Martin Luther King Day 2016 marked New Trier’s first all school seminar regarding race. This controversial day, which included award winning speakers and teacher driven seminars, acted as a starting point for the conversation about race.

“It [MLK Day] was to get the ball rolling about these race issues,” junior Isabelle Sennett said.

The day started with high-profile speakers at both campuses. Ilyasah Shabazz, the daughter of Malcolm X and author of “Growing Up X,” spoke at the freshman campus.

Shabbazz spoke of her famous father and how students can create change.

“Her main point was that we, as students, can absorb what is happening around us and use that to form our own opinions and help fight racism,” said freshman Kathryn Beenman.

Isabelle Wilkerson, a Pulitzer prize winning journalist, spoke at the Winnetka campus about her book “The Warmth of Other Suns.” The book follows three African Americans between 1915-1970 and their journey North to escape the Jim Crow South.

“A lot of times people look at this book as a piece of history until they turn on the news,” Wilkerson said in an interview after her speech. “There is a direct link between what happened a generation or two before us and what is happening now because these issues have never been addressed.”

Wilkerson hopes that delving into the history of racial relations is the key to moving forward. “Everything we are looking at is a screen shot in the middle of a long-running movie. We didn’t see the beginning; we are just seeing that one moment, and then we make assumptions based on that moment. That is where we are politically and psychologically in our country.”

Empathy is also essential, according to Wilkerson. “What we are missing now is empathy. Empathy is looking at the situation from that person’s perspective, as seeing their situation as they are in it, not as you are in it. We should be asking why do human beings do what they do when they are in certain circumstances.”

Junior Kasia Kolanko expressed how difficult it is to imagine someone else’s experience. “We will never have to experience the talk that black parents have to give to their children about how they will be treated.”

Wilkerson’s goal, showing the similarities rather than the differences regarding race, was a major theme throughout the seminar.

Junior Neil Madlener mirrored this message, “I learned that diversity is essential for humanity’s progress. Racism is detrimental to society.”

Many other students echoed Madlener’s views “It definitely changed me,” Kolanko said.

Not all students took this first step in the discussion about race. Attendance for Monday’s seminar was 67%, according to a letter from the school that went out to parents. On a typical day, around 93-96% of students attend school.

Though an internet blog reported that students “boycotted” the day, other factors were likely the source of low attendance, including babysitting for younger siblings that had the day off, being away on a family trip, or senioritis.

Some students still expressed misgivings about the intent and purpose of the day.

“I think there was a lot of controversy going into this day so people started with a bad mentality,” said junior Taylor Connelly.

“I think I learned more about how people reacted then about the actually purpose of the day itself,” Sennet said.

“It’s a long process it can’t be fixed in a day,” said Connelly, “They should of integrated it into our every day instead of having a forced day.”

Sennet agreed that this was only a step in a long process, “You can’t just pop the bubble you have to chip at it.”

Wilkerson would agree that this is only the beginning, “We are in the adolescence of race in our county. We are still adjusting to what happens when roles change in a long-running play.”