Ahhh, we are almost at the last week of this internship. It has been extremely fun to get to know each one of the teens and for this week, we wanted them to sit back and listen to a couple of speakers. Katherine and I invited two Cornell students, one who is the president of Cornell Minds Matter, and the other runs an Instagram account tackling issues of racism and showing how we can use digital media to protest and educate. The president of CMM gave us a really good look at what the organization/club on campus does to try to raise mental health awareness and support. Bianca, did an amazing job connecting it to our anti-racism group by talking about the difficulty minorities and communities of color face when talking about mental health. The students were super engaged and I was so glad they were able to connect to her experiences.

After Bianca had spoke about her own experiences and involvement, Syd, our other speaker, joined and talked to us about what real activism is. Instead of hiding behind a social media account, Syd uses her passion for racial justice to challenge her environment, whether that be ending friendships with friends whom engage with racist ideologies or calling out professors that have skewed ideas of a certain community. Syd demonstrates what actual activism is as opposed to performative activism. She clearly emphasizes that true activism requires sacrifice and putting yourself in situations that are uncomfortable to others and yourself. The students were very engaged all throughout and even asked her for some advice when it came to dealing with racially insensitive family members.