North Cook News

The Evanston Township High School Class of 2023 recently held its commencement ceremony and heard from Jackie Newsome, who is part of the Evanston Township High School Alumni and works as a public defender in the city of Philadelphia.

Newsome is a member of the ETHS Class of 2008 and was welcomed by Superintendent Marcus Campbell to the Sunday morning event. Campbell gave words of praise about the former ETHS student, telling the students how proud he is of her and that the students should benefit from her words.

“I can say that Jackie believes in justice, is grounded in faith and has a love for humankind,” Campbell said. “I am proud of her work, and I am thrilled that she is here with us to share a few words of wisdom and, I’m sure, challenge us in all of the right ways.”

Newsome came out with heavy music blasting wearing a “Black Lives Matter” sash around her neck. She addressed the audience conversationally, telling them this wasn’t about her and that it was their day. Newsome told everyone to take out their cell phones, go to Snapchat and snap a photo of their neighbor.

“I want you to soak in this moment,” Newsome said. “Right. Because this is about you. And when we do this right, as you're maneuvering, as you're taking your pictures and you're doing whatever you want to do, we're going to show institutions, right, that it is possible for Gen Z to multitask. You can take your pictures, right, and soak up this moment, and I can still do the speech.”

She told the students she was going to address the people in the room who were supporting the graduates in one way or another. She said in an effort to show Gen Z can, indeed, multitask, they can do their own thing while she addresses them. However, when she said the word “23” they need to respond “Yes!” The students did a test run and responded well, so Newsome went on with her speech to the family and supporters of the graduates.

“Hey! So there's no secret,” Newsome said. “I am not rich. I'm not famous. Most of y'all don't know me. But what I do do well is cause trouble. So we're going to do that today. So in a few minutes, right, someone is going to say, 'Oh, you should hold your applause until the end to make sure all the students names are heard.' Right? We've heard that at graduations before. Absolutely not. Today we are throwing respectability, politics and orderliness out of the window because the Class of 2023 deserves it.”

She then spoke about the class that spent a year and a half during a global pandemic doing school. They endured racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia and xenophobia. The class had to work jobs, care for family members and also turn in school projects.

“Some of these students, some of these students buried their parents or endured their incarceration,” Newsome said. “Some of these students never got the special education services that were due to them, and yet they made it here. Students with chronic illnesses weren't accommodated properly, and yet they made it here. Students were constantly misgendered, and yet they made it here. Some of these students had to play the role of translator because that wasn't adequately done and they made it here. Some students experience housing and food insecurity, some pushed through anxiety and depression and suicidal ideation to get here. So we're going to celebrate the Class of 2023.”

Newsome shouted “23!” and the students responded. She then spoke about how she has known Superintendent Campbell since 2004.

“We talked a lot about faith, about blackness and our relationship — it maintained its depths throughout the years," Newsome said. “We have talked deeply and honestly about the world around us, and so I really couldn't understand why he would risk inviting me to speak at his first graduation as superintendent. Because as soon as I got on that phone with him, I told him exactly how I was going to come for the school.”

She also said it was notable that there had been progressive moves to make the school and commencement ceremony better.

“Oh, so I'm going to talk about how you don't let students walk the stage because of grades or behavior,” she said. “And Mr. Campbell said, 'Oh, we don't do that anymore.' I was like, 'Oh, OK, well, well, we can talk about how you're not going to have this properly translated, there's not going to be any sign language interpreter here for everybody. This isn't going to be like, accessible. And he said, 'Jackie, Yes, it will be.' And I said, 'Well, what about the students that they used to put in a different wing of the building and even give them different IDs because they were special education students. We don't talk about that.' And he said, 'We don't do that anymore.'”

After a call and response “23”, Newsome shifted gears to the students. She congratulated the students on their achievement of graduating high school and noted that she was there with them.

“So listen, I want you to repeat after me,” Newsome said. “I, I believe. I believe that we will win. I, I believe. I believe that we will win. So that's what I believe. No matter if you are a student who's saying, 'I can't wait to leave this community'. Or you're a student saying, 'I can't wait to do more in this community.' I believe that you will win. Both perspectives are correct. Listen to me: You owe nothing to an institution that harmed you. And you owe everything to a community that nurtured you. So wherever you are on that—I can't wait to never be here again or I’m coming back tomorrow spectrum—just know, all you really need to do is keep fighting the good fight. When you do that, at least I, I believe, that we'll win."