2016 Dragon Fall

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Payton SILKET ’16
It’s difficult for Payton Silket to peel back the layers
of his experiences at O’Dowd to identify the most
transformative.
As a member of the Executive Council of the Black
Student Union, Kairos retreat leader, part of an
O’Dowd contingent that attended the 2015 Ignatian
Family Teach-In for Justice, founding member of the
school’s Solidarity not Solitary social justice club, and
partaker of two “Sojurn to the Past” (a Civil Rights
Movement educational program) journeys, Payton
said he experienced substantial personal growth
during high school.
Payton says mentoring he received from O’Dowd
staff and faculty members, particularly BSU moderators
Tony and Marguerite Green, also helped
shape him into the person he is today. “They not only
helped me academically, but spiritually and emotionally,”
he said. “And they encouraged me to be aware
of the issues going on in the school and local community,
and in the world.”
In fact, Payton learned of the “Sojurn to the Past”
opportunity because the founder of the organization
was a guest speaker in Tony Green’s African American
Studies class.
“Being able to go to Little Rock Central High School,
one of the first integrated high schools in America,
and to talk with two of the Little Rock Nine, the first
African American students to attend the high school,
was truly a life-changing experience,” he said. “That
was my awakening to social justice – my eyes, my
mind and my heart were opened.”
Payton has embraced the lessons learned from all of
his experiences. For example, at the Ignatian Family
Teach-In for Justice, he realized just how many
people truly care about important issues such as
immigration, the wealth gap and women’s rights. “I
learned I was not alone in my pursuit of social justice,”
he said.
In the greater community, Payton, along with Clayton
Crowell ’16 and Isabel Hallock ’16, recently started
an organization called Black Youth N’Action, for the
purpose of providing Bay Area youth with the tools
necessary to develop creative solutions to community
problems.
Members of the organization recently used their own
money to purchase food and make nearly 50 bag
lunches that they distributed to the needy in Oakland.
“We just walked along Broadway and San Pablo
and gave the lunches out,” he said.
This fall, Payton begins studies at Pepperdine
University, where he received a merit scholarship.
He intends to pursue a degree in political science
and continue his efforts to make the world a kinder,
gentler and more compassionate place. He’s contemplating
a career as a public servant or working in the
non-profit sector.
Payton hopes he’s left a mark at
O’Dowd through leading by example.
“It’s really easy to sit and dictate to
someone how they should live their
life, but if you don’t live your own life
in accordance to your beliefs, then
who are you? I prefer to live my life in
a way that, hopefully, encourages others
to live their lives in a better way.”
Fall Magazine 2016 // 5