"We prepare students to engage in the world that is and to help bring about a world that ought to be."
Learn & Serve: Daniel Maree
Daniel Maree, founder of MillionHoodies, visited Friends Seminary to discuss how the Trayvon Martin case inspired him to become a social change agent. After addressing Grades 7-12, he participated in a smaller discussion with students, parents and faculty.
On Wednesday, October 16, Friends Seminary held its first Learn & Serve assembly of the 2013-2014 school year. Students from Grades 7-12 heard Daniel Maree, the founder of MillionHoodies, discuss how the Trayvon Martin case inspired him to become a social change agent. The 25-year-old organized the original MillionHoodies March in which 50,000 people rallied across the country. His volunteer group also collected two million signatures calling for the arrest of the shooter, George Zimmerman. Mr. Maree—who made the hoodie a symbol of social activism—has recently won a $100,000 grand prize award for his organization from the group DoSomething.org.
MillionHoodies is a multiracial alliance of concerned citizens, civil society organizations and community leaders who are fed up with the unprecedented levels of unrestrained violence directed at young people of color in the United States. Using social media, performance art and multimedia, Mr. Maree’s organization works to elevate the profile of victims and families who have lost loved ones as a result of racial profiling and senseless gun violence. During the assembly, students will learn how he has used social media to leverage a whole movement of citizens calling for change and how they also might become involved.
In preparation for the assembly, students discussed the details of the Trayvon Martin case in Advisory. Teachers and advisors have worked to foster critical thinking, reflection and discussion on the case as well as larger discussions around race and gun law in America.
Immediately following the assembly, Cynthia Chalker, Jason Craige-Harris, Leitzel Schoen and Benny Vásquez, Co-Chair of the NYSAIS Diversity Committee, facilitated a community event to extend discussions and include some action steps for those interested in becoming more involved around the issues raised.
Friends Seminary actively promotes diversity, equity, inclusion, and anti-racism in all its programs and operations, including admissions, financial aid, hiring, and all facets of the educational experience. To form a community which strives to reflect the world’s diversity, we do not discriminate on the basis of race or color, religion, nationality, ethnicity, economic background, physical ability, sex, gender identity or expression, or sexual orientation. Friends Seminary is an equal opportunity employer.
Friends Seminary — the oldest continuously operated, coeducational school in NYC — serves college-bound day students in Kindergarten-Grade 12.
