Now is the Time

“Now is the time to make real the promise of democracy!”

This line, taken from an early passage in Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr’s soaring 1963 “I have a dream” speech, was the theme of the MLK Mass at the Chapel of St. Ignatius on January 15, co-sponsored by the Black Catholic Advisory Circle and Seattle University. This powerful exhortation, issued as a call to action by Deacon Joseph Connors of Immaculate Conception parish, could also serve as a mantra of Cristo Rey Jesuit Seattle High School.  

Our unique model offers our students, 99% people of color facing barriers to economic and academic success, the opportunity to fulfill their unique potential, and thus to make real the promise of democracy. US schools were designed to create an educated workforce and an informed, engaged citizenry. Indeed, well-informed, critical-thinking voters are the only way a truly democratic system can thrive. Jesuit schools were designed to form “contemplatives in action” who will become people for others, using their education to make the world a better, more just place.  

CRJS is a place where the Gospel meets the American dream.

We will also be a place where Dr. King’s Beloved Community will actually gather, every day, as we open in prayer, feed our students breakfast, and send them off to some of Seattle’s most innovative companies, or to class with dynamic, committed teachers determined to break the cycle of poverty through the only proven method of doing so: high-quality education.   

But achieving Dr. King’s dream, and the promise of democracy, does not just take inspiring words. It will take hard work, a community pulling together, an entire region working together to provide the resources and systems, and creativity to realize our mission.   

We know it will not be easy. Dr. King was both an idealist and a realist. The next lines in “I Have a Dream” after “Now is the time to make real the promise of democracy”: “Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice.”  

Over 50 years later, the American educational system is still segregated, including in Seattle. According to the US Government Accountability Office, while “the US student body is more diverse than ever before…public schools remain highly segregated.”     

At this point in our application cycle, it appears that Cristo Rey Jesuit Seattle will be one of the most diverse Cristo Rey schools in the nation—and that is saying something. 35% of our applicants are Hispanic/Latino, 16% are Asian American/Pacific Islander, and 43% are Black/African American.   

We know the road before us is a long and winding one.

But thanks to our companions in the 39 other Cristo Rey schools, we know the stops along the way. We can’t wait to welcome our 9th graders on the first day of the Montserrat Summer Bridge program on August 1, 2024. We excitedly anticipate our first “Draft Day,” when Seattle’s companies and non-profits will come to campus to “draft” their first teams of student workers.  

And we can see the mountaintop, way in the distance: That glorious day when our first class of students will not only graduate from college, but also enter the workforce and the voting rolls, ready to fulfill their God-given potential and to make real the promise of democracy. 

Paul Hogan
CRJS President