BSU Dinner Speech - Tewodros Sanchez-Alemu

2/13/2023 11:46 am

Tewodros Sanchez-Alemu Speech, BSU Dinner, February 9, 2023

Photo courtesy of Beniam Yetbarek

I am Tewodros Sanchez-Alemu and I am a junior at Mercer Island high school. I am the son of two immigrants, one from Ethiopia and one from Puerto Rico. Like many parents they made the decision to move to Mercer Island sacrificing finance, identity and community because of the high quality of education. While the Island holds onto a vibrant community with a great school system which I am grateful to be a part of, it lacks one main thing: Diversity. Mercer island has 228 Black residents; around half of that is in this room.  That's why we are here today, to bring in and foster a community in which children and parents can look across the room and meet with someone of a similar experience.

I have grown up on the Island the majority of my life, spending my first two years in Pullman Washington then moving to Kent, Renton and finally Mercer Island where I started kindergarten. Through my elementary experience my first encounter with a Black classmate came in 5th grade. Before then the only other African American I knew personally was my father. I haven't had a Black classmate since then until this year and he moved out a couple months ago. Representation in this School District is low and that can leave kids feeling like an “other” or someone who doesn’t fit in. I had that problem when I was younger in which I didn't truly feel like I belonged with wishes of moving elsewhere.

Luckily, I was able to find shelter within the MI Community, but it wasn't truly enough. I would keep seeing news about racial violence and targeted attacks against those who have one similarity to me. The color of their skin. All while being isolated on this Island with fear of something happening to me.  That's why many Black students find comfort in the BSU. It's the first time where they are surrounded with people like them, with people who look like them and with people that they can share similar experiences within the District. When joining the BSU they also find three great staff members who they can confide in, Kelly John-Lewis, Beniam Yetbarek and Valerie Perine. I want to thank those three for creating and fostering an environment in which we can always stop by when we need to and say hi and can interact like family and friends. It's the first time I had that in this School District.  Kelly, Valerie and Beniam - Thank You.

We first came up with this idea of a community gathering after the West Mercer Mentor Meeting.  I was so amazed by the sense of community and connection we had with those that we just met, and I could see the joy of the kids to see those similar to them. We started planning right away. This kind of event was unimaginable to those on the Island only a few short years ago. Today we did the unimaginable. A group that makes up only 0.9 percent of the island finally meeting everyone else. Today we hope to bring the children together to meet others who they wouldn't have met before because truly the Black Student Union is one of the best things that has happened to me, and they have become some of my closest friends. Many Parents came to MI In hope of educational success for their children, for more job opportunities, more connections and the chance to move up the social ladder and we are almost there, the one obstacle standing in our way is the feeling of loneliness and isolation. Today we solve this issue with our first BSU Get Together. This may be the first, but it most certainly won't be the last.  Thank You.