By ALEXIA KADOTA-BROWNER and MICHELLE WU
Jericho High School students have been steadily advocating for the Black Lives Matter movement despite COVID’s lockdown and continued disruption to school and life.
Of 113 Jericho High School students surveyed, 50% reported having participated in “Black-out Tuesday,” an Instagram movement that occurred in early June to shed light on racial injustice.
Instagram feeds on June 2nd were filled with posts showing solidarity with the movement.
Although Jericho’s Black student population is low compared to other New York State schools, its activism and support for the Black Lives Matter movement have been strong.
The Project LEAD club hosted a virtual webinar in June, with a featured speaker from Erase Racism. The webinar included students, parents, trustees, and administrators. The group focused its discussion on diversity, segregation, and breaking down racial barriers. The movement was largely student-led. Club advisor and school social worker Mr. Velez said, “We held many meetings throughout the quarantine to discuss the situation, and many students were very motivated to do something as a club to address race relations not just in their own communities but across the country.”
Club advisor Mr. Velez worked closely with Dr. Smith and Project LEAD students to host the webinar.
The club made a video to promote acceptance of diversity within Jericho. LEAD member and junior Olivia E. was grateful to have participated in the club’s activities. She said, “Helping to organize the seminar meant a lot to me because of the importance of the issue of racial inequality. Problems of racial division need to be discussed further within our school community, even if these conversations are uncomfortable.”
Junior Olivia E. acknowledges that discussing race is difficult, yet crucial. “I hope the participants were able to learn something new and continue the conversation about race relations with family and friends. We need to keep these conversations going, even if they are uncomfortable because they are a step in the right direction,” she said.
Individual students have also taken it upon themselves to advocate for Black Lives Matter.
Senior Ariel K. is co-founder and editor of “The Incandescent Review,” a nonprofit magazine encouraging youth to discuss social issues. Recently, they initiated a project called Revisions for Black Lives Matter. They offer free writing revisions, and in return ask for proof of donation to any organization in support of Black Lives Matter. She said, “I think that it is really empowering. It is a good thing that people are becoming more aware of systemic racism. I also think it is very sad that there is a need for this because it should be obvious that Black lives matter.”
Sophomore Krishna C. has attended protests on Long Island and in New York City and works with assemblywoman Taylor Darling to host census and voter registration drives in communities of color. She said, “Advocating for Black lives is important because the issue isn’t covered enough in the media. Although it’s become more prominent recently, there is a lot more work to do.”
Krishna worked with local politicians to help over register over 150 people to vote.
By attending protests, Krishna had the opportunity to hear about how some communities are affected by systemic racism. She said, “Attending the protests was eye-opening. Although I am fortunate enough to not be affected directly by systemic racism, it was important to hear about the struggles of others to be a better ally.”
Junior Corinne D. has donated money to many reputable Black Lives Matter organizations and signed multiple petitions in support of the movement. She has also painted portraits of public figures of the Black Lives Matter movement as a creative outlet and her own personal way of expressing support. She said, “I noticed prejudice and bias more. I realized this isn’t okay and I educated myself and I’m changing. I think the Jericho community is being a little silent, and that’s not fair. I think they can put petitions in the Jericho Blast or have a local peaceful protest.”
Senior Anagha K. works with the Sunrise Climate Movement in coordination with Black Lives Matter and has organized phone banks for campaigns that are committed to racial justice. She suggests that activists should look beyond the vote, and go to their local communities to see where they can help out. “I would like to see more education about how racism affects economics, history, science, and politics with conversations about systemic racism incorporated into our curriculum,” she said.
Senior Kelly X. has been active on social media promoting the Black Lives Matter movement. She has also offered commissions for her art and used the money to donate to Black Lives Matter charities. She said, “It’s important to note that movements like this are long-lasting and aren’t just a short moment in history. I think everyone should be well-educated on what’s currently happening right now because of the issues that concern race relations in America and the class struggle created by it.”
As a person of color and activist himself, senior Sholly B. said, “Sometimes people take being a non-POC for granted because being my color is not easy at all. I am glad that more people are starting to take BLM seriously, because race issues haven’t previously been addressed enough.”
Some students have chosen not to publicly support Black Lives Matter. A senior who wished to remain anonymous admitted that he used to advocate for the movement and was one of the Black Square posters before realizing how “sheep-like, unhelpful, and naïve” Instagram solidarity was. He said, “I disagree with the idea of defunding the police and how BLM uses bullying and harassment to get people to hop on their bandwagon-esque movement. This is exactly the reason why I have chosen to be anonymous, and why I have to differentiate the phrase ‘Black lives matter’ from the movement: if you come out publicly as a non-supporter of the movement, people in the movement will assume that you are racist since they think that you don’t support the phrase either.”
He suggests that everyone should be more open-minded when discussing political issues. “Show you care about the person you disagree with by hearing them out and listening, rather than shutting them out. Agreeing to disagree should be a primary objective,” he said.
With an important election coming up, it will be interesting to see how activism with the Black Lives Matter movement will affect the outcome. If you are of age, the JerEcho encourages you to go out and vote!