The Anti- Defamation League (ADL) held its annual Youth Congress on Friday, April 13th. A group of Marblehead High students went to experience a day of powerful speeches, activities, and workshops. The conference brings together 1500 students and school staff spanning from all of the New England area. The goal is to work on demolishing social issues in the country. The event gave us the tools to succeed with tearing down areas that suppresses people like ageism, weightism, racism, sexism, homophobia, and classism. The conference is the catalyst to continue the fight in our own communities.
The day was met first with speeches from Deanna and Mya Cook, twin sisters who received disciplinary actions for just having braids at their Malden Charter school. Both are student activists who strived to create an inclusive, non discriminating dress code at their school, and to create an improved school community on inclusiveness of their Blackness. Their speech touched my heart, not only being a Black girl and a High school student, but overall their experience with being an activist in their community was parallel to what I continue to do in the Marblehead community.
The keynote speaker was Brittany Packnett, an unapologetic social activist who was very prominent during the Ferguson protests. She is also an educator, writer, has a substantial social media presence, and most importantly a daughter to St. Louis ministers. Her interactive, funny, and influential speech grasped the essence of what social activism is. Brittany Packnett taught us the building blocks to becoming a leader and shared some racist experiences she’s had when she was a high school student as well. She was able to command those racist experiences into her own story and transform that into true activism. Packnett left me wanting to do more in the Black community and beyond.
I was asked to be a Peer Trainer this year, leading a group from 5 schools and (about 40 High School students) into an ADL- created workshop. Workshops are fully run by high schools students. Representing Marblehead High School was Kenneth Bufford (Senior), Ben Collette (Junior), and I. For nearly 2 hours we worked with students with a primary focus of giving them tools for success in their communities. At first, naturally, it was hard for the students to open up to tell their stories but as we continued with more interactive activities, the students opened up more than I imagined. One freshman student opened up about how she confronted her bully, another sophomore student opened up about confronting the sexism she receives in her class, and another student learned how to combat racist remarks that her friends make.
Last year I was a participant in the ADL workshop and this year I was running it. It was one of the most eye opening experiences I’ve ever had. It made me want to continue to do workshops like this as I move on to the next chapter of my life in college. As we were giving tools to the students of how to dismantle injustice at their schools and communities, it gave me the tools of how to really reach a breakthrough with kids experiencing social injustice as I have. I will definitely miss being apart of the ADL Youth Congress next year.