During my senior year of high school, I began to feel enraged with the constant social divide

that plagued my school’s environment.  My school had a majority of Caucasian students with a small percentage of minorities, most of whom were African American.  Race relations had never been directly discussed in my school, but it was always present in every activity.  Moreover, Microaggressions laced the halls to the point that the majority of black students and white students would not eat lunch together; instead, they would sit on different levels of the lunch room.  Due to the verdict of the Stockley case in 2017 with the fatal police shooting of Lamar Smith in 2011, my friends and I gathered a group of about 50 students to peacefully protest.  Administration and students had heard about our protest, and with anger and confusion, they had gathered around staring at us as if we were zoo animals--waiting for us to become violent, so they could have a reason to criminalize our passion.  I spoke. I spoke for the students who had felt silenced for four years. I spoke for the students who felt like they didn’t belong there. I spoke to create an understanding that we too deserved acknowledgment.  At the end of my speech, I presented the petition to my principal.  She invited my friends and me into her office and from there, I began to work with administration and district curriculum coordinators to found my school-based organization called “Ethnicity United” which implements school sponsored events such as a privilege walk and a diverse curriculum that is representative of every student.  At my high school graduation, I was presented with the Parkway South High Humanitarian Award to symbolize my work in unifying my school.  Ethnicity United continues today with a diverse group of people working under a common goal of the unification of our community.