This summer, New York Appleseed continued our efforts to inform on school segregation and the state of integration in NYC through the facilitation and participation of educational events.
On July 15th, Appleseed’s interim executive director, Nyah Berg, participated on the New York City Bar Association’s panel, Segregation in NYC Public Schools: How Did We Get to This Point and What Lawyers Can Do to Address the Myriad Harms. In her comments, Nyah shed light on the history of segregation in New York City and the importance of legal advocacy and pro-bono partnerships in forwarding policies and practices for integrated schools. The panel discussed a myriad of topics regarding the educational justice landscape in NYC, including the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on our respected work in fighting for equity and inclusivity for the City’s most marginalized students.
Community Roots Panel with IntegrateNYC
In June, Appleseed’s Lena Dalke organized a panel featuring student advocates from IntegrateNYC to speak with 8th grade students at Community Roots Middle School. IntegrateNYC’s student leaders shared their empowering personal experiences as part of the movement for integration, overall successes attributed to their efforts, and the changes they’re working towards. Community Roots students utilized knowledge gained from this panel for their research projects as a part of their unit on New York City school segregation.
Integration Coalition Hosts Virtual Town Hall, In Solidarity for Integration
On May 17th, for the 67th anniversary of Brown v Board of Education, New York Appleseed co-hosted a collaborative and informative town hall, In Solidarity for Integration, with partner organizations from the Integration Coalition -- New York City Alliance for School Integration and Desegregation, Coalition for Asian American Children and Families, IntegrateNYC, NYU Metro Center’s Integration and Innovation Initiative and Teens Take Charge. IntegrateNYC’s historian team provided a thought-provoking history of the integration movement in NYC and panelists from the coalition's various organizations discussed how we can continue to work together to fight systemic racism in our school system and find solidarity in the integration movement.
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