Pictured above is Brian Gittens ’89 in a 2015 ASM.
35 years ago, on Martin Luther King Jr. (MLK) Day January 16, 1989, Brian Gittens ’89 braved the freezing cold to stand on the steps of Samuel Phillips Hall, equipped with posters and a speaker playing King’s famous “I Have a Dream” speech. Gittens protested on the steps for ten hours, calling for a change from Andover’s policy of holding classes on MLK Day.
The protest gathered support from students and faculty members throughout the day, pushing for Andover to honor the day and recognize its history. Gittens described his personal experience and Andover’s foundational values as motivation that inspired the protest for recognition of MLK Day.
“Although Martin Luther King Day was recognized as a national holiday, it wasn’t recognized as such at Andover… We would have [All-School Meetings], but it just seemed that, [for] a place that touted ‘Youth From Every Quarter,’ this commitment to diversity, it seemed to fall short in that regard. As a student of color, I felt unsupported, and one day, [in] the way that you protest nonviolently [like] Dr. King and in the way I was taught… I decided that that’s what I was going to do. I had some posters, and I can’t say it was totally thought through, but I knew I had to do something,” said Gittens.
Though Gittens started as the sole protester on the steps, his actions inspired other community members to join the cause, with over 200 people singing and reciting speeches by the end of the day. He emphasized the power that a singular person can have in starting a wave of action that can grow to create change.
“I didn’t do it for them: I did it for me. But, I was fortunate that not only students, but even some faculty members, supported [the protest] and brought their classes there… It shows the power of conviction, and like I said, I didn’t know what to expect out of [the protest], but I hopefully it [invited] others to follow the moral compass and conviction because [even if] I just sat out there by myself and that had been it, I would have felt like I’d done the right thing and look at myself in the mirror and felt a sense of purpose and conviction as a result. In terms of worldview, it really does demonstrate that [protests] can work, [and] that you can impact change if you stand your ground,” said Gittens.
In the years following Gittens’ protest, MLK Day at Andover has come to be celebrated as a “day on,” featuring educational programming including speakers and community-led workshops.
Despite its success, Gittens noted that the initial reaction to his protest was mixed and highlighted Af-Lat-Am as a place of encouragement and support.
“If you go back to old articles, you had editorials denouncing the day, and family members, some supportive, some not, but I think it was successful because it created this conversation… I remember Af-Lat-Am throughout my time there. That was a tremendous support system for us to have students who look like you and understood you, [who] came from some of the same places that you did because I believe that representation matters,” said Gittens.
After Gittens graduated from Andover and received his Bachelor’s in Communication Studies, Master’s in Public Administration Policy, and Doctorate in Higher Education Administration, he found a career in diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), working with higher education and academic medicine institutions in strategic diversity and inclusion.
“I often say I didn’t pursue [DEI work] as a career. It sort of found me, starting at Andover, with the protests and just wanting to have a level of equity with regard to how people are treated, and then pushing organizations to do the same,” said Gittens.
Being at Andover and having seen the world beyond, Gittens encouraged students to recognize the privilege and opportunity Andover affords for learning, growing, and forming connections. He urged students to take advantage of Andover as a chance to develop skills to create change.
“One of the things that was told to me, and you don’t have an appreciation for it until you get out to the real world, is that Andover is a wonderful training ground for the future leaders, and we have a tremendous amount of privilege as a result. For me in particular, while socioeconomically not privileged at all, just being in that space and place and the network and connections, there’s an amount of privilege. I think that with that privilege, it becomes a tremendous responsibility to lead, to give back, and to make changes because you’re in a unique position to do so. [Andover is] a great training ground for education, great training ground for public mobility, and networks, [so] use those tools for social good,” said Gittens.
