Student human rights rally today at BHS

Published 7:00 pm Saturday, April 16, 2005

Conference on human rights gathers youth from county-wide.

Mark Salanga doesn’t considern himself an activist, but he does hope to promote the cause of equal rights.

“Personally, this is one of the most important things in my heart,” the Bainbridge High School student said. “There are still a lot of close-minded people. As youth it is our duty to educate the outside world and people who are hesitant to accept new ideas.”

Among his concerns is the fight for gay and lesbian rights, which he sees as similar to the civil rights struggle 60 years ago.

The 11th annual Kitsap County Youth Rally for Human Rights, hosted by a different Kitsap high school each year, comes to Bainbridge High School this Saturday.

The conference begins at 9:30 a.m. and is open to everyone, but is especially geared for ninth graders through adults.

Keynote speakers and workshops will consider human rights topics around the theme “Acceptance Without Exception.”

Salanga’s views were influenced by his late father’s advice, to “accept the world, who you are and know your past. With it, it makes you a stronger person.”

“There’s always pressure to become a different person, but no matter who I am, I can’t change it,” said Salanga, who comes from a Filipino background. “It’s just better to be yourself than to conform to a different personality.”

Among Saturday’s multicultural events and workshops, Salanga will perform with Bainbridge’s Filipino dances group, islander Frank Kitamoto will talk about the Japanese American internment during World War II, and Living Voices will perform a dramatic presentation exploring the island’s Native American culture.

The rally is also an opportunity for youth all over Kitsap to get together ouside of sporting events.

This year’s student keynote speaker, BHS 2003 graduate Courtney Smith, was the student organizer in 2000.

“The best thing is it brings everybody from the county together,” Smith said. “Being on the island, we’re very disconnected.

“We’re referred to as ‘island kids,’” she said, “(but) your struggles aren’t unique, and (you) find there’s a lot of power in sharing those common experiences. It’s unification instead of stratification.”

Kim Bush, vice chair of the county’s Human Rights Council, said the rally also lets “kids in not very diverse situations to experience the diversity of the county.”

Next year, Salanga hopes to restart United Brothers and Sisters, a Bainbridge High School group formed by students who felt they didn’t have a place in the school community.

Smith was part of UBS, advised by Robert Goldsworthy, a BHS English teacher who died recently of AIDS, and to whom this year’s rally is dedicated.

Smith said this year’s theme, “Acceptance Without Exception,” brings a direct association to Goldsworthy.

“He was one of those people who had a light inside him and was so willing to reach out and foster relationships with students,” Smith said. “He was the occasional teacher you meet who draws you in.”

She recalls a celebration of Martin Luther King Jr. Day her sophomore year at which Goldsworthy gave each student a piece of candy that they had to give to someone they didn’t know. Then everyone wrote “one good thought” on a piece of paper, which then became a link in a chain that went from person to person and class to class, circling the school.

“It was about unification,” she said. “You couldn’t just talk about it, you had to go out and meet someone. (Goldsworthy) wasn’t satisfied with doing the minimum. He was very action oriented.”

Today, she urges teens to “use your youth as an advantage, and (do) not look at it like a limbo stage.”

Still unencumbered by adult responsibilities like bills and children, she said, “we are able to see. Kids have a great pulse of the times… We have energy that can be channeled to do positive things and one of those things is human rights.”

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Diversity forum

The Kitsap County Youth Rally for Human Rights will be held 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. April 16 at Bainbridge High School. The event features multicultural presentations and dances, keynote speeches, workshops on human rights issues and more. Open to all, especially ninth-grade to adult. Free. Breakfast, snacks and lunch provided. For more information call Leif Bentsen, Human Rights Council, (360) 337-4883.