Abrahamson & Uiterwyk Announces Their July 2021 Law School Scholarship To Promote Diversity Second Runner-Up

Jasmine Marchbanks Owel is our 2021 Law School Scholarship To Promote Diversity second runner-up.

Here is her essay:

Essay

Returning to the United States after eight months abroad presented a stark reminder of the severe racial inequalities that exist in education, healthcare, employment, and housing. These realities motivated me to use my skill set and voice to advocate for Black people in my community. As a Peace Corps volunteer, learning to work with stakeholders and advocate for vulnerable groups through community activism was essential. When I returned home, I sought to collaborate with other organizers in my hometown.

Upon joining local activist groups such as #RethinkPublicSafety, Congregations for Prophetic Engagement, and The Black Parent Alliance, we discovered that my former high school district had one of the highest racial disparity rates between Black and white students in Southern California. Black students are three times more likely to be expelled and suspended in the district than their white counterparts. Racialized complaints are severely underreported, and many Black students are berated by administrators, teachers, and peers. Upon review of the data, I requested a meeting with district representatives to discuss problematic teachers and racialized incidents myself and my peers endured in high school. Many of the same teachers who had terrorized us still worked in the district. During the meeting, the district refused to confront or acknowledge the ongoing prejudice and racism students experienced, despite offering restorative solutions.

Feeling rejected by district administrators, I looked for other solutions. The thought process of the district had to change. The meeting served as a catalyst to reach out to current students, alumni, and teachers on social platforms to encourage them to send narratives of the racialized experiences they had endured in the district. Realizing the need to solicit support from local community activists, stakeholders, and grassroots service providers, it was necessary to work together to collect narratives. In less than a month, we collected over 200 narratives detailing racism, homophobia, xenophobia, and sexism from students, alumni, teachers, and parents all over the Inland Empire, spanning back ten years. The majority of the narratives were uploaded through an Instagram account called @ie.confessions to create a space for students, teachers, and alumni to anonymously detail their experiences without repercussions. These narratives provided insight into the racialized disparities within the district and validated my experiences and those of my peers. With this data available, we changed our strategy and scheduled an additional meeting with the school district. I authored an eight-page proposal declaring racism as a public health crisis. We presented the proposal along with data on retention, over 50 narratives from students in the district encompassing all eight high schools, and a list of demands. Some of the demands included more support for Black students, more mental health care resources, and the removal of on-campus police. With the support of stakeholders, parents, and alumni, I knew that I was no longer alone in pushing for more equitable policies.

Three months after the initial meeting with district administrators, on September 15th, 2020, Chaffey Joint Unified High School District declared racism a public health crisis and publicly apologized for the adverse and traumatic experiences students endured. Through the work in my former school district, I began to counsel and collaborate with additional groups of parents, alumni, and students from neighboring school districts, counties, and cities. Working together, we created significant change and passed progressive policies throughout Southern California. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) requested to use the 200 narratives we collected for their annual school district racial equity report cards. As I reflect on my time in Costa Rica, the utilization of the education I had received and the experiences of working with various Costa Rican stakeholders to advocate for Black people led to a passion to support community leaders and activists in my hometown. This passion compelled me to apply and enroll as a student at Howard University School of Law to become a civil rights attorney and serve as a social engineer. I aspire to work hand in hand with communities and organizations that move past the performative actions many people in our society have settled to accept and focus on racial justice, equality, and inclusion.