Herricks High School senior Pooja Kumar completed an ERASE Racism Student Leaders for Equity Internship this past summer. Kumar was one of only five high school students selected to participate in the organization’s inaugural internship program.
This opportunity follows the legacy of the organization’s commitment to addressing institutional and structural racism on Long Island. The goal of this unique experience was focused on giving participating students the tools to organize and advocate for racial equity in their schools and communities.
Throughout the six-week program, Kumar and her peers studied the patterns, history, and present-day manifestations of systemic racism throughout Long Island. The students created plans to elevate racial equity and inclusion in their schools and communities. Among the many opportunities and experiences, learning how to launch advocacy and equity clubs, and how to bring advocacy and equity principles and initiatives to existing clubs and organizations back to their respective school were a key focus.
“One of the most important things I learned from working with ERASE Racism was that open conversation is the key to creating change. This opportunity served as an outlet for us to learn from, listen to, and collaborate with residents from different communities on Long Island,” stated the Herricks High School senior. “A lot of us discussed housing discrimination, racial segregation of schools, and slavery on Long Island for the first time. These conversations are crucial to fully understanding where we come from and how we can make it a safer, equitable place for the next generation.”
With the start of the new school year, Kumar will implement her outreach plans to educate and engage fellow Herricks students. Her goal is to deepen understanding of systemic racism for her peers, teachers, and administrators. As the school year continues, the five interns will reconnect monthly to share the progress toward the goals and collaborate with each other to problem solve any difficulties that arise during the implementation phase of the internship with facilitation by ERASE Racism.
ERASE Racism is a nonprofit, Syosset organization that leads public policy advocacy campaigns and related initiatives to promote racial equity in areas such as housing, public school education and community development.