Former WHS student makes a buzz

The Wenatchee High School student dialect includes a variety of uniquely unflattering and colorful synonyms for Wenatchee, which reflect the feeling of dissatisfaction that all small-town teenagers can relate to. Many students, coming from families who were started in, currently reside in, and will remain in Wenatchee for years to come, aspire to leave their mark on the world, but suffer from the terrifying notion that the smallness of their city condemns them to a future of the same size.

However, these students can find solace with a simple click on the glass screen of their cell phone, adding one more view to the more than 2 million on a video titled “Native Americans Try on ‘Indian’ Halloween Costumes,” laughing at “Who Is The Most Iconic Diva Of All Time?” or crying with “The Moment It Becomes Long Distance,” all of which star WHS alumni, BuzzFeed Video intern, and rights activist, Shane Whitaker.

“Going through Wenatchee High taught me that I never have to stay stuck in one place, one mindset, or one community,” Whitaker said. “Something that I felt, and something that many people feel growing up in Wenatchee, is very stuck. That goes culturally, in terms of the types of conversations you can have with people, and geographically. But, there’s a bigger, brighter world.”

Days at Wenatchee High School

When asked what he involved himself in at WHS, Whitaker responded, “It might be easier to say what I wasn’t involved with.”

Whitaker wrote as a staff reporter for The Apple Leaf and served as a member of stage crew, among other involvements. During his sophomore year, he added yet another commitment to his list by founding Diversity Club with Wenatchee Education Association president and former Spanish teacher, Kris Cameron, and a group of fellow students.  

“At the time there was a lot of harsh treatment among students for all sorts of reasons —  sexual orientation, weight, clothing, ethnicity. There was a lot of sectionalization that Shane and a handful of friends wanted to remedy,” Cameron said. “[Shane] always had a really keen sense of social justice and serving others and I think that led him to [aspire] to bring more peace and understanding among the student body.”

Whitaker and Cameron still keep in touch via Facebook, and continue to share a bond that Cameron describes as “a combination of aunty and nephew and big sister and little brother.”

“He’s family of the heart for me,” Cameron said. “I guess I’ve become sort of a cheerleader for him. Go Shane!”

The College Experience

Whitaker graduated from WHS in 2010, then began his journey of seeing the “big, bright world” by continuing his learning at Evergreen State College in Olympia, where he studied religion, activism, and film and video. He made the transition from a small town, in which the church he attended banned women from the pulpit, to a liberal arts college with an unconventional mascot of a burrowing clam (called a “geoduck”), and an equally eccentric and diverse student body. The change in culture allowed Whitaker free expression of his beliefs in feminism, anti-racism, and LGBTA+ rights.

“When I [first arrived and] stepped off the bus, a short woman with a heavy accent said to me, ‘Sir, do you know that we are all gods?’ There was a lot of very free thinking [at Evergreen],” Whitaker said. “It’s especially true for me because of the school that I went to, but college for many people provides an opportunity to experiment with new ideas in a safe space. Leaving Wenatchee and stepping into an environment that was the polar opposite, I felt like I was given permission to believe out loud what I believed at heart.”

New Life Ministry and Poverty Alleviation

After spending four years at Evergreen, Whitaker moved to Los Angeles to work in ministry. Whitaker, having grown up in poverty in south Wenatchee, and having begun working with low-income communities and poverty alleviation movements at a very young age, continued his efforts by dedicating his time and love to a church called New Life, which focuses on impoverished neighborhoods.

One of the projects he works on through the church involves mentoring young men at a local high school, and developing his “niche” of men’s emotional health by exposing boys to emotionally high-functioning role models.

“All emotions are feminized in our society and aren’t validated for men, other than sex and anger. If a guy is sad, then he’s a pussy. If a guy is in love, then he’s whipped. If a guy is heartbroken or scared, then he’s weak. So, it makes sense why a lot of men are very emotionally unhealthy,” Whitaker said.

Buzzfeed Video

Whitaker’s cultivation of beliefs and activism soon found a platform when a friend of his told him of an open interning position at BuzzFeed Video, a virtual podium for diverse voices and an entertainment hub for its more than 21 million combined subscribers on its various YouTube channels. Whitaker applied and got the job, bringing his social work to the media.

