Nominations Now Open for the 2020 Black Education Matters Student Activist Award!
Some of the 2018 Black Education Matters Student Activist Award winners being congratulated by Linda Sarsour, Pele Bennett, and Michael Bennett. Apply today for the 2020 award.
The Black Education Matters Student Activist Award (BEMSAA) gives recognition, support, and a $1,000 award to student leaders in the Seattle Public Schools who demonstrate exceptional leadership in struggles against racism—especially with an understanding of the intersections with sexism, homophobia, transphobia, Islamaphobia, class exploitation and other forms of oppression—within their school or community. Over the past several years, thirteen Seattle Public Schools students have been honored with the award.
I founded the award a little more than a year after I was assaulted by police and won a settlement. The assault occurred in January of 2015, soon after I gave the final speech at Seattle’s Martin Luther King Day rally. Not long after, I was pepper-sprayed in the face without provocation by an officer of the Seattle Police Department. I was on the phone with my mom at time of the assault, coordinating a ride to my then two-year-old son’s birthday party. The incident was captured on video by an onlooker. I then filed a federal lawsuit against the City of Seattle and the Seattle Police Department and reached a settlement over the incident, using the proceeds to start the “Black Education Matters Student Activist Award.” While I’m glad the money from the settlement could be used to support youth activism, the settlement does not represent justice given that the officer who pepper-sprayed me did not even receive a one-day suspension for the assault.
Last year’s winners were:
- Rena Mateja Walker Burr, Cleveland High School
- Khabirah Weddington, Garfield High School
- Cece Chan, Nathan Hale High School
For a full list of the previous amazing award winners, please visit the Award Winners page.
Here, then, are the instructions for applying for the award.
Seattle Public School students (or advocates on their behalf) can apply for the Black Education Matters Student Activist Award by filling out this application.
THE OPPORTUNITY: CONTINUE READING: Nominations Now Open for the 2020 Black Education Matters Student Activist Award! – I AM AN EDUCATOR