On Friday, December 9, instead of reporting to the auditorium for Morning Ex at 10:40, the juniors took their seats in the Harris Center to listen to the annual Henry David Thoreau Series speaker, Kelly Hayes. Hayes, an indigenous rights activist, discussed her connection to civil disobedience and recounted her experiences with activism.

The talk began with Hayes asking the audience about their definition of “direct action” and ways to accomplish it. Accompanying Hayes’s various anecdotes was a four page packet, with definitions of terms associated with activism and civil disobedience, as well as pictures from protests Hayes has helped organized. Her talk lasted through advisory until 11:40, with a brief question period at the end.

“The way leadership works for me in terms of direct action and civil disobedience is that it’s separate from authority when we talk about what it means to be creative in defense of our freedoms and our own lives,” Hayes said, “because a lot of the time we end up replicating the very oppressions that we say we’re trying to get out from under.”

Hayes came to Parker as part of a tradition with some history. “Every year, the junior class studies social reform in the Antebellum period,”  Upper School history and social studies teacher Jeanne Barr said. “Ten or so years ago, we had the idea to bring in somebody today who is an example of Thoreau or whose choices might reflect the ideals of civil disobedience.”

Thoreau was an American social reformer who wrote a particularly influential essay, “Civil Disobedience,” which later inspired other activists like Martin Luther King Jr. and Mahatma Ghandi.

One of the main criteria for choosing the speaker is that they have to have been arrested for “a political act that was intentional and fits the model of civil disobedience,” according to Barr. Past speakers have included Bill Ayers and Kathy Kelley.

Barr thought Hayes provided an interesting perspective on the theme of civil disobedience. “I thought she was amazing especially how she critiqued Thoreau,” Barr said. “She was great not only because she talked about her own training but she also turned it around and gave concrete examples of what activism looks like.”

Junior Ray Blickstein agreed. “I appreciated what she said,” Blickstein said. “She impressed me, and her experiences and perspectives were very interesting. I’m in history right now and studying Thoreau, so it was cool to see the relation.”

Other junior students felt differently about the experience. “She was a really interesting speaker, but I thought it should have been more engaging so we could better understand how civil disobedience is important and how it can make a change in our lives,” junior Brianna Boone said. “She needed to let us talk to her more and let it be more of an open discussion rather than lecture us.”

Barr believes that Hayes’s talk served as a way to show what modern activism looks like. “The Thoreau speakers give students a sense of how a mind of ideas can translate into direct action towards making a better world,” Barr said, “which is a big part of our mission.”