Authored by Newark Youth: Racism Across Education, Health & Justice – Issue Briefs and Recommendations

Newark, New Jersey – September 2020 – Through an 8 week summer enrichment program at The Gem Project, Inc., up to 45 enrolled youth had an opportunity to explore how  structural racism has impacted the Black community across education, health, and justice — along with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

High school and college students worked alongside each other to lead virtual youth rallies, display art, and author the following issue briefs:

Cover – Structural Racism: Across the sectors of Education, Health, and Justice.

Its publication followed a two hour youth rally led by youth organizers of The Gem Project, where they spoke virtually with activists, criminal justice reform professionals, policy fellows, elected officials, hospital executives, and the community.

Mia Legaspi-Cavin, Gem Project Board Secretary, said at the youth rally, “The policies that are the most dangerous to youth are the ones that try to control young people.” 

Councilwoman LaMonica McIvr said in a talk with high school and college Gem Project fellows Kynise Dixon and Faith Christian, “Being involved and understanding politics is the core to change  we want to see,” continuing, “It is very important for young people to get involved, to learn who their representatives are and about the political process.”

Amanda Ebokosia, CEO of The Gem Project said the following about the summer program, “We are truly proud of what our youth have achieved. While the program itself was extended by two weeks by the City of Newark’s Newark Youth One Stop, our fellows completed the bulk of their work in 5 weeks.” Ebokosia added, “As they make the most their new learning spaces, it is our hope that the public takes advantage of the resources they created over the summer at https://thegemproject.org/rally2020.” 

Visit https://thegemproject.org to learn more about our initiatives. Fellowship applications for cohort 2020-2021 are open, with limited slots at https://thegemproject.org/fellowships.  

ABOUT THE GEM PROJECT

Founded in 2006, The Gem Project serves to boost high school to college student engagement through youth organizing, employment, peer-mentoring, and service-learning initiatives that take on a social justice approach. The Gem Project has been featured in Forbes Magazine, Forbes.com, Black Enterprise, and highlighted by the Barack Obama Administration on the White House Blog, for youth-run initiatives.

Media Contact:

Stacy Tyndall

fellows@thegemproject.org 

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