Lessons in Activism: Graduating Student Leaders Contemplate Next Moves
High school seniors reflect on being activists in their schools, their communities and beyond.
In recent years, high school students have often been at the forefront of social movements, from gun control to school integration. Some graduating seniors told WNYC what they feel they've accomplished, and what they hope students following in their footsteps will achieve.
These interviews have been edited for clarity and condensed.
Melkisedec Francois
High School: William Cullen Bryant High School
Cause: Gun control: Attended the March for Our Lives in Washington, helped organize his school walkout against gun violence
Group: Global Kids
Activism: "The tragedy that happened in Parkland, FL over a year ago. I saw all the pain and the tragedy that came out of that event. I think what made it different was the students, their passion. That’s really what moved me to action. In New York City, when we say gun violence we’re talking about the violence that happens in the streets, that takes the lives of young children, and we’re talking about police brutality too. We’re realizing if we want change, we’re going to have to do it ourselves, whether that means protesting, resisting, drafting policy of our own. It’s time that the younger generation, our generation, does something about it."
What’s Next: "I’ll be attending John Jay College of Criminal Justice as a public administrations major, and eventually I’ll be attending law school. After law school I want to be a civil rights attorney, and I’ll see where that takes me."
Matthew Alexander Diaz
High School: Bronx Academy of Letters
Cause: School integration and equity: Testified before City Council and served on the School Diversity Advisory Group, Mayor de Blasio's task force on integration
Group: IntegrateNYC
Activism: "What I want to see change is segregation. I’m very hopeful. We’re going to see more resources in more schools, we’re going to see a different enrollment system that creates less segregation and more integrated schools, more restorative justice practices, more teachers that look like New York City, and more relationships across groups and identities. The most inspiring moment doing this work is seeing me transitioning out and letting others lead the forefront."
What’s Next: "I'm going to Lafayette College."
Katrice Ramirez
High School: Boerum Hill School for International Studies
Cause: Voting: Participated on the 18 in 18 campaign to register 18-year-olds for the midterms
Group: YVote
Activism: "I’m just deeply dissatisfied with the way our country is running these days. I don’t like who’s running it, how they’re running it. We live in a time, it’s a little bit like a dystopia. We hope things get better, but they kind of get worse. Instead of saying, 'This is normal. This is ok,' we understand this is not normal and it’s not ok. And we’re going to do something about it. This is the type of activism that happens right before something amazing happens.”
What’s Next: ”In the fall I will be going to Syracuse University. I’m going to be studying political science. I want to be a politician or someone who works with policy.”
Ayanna Smith
High School: University Heights High School
Cause: School integration
Group: Teens Take Charge
Activism: “The school system is 70 percent black and Hispanic but all of the top performing schools are predominantly white and Asian and they have more resources. This is something everyone should care about. There’s going to be a lot of pushback from people who have benefited from the system for so long. But I genuinely hope to see people from different backgrounds sitting in the same seats next to each other. We cannot keep waiting.”
What’s Next: "I'm going to Cornell University. I want to continue working on educational equity issues and research New York City Schools. And I want to keep working with Teens Take Charge.”
Daniela Finlay
High School: The Spence School
Causes: Worked for four political campaigns: Corey Johnson's campaign for City Council Speaker, the New Hampshire Democratic Party Coordinated Campaign, Carolyn Maloney's 2018 midterm primary and Tiffany Caban's campaign for Queens District Attorney
Group: Next Generation Politics
Activism: "I’ve spent hours and hours phone-banking and I’ve seen that translated into everyday talking, being able to approach a stranger and ask them to support somebody. That was something that took a long time to master but it has helped me in other arenas as well. All of my candidates have won so far, but even getting people who’ve never voted before to go to the polls, that’s a victory.”
What’s Next: "I'll be going to Wellesley College. Hopefully when I get my license I’ll be able to drive up there to New Hampshire [to help with the presidential race].”
Karolina Bednarczyk
High School: Middle College High School at LaGuardia Community College
Cause: Advocacy for the deaf and students with disabilities
Group: Member of the Citywide Council on Special Education
Activism: “I advocate for students to have interpreters with a more native style of ASL. Oftentimes the interpreter can’t understand the student’s style, so it limits their interaction in a mainstream setting. It is really painful in a classroom where I have something worthy to say and the interpreter doesn’t understand me. I would have to become the President of the United States to show that deaf people can do anything. It’s something I think about.”
What’s Next: "I'm heading to Gallaudet University to major in criminal justice. I would like to improve the rights of deaf prisoners because often they don’t have the accessibility they need. Sometimes they’re in prison because of the [poor] interpreting quality in the proceedings and they were misunderstood.”
Luis Guaman
High School: William Cullen Bryant High School
Cause: Climate change: Helped his school improve recycling, traveled to Poland for the COP24 summit on climate change, is a member of the city’s Office of Youth Sustainability
Group: Global Kids
Activism: “The Paris Agreement, the fact that our government dropped out because they don’t believe that climate change is real, it’s shocking for me to see that. Even though our federal government is out of this, we’re still in this, we’re going to take action. My message to other students is to be active in school, whenever there’s a leadership role. It’s inspiring. It teaches you life lessons. You find new friends. We’re thankful for adults for the help they’ve given, but it’s now our turn to actually take initiative. This is our future.”
What’s Next: "I'm going to the College of Staten Island to study to be a social worker. I feel like I want to come back to this community, counsel students, educate them that they can make change.”
Munsura Tanha
High School: High School for Medical Professions
Cause: Climate Change: Organized workshops, meetings, and marches. Marched in Washington, traveled to Japan to work with high school students who experienced the tsunami there
Group: Global Kids
Activism: “I was born and lived in Bangladesh until I was 8-years-old. We faced major floods and extreme weather. It was one of the major reasons we had to move here. I want to make a change on an issue that I have come face to face with, and I want to help my people back home. I have organized workshops, meetings, marches around the issue of climate change. It’s up to us to fight for justice that the leaders aren’t.”
What’s Next: "I'm going to Baruch College. I want to major in Political Science and Business. Then I want to work at nonprofits and continue fighting climate change."
Alex Rosado
High School: The Clinton School
Cause: LGBTQ rights: Co-founded the school's Gender-Sexuality Alliance
Activism: "When you’re in the classroom and you hear students make slurs or make any sort of insensitive jokes, sometimes it’s really hard to speak up. When you hear a trans person being misgendered a lot of people don’t correct the person. It’s hard when the trans person always has to correct them. There should be more help for the teachers, keeping them up to date on the language to use. A lot of teachers still like to use 'boys and girls.' The more people working to speak out about those things, the better."
What’s Next: "I'm going to Sarah Lawrence College. I want to join the GSA in college and I want to continue addressing the needs of the community."