I am interested in racial justice work because I grew up in a predominantly white, conservative town, where I didn’t know where I fit in, and I remember feeling completely and utterly alone. I am excited to begin working in the Racial Justice Fellowship so that I can connect with people who know what that is like. No one should ever have to feel alone or different because of the color of their skin or the shape of their nose, and I believe that by making connections in the community and starting conversations, we can begin to heal together and actualize our aspirations for future generations.

I enter this fellowship with gratitude and an abundance mindset, willing to learn and collaborate with my peers and leadership team. This opportunity will assist me in acknowledging and removing some of my inherited biases and help me work through the generational trauma I carry with me. Modern capitalist values thrive on isolating consumers, however, solidarity gives way to liberation. With the tools I hope to gain through this fellowship, I will extend a hand to my community as I walk with them toward a more racially informed future. I am a Psychology major at USF St. Pete, though more recently, my focus has shifted towards social work. I actively contribute to an LGBTQ Youth Camp and a nonprofit organization called CampOUT as a summer-time counselor. I would love to continue this work and utilize the leadership skills I gain through involvement with TRHT. It is vital to acknowledge intersectionality in all aspects of social justice work, including race, gender, sexuality, ability, class, and more. I do not expect the work to be easy, but in hopes of a better future, it’s essential to acknowledge the origins of racial injustice and listen to the voices most affected by it.

Katherine Kirkeminde-Harris holds a double major from Middle Tennessee State University in Behavioral Neuroscience. Her academic interest sits at the intersection of where the study of human rights and socio-political discord meet Ethnography in the anthropological and historical record. She has presented her research at the University of South Florida, St. Petersburg Undergraduate Research Symposium, the Florida Anthropological Society annual conference, and the biannual Holocaust Studies Convention at Middle Tennessee State University. Katherine is a native of Memphis, Tennessee, and her current research project, an historical survey of cultural and community responses to extra judicial executions and white-capping activities in the deep south, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, is one of great personal significance. It is her hope that through her research, she will be able to elevate the voices of victims and their families, and bring attention to the systematic nature of racial and class inequalities which prevail today.

Kiley Woods grew up in a predominantly white community in the south and had very little knowledge of racism and racial history. She took several American history courses with a racial history focus which taught her that black history is American history. In history courses, she learned about racial justice movements. Movements that are still happening today. Racial justice action is important to her because she has seen and experienced other forms of injustice and believes in the power of creativity to promote change. Through education, conversation, collaboration, and creation, conscious change is possible. Kiley is here to learn about the leadership side of advocacy work and use her love of history to understand where we have been and where we are going through a racial justice lens.

During my freshman year of undergrad, a sociology course on race, gender, and class inequality exposed me to the role the law plays in both discrimination and reformation. Fueling my passion for social change, I entered the legal field in hopes of advocating for oppressed communities and marginalized voices. Much like the tail of a scorpion, the law has the power to destroy the very harm it has created, but only once it is placed in a ring of fire. Advocates for racial justice are that ring of fire and I hope you be a part of that voice, both within the legal system and beyond.

Summer Brokaw graduated from Spelman College. Exposure to racial and socioeconomic injustices from  colonialism in her African Diaspora class there led her to start an Amnesty International student chapter to campaign and fundraise for civil and human rights. After college, she became a newspaper reporter for The Charlotte Post, and The Triangle Tribune, where she wrote stories exposing racial and socioeconomic injustices. Among these stories, she reported on the thousands of poor Black men and women who were coerced or forcibly sterilized in North Carolina between 1929-1974. She also exposed racial disparities in health, housing, wealth, and education. After witnessing the COVID-19 pandemic disproportionately impacting the Black community due to these disparities, writing was no longer enough. She wanted to become a legal advocate for racial justice.

I am a racial justice advocate because I believe that society should value every person, regardless of their skin color or ethnic background. The legacy of racism in America has produced disparities in just about every sector of our society. From education, to healthcare, criminal justice, housing, and more, racism has created indefensible racial disparities. Through my work I hope to amplify Black and POC voices so that we are able to tell our stories. I also hope to help people recognize their own personal biases when it comes to race.