Whitaker dubs the company as “groundbreaking” and describes the spirit of the workplace, which includes a large, constantly-stocked snack room, as upbeat and fun.

“The company has somehow managed to create an atmosphere where people work very very hard and are happy to do,” Whitaker said.

Cameron enjoys her former student’s videos from her computer in Wenatchee.

“I feel like Shane is continuing the work that we began with Diversity Club. He’s opening people’s eyes to discrimination, helping people realize when they dwell in privilege, and he’s still breaking down barriers and helping people understand each other and be kinder to one another,” Cameron said. “I couldn’t be more proud of the work that he’s doing.”

Developing his Biracial Identity

As a part of the Sioux Nation, Whitaker has starred alongside fellow Native Americans in a series about aboriginal culture, including videos titled “Native Americans Review Thanksgiving Books” and “Native Americans Review ‘Indian’ Sports Mascots.” However, his identity as a multi-ethnic individual was not always as solid as shown on screen.

“Whew, that’s been a long journey,” Whitaker said. “I was once at a party in college and one of my friends silenced conversations and gathered the attention of a dozen people and then made them go around in a circle and guess what my race I was. [It] felt a tad alienating. There are just not a lot of affirming voices in a mixed race person’s life.”

When taught at Evergreen to think of race in terms of white people and people of color, Whitaker never felt like he could simply identify with one or the other. He eventually gained security in his racial identity by meeting in the middle and analyzing his personality to identify parts of it with his multiple backgrounds. First, he studied Caucasian culture.

“I started to identify my traits that I had that were distinctly white, like [how] I am outspoken in meetings, I don’t mind my voice being heard, [and] I like to eat food that is generally really bland and tastes like butter,” Whitaker said.

Then, he examined the characteristics about him that were distinctly native, like his respect for elders, relationship with family, and fear of being shamed in public.

“I just put the pieces together and was like ‘Oh, I’m different from other white people in those ways because I’m Native American,’ ” Whitaker said. “I can’t choose between being white and a person of color because I’m both. That weirds people out, but that’s who I am.”

Out of the Closet

BuzzFeed producer Kane Diep selected Whitaker, as a queer individual, to co-star alongside male model and aspiring actor and screenwriter, Dustin Sohn, in an emotional trilogy depicting the stages of romantic relationships.

Coming out only a few years ago, Whitaker spent around seven years in the closet. He finally came to the conclusion that he was gay at age 15, but kept quiet while living in a community where he was never exposed to the validation of attraction to males, and attending a school in which he knew only two openly gay kids, who were “both treated awfully.”

“I had to do a lot of figuring it out and putting the pieces together. For example, when I was 12 or 13, I did thought experiments with myself and think. ‘Man what is the deal with boobs? Everyone is just having such a fuss over boobs and I’m not getting it, like, something is wrong with me,’ ” Whitaker said. “Nobody ever gave me the space to question my sexuality, it was just expected of me to be straight.”

Now, as an openly gay individual, Whitaker is moved by the positive response the video series has received.

“I think it says something about how our culture is shifting. That people, even straight people, can watch that series and be touched by it,” Whitaker said.

Looking to the Past, Present, and Future

When asked if he had a piece of advice for current high schoolers, Whitaker joked, “I could write a book for high schoolers right now.

“I think I would have gotten more out of high school if I had consciously tried to get to know myself better. So, that would be my advice,” Whitaker said. “Use those years to focus on knowing yourself. Ask yourself questions about yourself and have a lot of patience to figure out the answers to those questions. I think everyone has things that are there about themselves that they haven’t uncovered yet. I only have a well-developed identity now because I focused on it.”

Although Whitaker enjoys working in media for the time being, he aspires to eventually earn a master’s degree in psychology and become a therapist. He has already considered a few colleges, such as the Seattle School of Theology and Psychology and the Fuller Theological Seminary in California.

In the near future, WHS students will be able to observe as Whitaker continues to find new ways to aid others, but for now, they can watch him spread his messages through BuzzFeed.

“I think the life best spent is in service to others and that’s what [Shane] has done. He’s a wise soul in a young person’s body. I’m just so proud that he has found his footing and his voice and is continuing to kind of hold a mirror up to us and encourage us to be our best selves,” Cameron said.