Activism Fair

The X-Block activism fair was held in the atrium where various stands promoting social justice organizations were set up and scanned by curious students. Advocates from groups such as the Reconciliation and Healing group, BLACC, The City School and the Food Project, shared insight on their organizations as well as racism and social justice issues.

Senior Elena Scotts-Lee is part of the Racial Reconciliation and Healing group based in Jamaica Plain.

According to Scotts-Lee, members of the group are taught about racism and ways to combat it.

“We spend a full year learning what we can do to deconstruct the system of racism. I have learned how deeply I have internalized many of the things that the system of racism has pushed upon me. I have come to understand how much it affects each demographic of people,” Scotts-Lee said.

Scotts-Lee said that it is important for all people to make connections about the topic of racism in order to progress.

“Many think that racism only hurts people of color, but it hurts everyone. In short, everyone should have the ability to make connections,” said Scotts-Lee.

Advocates for BLACC (Building Leaders and Changing the Community), a group from the high school, as well as The City School based in Boston were at the fair.

Senior Dayana Smith-Rose who was promoting BLACC has already created awareness at the high school through the pictures of innocent people of color killed lining the school floors as well as teach-in days. According to Smith-Rose a socially aware community is important to combatting social issues.

“If we are not socially together as a school, we cannot function and there are going to be issues within the school,” Smith-Rose said.

Collique Williams, a teacher for the leadership team at the The City School based in Boston, teaches students about social justice issues.

Williams said that there is a six week summer intensive program where they discuss these issues in seminars and classes.

“We work on looking at social change looking through a racial and economic lens as well as how folks can make change within their communities,” said Williams.

Angel Araiza, a part of The Food Project, said that students that are part of their application based program learn about social justice issues that have to do with the food system.

“The youth are very involved. They learn how to farm and they learn how to talk about social justice issues. We talk about a lot about oppression within the food system,” said Araiza.

According to Araiza, the project also discusses demographics and disparities within the food system.

“If you consider who has access to local affordable food and if you consider health disparity, a lot of the time it is people who live in places of lower economic statues who tend not to have grocery stores within a mile,” said Araiza.

The activism fair showcased many outlets of social justice work pertaining to racism, and other systematic issues.

“I’ve learned how deeply painful racism is and how much work has to be done to change this,” said Scotts-Lee.