On Thursday morning in the NASH auditorium, the school’s new chapter of No Place For Hate held an assembly for a panel of Pittsburgh speakers focused on discussing hate and what it means to be hated. Members of the MSU, along with their teacher sponsor, Mr. Bishop, worked for months planning the event in order to bring awareness t0 the halls of NASH. Approximately 600 students attended the event.

“No Place for Hate is a district initiative,” Bishop said.  “The students and I have met weekly and bi-weekly for the past two months to get to where we are.”

The assembly was the first of its kind at NASH. 

Students had the option of attending during second, third, or fourth period to listen to seven panelists that offered to come to the school and speak on behalf of the minorities they represent.

Earl and Lee Dingus, Native American educators working to draw greater attention to the causes that native people are still fighting for, were in attendance. Reverend Tim Smith spoke about what it was like growing up in a segregated world as an African American man. Marissa Tait discussed the tragedies that the local Jewish community has faced in recent years. North Allegheny alum Officer Rick Cerillos spoke on behalf of authority figures and the stereotypes they face. Fatuma Muya and Saraji Hissan joined the panelists to shares perspectives from Pittsburgh’s Somali Bantu population. 

The panelists redefined what hatred meant in the hearts of the student body. They emphasized that hate is not the act of disliking something. Rather, it is unwarranted judgment and rage that has hurt the lives of millions of minorities in this country. 

“There are a majority of people that live their lives uncomfortably, and we need to address that discomfort,” Bishop told the audience. “We need to have uncomfortable conversations.” 

“You look at me and you see a black man,” Reverend Smith said. “You see African American. But you’re really looking at African, Native American, German, Italian, and Irish. And when I am discriminated against, I wonder which of those parts of me are being targeted.”

But the focus of the assembly was not only on the panelists. The students of the No Place For Hate initiative talked about what it has been like to experience hatred in North Allegheny.

In between periods, anonymous testimonials were given, read by No Place For Hate’s members in a video produced by NASH junior Faith Nguyen. The message left audience members with heavy hearts and they listened to the pain of their peers. 

“We wanted to showcase real examples of hate that are actively being ignored in this school,” Nguyen said. “Showing personal testimonies humanizes these situations and forces people to acknowledge the blatant issues that seriously harm others.”

The committee hopes to host the assembly again next year and plans to introduce additional inclusivity activities during this school year.