Samo activist highlighted in Super Bowl video montage
By Jadyn Miyahira, Staff Writer
In a pre-game montage during the Super Bowl LV on Feb. 7, Samo students may have recognized a familiar face. A clip of Kayla Lewis-Koury (’21) and other Samo students at a Black Lives Matter protest made an appearance during Alicia Keys’ performance of “Lift Every Voice and Sing.”
The montage was a celebration of Black History Month and was created to encourage love and unity. Lewis-Koury was not aware that she would be featured, and it came as a shock when she started receiving messages from friends and family about her brief spot in the limelight.
“Somebody actually came up to me who I didn’t really know that well, and he was like, oh you're on TV. I didn’t believe him. I was like, that's funny, and then I just walked home. Then people started calling me,” Lewis-Koury said.
During the summer, Lewis-Koury along with Nayeli Barbosa (’21) organized a demonstration at Virginia Park to celebrate Juneteenth, an annual holiday on June 19 commemorating the end of slavery in the U.S. in 1865. The protesters marched their way to Santa Monica City Hall, where the footage seen in the Super Bowl montage was taken. Lewis-Koury reported that she remembered seeing a woman with a nice camera where she and other protesters were standing, but did not think anything of it. That demonstration was one of many that Lewis-Koury and Barbosa coordinated and ended up having the largest turnout with 400 people, including Samo students and staff, having attended.
“It was one of those moments that you realize how amazing our community is, as they all came out to stand and protest together,” Barbosa said.
Not only has Lewis-Koury spoken out for racial justice, but her voice has also been heard in SMMUSD school board meetings discussing district controversies such as the demolition of the History Building. Despite the uncertainty she has regarding her future career path, Lewis-Koury is confident that she will always be pushing for social awareness.
“Until it gets better, I’m still going to be doing everything I can, no matter what career I go into. I wanted to become a politician, I wanted to become a lawyer, I wanted to go into law, and even if I become a bartender or something, it's still good to be talking about this stuff,” Lewis-Koury said.
Although Lewis-Koury is not currently facilitating any in-person demonstrations—and won’t until it is 100% safe to do so—she has other virtual plans in store. Encouraged by Principal Antonio Shelton, she was a part of a webinar with Cynthia Marshall, the CEO of the Dallas Mavericks basketball team, honoring Black History Month.
Despite the setbacks that have resulted from the COVID-19 pandemic, Lewis-Koury was thrilled that the Super Bowl showed footage of real people and encapsulated the humanity of the BLM movement. Similarly, she expressed that the feature in the Super Bowl was a proud moment both for her and those around her, and acted as a reminder that her dedication to activism has made an impact.
