Charlie Parker
Bar Harbor, ME
May 2021

Tell us about your project! How can people get involved?

In the summer of 2020, while the country and world reacted to the death of George Floyd, I took the opportunity to speak up about racial injustice in my local area. I worked with two other students from my High School to form the MDI Racial Justice Collective. We held weekly rallies throughout the summer that focused on educating the community about the experiences of the few POC among them. We organized a platform for speakers to encourage the attendees to individually and collaboratively influence change. We created a Facebook Group in order to communicate with the community that steadily grew to nearly 1,000 members as the summer continued. We worked with the local School Board to implement some policy changes and start a task force for the school district. The task force is dedicated to:

• restructuring the school culture and curricula to encourage teachers and students to have productive discussions around race
• ensuring students are provided with the necessary resources that promote anti-racist behaviors as well as mandatory anti-racism training for all staff members
• improving the current system by addressing incidents of racism and incorporating restorative practices.

I encourage any student who wants to get involved in their community as an advocate for racial/social equality to start with their own school. Inquire about current policies and guidelines, and meet with faculty or the school board to voice concern and demand real change.

I heard about Change4Good through friends of my mom and I admire the work other students have done to really make a difference. I hope that my efforts in support of those who are targeted due to their race can have the same level of impact and help to bring change for good.