Best-selling novelist Rachel Howzell Hall presented the keynote speech for the annual MLK Day On with a speech centred on finding an individualistic and respectful voice as a writer or storyteller.
Keynote speaker Rachel Howzell Hall commenced Andover’s 36th Annual Martin Luther King Jr. (MLK) Day On with a speech at All-School Meeting (ASM). Hall has written 12 novels, including best-selling thrillers “What Fire Brings” and “The Last One.”
In her speech, Hall spoke about her literary journey and explained how writers are connected to MLK Day. While speaking about her ten commandments, Hall drew on many personal experiences and quotes from MLK, elaborating on the importance of storytelling.
“You may be wondering what writing has to do with this day where we honor one of the greatest leaders and thinkers of this time. How, other than me being a Black woman with parents born in the South, am I connected to this holiday? Well, for most of this country’s existence, people who looked like me weren’t allowed to read or write. People who looked like me were barred from getting an education. People who looked like me weren’t allowed to share spaces with people who looked like some of you. Times have changed, and leaders like Dr. King fought for my rights to stand in this space [and] to write what I want,” said Hall.
Hall continued, “Being a writer means having a living wound that you keep picking, that you will show someone else who will also pick at it. Mystery and crime writers utilize and harness the power of fear in the state of uncertainty many of us create so that we can better navigate this world [and] better understand why people do the things they do for good and bad… For us, telling stories makes life feel more bearable. The more stories we tell and the more stories we hear, we can deal with our wounds better.”
During her speech, Hall also emphasized the importance of having authors with racially and socially diverse backgrounds. Michelle Onyeka ’27 talked about how the presentation resonated with her personal philosophy of change but mentioned how her expectations for an MLK Day speaker had been different.
“As someone whose first time it is in the United States, I have experienced my fair share of microaggressions. It was pretty good to see and hear about someone who uses their platform to try and advocate for other people. I am a very big believer in education being the way to make change. She did a pretty good job of showing us that and telling us that… I was expecting something a little bit more educational, something more inspiring. Though being an author is inspiring, I wanted to see something that could lift the crowd a little bit more,” said Onyeka.
Daniel Liu ’28 similarly felt that the speaker selection could have been more relevant to MLK Day. He made this comment in regards to previous ASMs, feeling that there have not been many memorable speakers recently.
“I felt that it was a bit off-topic from the actual MLK Day because having a writer speak, especially when she didn’t really expand on MLK Day as much as I expected, she mostly talked about writing tips. I thought that was interesting, and I guess it just didn’t resonate with me as much, given the content… I feel that for the past several ASM speakers, there’s not really a lot of coherence with their topics. They’re also not very memorable,” said Liu.
Zayne Rong ’28 highlighted how Hall’s presentation extended beyond just writing and inspired students across various disciplines.
“[The speech] definitely helped me improve my sense of confidence for future writing projects I might have to do. Very generally, it was helpful advice and not too overly specific. She also found a great way to incorporate these elements, such as humor, into her presentation,” said Rong.
Char Esty, Coordinator of the Office of Community and Multicultural Development (CaMD) discussed what she derived from Hall’s speech, highlighting the importance of fortifying relationships through understanding.
“She did a really excellent job of explaining how understanding differences can happen a lot through the written word, through literature. Understanding differences is so important in building relationships, in fostering connections, and moving through hard times… You can’t really have empathy without understanding another person. That was the idea, that was the connection, and she did a really good job of elucidating that for the students,” said Esty.
