Community Engagement by Ni'Sea

Community Engagement by Ni'Sea - January 2017 Scholarship Essay

Community Engagement

Growing up a female, of multiracial background, in the fourth most segregated city in the United States , I have always seen the set advantages and disagrees within our society; yet it was not until I started working with a non-profit organization that I began to understand some of the concepts that have helped me find purpose in life.The summer going into my sophomore year of high school, I was compelled by my mother to work with a non-profit organization focused on educating the community as well as the youth in it on social justice.

Going into the situation I had always been a varying caring and empathetic person with a natural passion for helping others. Being born and raised in Milwaukee, WI I was constantly surrounded by the various adversities of my community. In my city the presence of of racism and socioeconomic disparities were ingrained into everyday life as the city was segregated upon those premises. As a child I was very observative and picked up on the vast differences within the separated communities I was cast in and their connection to the diversity that existed within my personal life. Because I have Caucasian and African American heritage i experienced discrimination on both platforms, being bullied in grade school for being black when i attended an all white school, and being teased for being white when i attended an all black school. Witnessing the ignorance associated with racism as a child I developed a passion of wanting to educate not only my peers but those apart of my community.

After finally agreeing to go to the organization “Urban Underground”, I found the means to which to accomplishing a goal and passion of mine that had been suppressed in dealing with my regular education and other extracurricular activities. While starting the program I first along with a group of high school aged peers received a whole-rounded education of what social justice was. Because the workers at the organization were youth themselves these concepts were thought and related to my daily life, drawing connections in discrimination and cultural consciousness to daily experiences. After learning the curriculum, I continued to work with Urban Underground as a peer educator and quickly started to have leadership roles. After a couple months of participating in the program I began facilitating group sessions and workshops as well as forming my own “Sister to Sister” girls’ group where I developed activities, workshops, and listening sessions with the help of a co-facilitator.

At Urban we were taught to feel a strong connection to the community despite the growing issues engulfing it. Through organizing, developing campaigns, canvassing neighborhoods, planning community events and meetings, as well as connecting with various organizations I gained valuable experience in executing my passion for helping people in my community. Managing to stay involved with Urban and develop my portfolio for photography (which has always been a passion of mine) I started taking pictures of my community and the things I was doing with and outside of Urban. Once i shared my photographs with my photography class, i that noticed the response i got from my classmates was one of curiosity , for the reality of my community was different from theirs (I attended a suburban public school , while I lived in the inner city unlike most of my peers). By showcasing my work and its connection to my experience I was able to enlighten them on the injustices that were of a foreign existence. As i shared more of my photos with not only my classmates, but family members, co-workers, friends, neighbors a,m and people in various communities I began to have conversations with people from all backgrounds on the central ideas that were seemingly difficult to dissect in the absence of a visual representation. Shortly after grasping the powerful potential behind my art, I realized that I wanted to spend the rest of my life continuing to shed light of these issues and the efforts of people trying to make them better through photography.

Although I relocated to Phoenix ,AZ , to this day my work and the message behind them motivates me to always feel a sense of connection to all of the communities I have belonged to over the years.