In an April 26, 2019, print feature story about the March 15, 2019, climate change rally, which was also posted on our website on April 7, 2019, we published a photograph and a caption of then high school junior Sasha Ashton, who is Black, delivering a speech at the rally. The caption read as follows: “SCREAMING SASHA: Junior Sasha Ashton, who attended McCallum her freshman year before transferring to the Khabele School, used her diary when speaking at the rally. ‘I definitely hold a lot of anger and resentment for the actions that have been taken … to gain wealth and to live a comfortable life in the face of what’s immoral,’ Ashton said. ‘I have to use that anger and channel it into action.’”

We would like to apologize to Sasha and to all of our readers for publishing this caption. It was wrong for us to do so because it focused solely on her anger, which was shared by the rally’s white speakers, and not on the substance of her speech. We reduced Sasha to a stereotype and failed to convey her unique voice and the message of her speech at the rally. Moving forward, we are committed to being mindful of how we represent people of color in our reporting and to creating opportunities for students of color to be heard. Before we can become better in the future, we have to acknowledge and learn from our mistakes in the past. We revised the caption and its lead-in to more accurately convey her interview with us at the rally.

MORALITY OVER MONEY: Junior Sasha Ashton, who attended McCallum her freshman year before transferring to the Khabele School, reads from her diary when speaking at the rally. When asked if she felt let down by older generations who created the environmental crisis, Ashton told MacJournalism that she did feel resentment but that she also felt compelled to turn that negative energy into positive action. “It’s frustrating to feel like it’s our responsibility to fix it, especially given the attitudes that old people have toward our generation,” Ashton said. “Instead of just being angry and holding on to that resentment, I have to use it, not just because it’s not fun to be so mad, but because I know that I can channel that energy into action, and that I can help other people channel that energy into action.”