old to graduating in the midst of a pandemic, Granby has always been my home, and I know so many caring people here in town. However, that didn’t make me exempt from prejudice or racism on campus and off. I’ve been made fun of and stereotyped all for the color of my skin. One of my earliest experiences with this was back in 8th grade. As the only Black student in my history class, my teacher directly singled me out to explain why my household and I are
to the hateful acts and speech that still linger locally different than my classmates. It didn’t just hurt, but it broke down my self-esteem at the time. You expect teachers to be conscious of making everyone feel equal. Instead, that day, the divide only grew larger at my expense. Moreover, there have been countless incidents of peers using slurs to address people of color, including myself. When you want to fit in, you laugh it off and let it go. When you want to speak up for yourself, you receive backlash from just about every angle. There is no winning for young minorities trying to protect their racial identity. Not only are we left speechless by what we face, but it’s hard to find an outlet for our voices to be taken seriously.
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For me, it took a classmate’s series of ignorant, disgusting posts mocking George Floyd’s death to find the voice I’m using right now. Despite my aforementioned experiences, I have met some of the most supportive, loving and kind adults and teens in Granby. I know that I have a family here. It’s up to everyone to make the young children growing up in the Farmington Valley feel just as included as I did. This means that we work together to finally put an end to the hateful acts and speech that still linger locally. It doesn’t take one person to set change into motion, but it does take one bad apple to spoil the barrel. Be mindful. Be the change. Be the future. +
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TODAY MAGAZINE – www.TodayPublishing.net – FEBRUARY 2021
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