Many gathered at Palo Alto High School (Paly) Nov. 16 to attend the sixth annual Racial Identity talk where panel of five guest speakers addressed an audience of about 40 teachers, students and community members.

Storyteller Awele Makeba started the presentation. Makeba related the story of her trip down south. “I thought she was very energetic,” senior Alex Chang said. “She used that to convey her message. She got the crowd pretty into it.”

Each guest speaker spoke of rising above hardships. Storyteller De-Angela Burns-Wallace spoke about how small things could change someone’s life. In Wallace’s acceptance letter from Stanford, someone wrote a note saying, “All your family’s dreams will come true here.” It was that very note that prompted her to move far away from the comfort of her home and take risks. “Her story was personal and I could relate,” Chang said. “It was pretty heroic of her.”

Present at the talk were three Gunn facilitators: seniors Alex Chang and Gabby Ng and junior Dezmon Hunter. Their job was to keep the topic of discussion focused by asking questions and keeping track of time.

Later in the evening, the audience separated into three groups and talked about race and culture. “In the break-up session, there was a small group so that you could share stories,” Chang said. “A lot of things that you know are in the back of your head just spring into actions. It’s like a wake-up call.”

Chang recommends attending this talk in the future. “As students, we can make a lot of change,” he said. “We’re pretty influential.”