Assistant Head of School for Community, Inclusion, and Equity Michael Molina opened the Upper School assembly on Thursday, February 15 in honor of Black History Month. Zavier Quick, Jr. ’27, Bryce Wilson ’25, and Nathaniel Frempong ’24, all members of the Black Student Union (BSU), shared with their peers about African Americans who have made an impact in both recent and more distant history. Coby McClellan ’24, president of the BSU, introduced guest speaker Amen Ra Mashariki, who is the Director of AI and Data Strategies at the Bezos Earth Fund. 

Mashariki started his talk about the different types of education individuals receive each day — the one you get at home before you go to school, the one you get at school, and the one you get “on your way back home.” Mashariki attended a top high school in Brooklyn — Brooklyn Technical High School — where he majored in computer science. But the neighborhood to which he returned each day “was not such an awesome place to grow up in in the ’80s,” he said. “And so my education going home from school happened in the streets of Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn.”

He shared stories of the challenges he faced in his neighborhood growing up and later in college and in the business world. “I grew up in adversity. I don’t feel comfortable unless I’m in an adverse environment, and I’m taking on challenges on a daily basis,” he said. “And if there aren’t challenges in front of me, I look for them.”

When he interned at Motorola, Mashariki had a colleague who was difficult to work with and was a bit of a bully. But when he found himself playing a casual game of basketball with the colleague, he noticed that he didn’t let himself get “pushed around” by him on the court. When reflecting on the situation, he realized that although he was “unshakable” when it came to basketball, that wasn’t the case with computer science. He decided he needed to step up his game in that arena to become unshakable there, too.

Mashariki talked a little about his job and called AI a “tool for discovery.” He likened the innovation to the invention of the telescope, which allowed people “the ability to see beyond where we are.” He encouraged students to “think about the things that you face on a daily basis, and think about how AI can play a role in ameliorating those challenges. Those are going to be the next billion-dollar companies.”

Watch the assembly