“Insistence, not Resistance” Upper School Welcomes Dr. Linda J. Mann, Executive Director of OUDC for Women’s History Month
The Upper School gathered for a special morning assembly to launch Women’s History Month, as EMPOWER co-president Violet Vannoy ’26 welcomed her aunt, special guest speaker Dr. Linda J. Mann, or “Dr. L.”, an internationally renowned scholar and practitioner in transitional justice and descendant community engagement, to speak about overcoming social and gender barriers, describing the “wolves” of systemic injustice, and insisting on human rights for all.
Dr. L’s journey began on a dairy farm in rural Vermont. As a teenager preparing to graduate high school, she was told she could not take over or fully participate in the farm, simply because “the farm was not for girls”. She stated her work was undervalued, and that she faced gender, class, and cultural hierarchies that tried to define where she did and did not belong. She described these forces as a “wolf,” inspired by a recurring childhood dream of a wolf entering her home. The wolf wasn’t about danger, she explained, but darkness, or the paralyzing fear of not knowing what comes next.
Despite being discouraged from attending college, Dr. L focused on her education, determined to claim something no one could take away. She commuted long distances, worked three part-time jobs, and ultimately graduated magna cum laude with a Bachelor of Science degree. Later, while working at the University of Rhode Island, Dr. L stated she began to witness oppression in new forms, not only gender and class exclusion, but systemic racial divides in under-resourced schools and communities. She questioned, “How can education, housing, food, and safety not be for all?”
Instead of choosing resistance, Dr. L chose “insistence”, or insisting on rights for herself and others while emphasizing that “justice does not happen by accident, it happens because people demand it.” Today, as Executive Director of OUDC (Operation Understanding DC) and an Assistant Adjunct Professor at Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs, she works as leading scholar and practitioner on policies and programs that address the impacts of colonialism and slavery while engaging and supporting affected communities, receiving numerous awards and fellowships in recognition of her innovative work.
She closed off with an empowering message for students to remember: “You will face wolves. You don’t have to make them disappear, you only have to name them. Fear thrives in darkness. When you name the wolf, it loses its power.”
Indian Creek School
Indian Creek school is a co-educational, college preparatory independent school, located in Crownsville, Maryland. Students in Pre-K3 through grade 12 receive a vibrant educational experience based on excellent academics steeped in strong student-teacher connections.
