"I got another job based off my experience with Public Allies," said 23-year-old Aurora Douglas, a recent graduation from the John Jay College of Criminal Justice. "Having public allies on your resume is a big deal. It shows that you know about community."
[Ads /]
Douglas made such an impact at the United Community Schools she served in Brownsville that they don't want to lose her.
"STEM programs, they're not usually directed towards kids in these areas," she said. "So I'm glad that they got the opportunity to work with iPads and learning how to create programs."
ABC7 Unite: Teens rebuild man's home destroyed by Superstorm Sandy
Douglas will continue the work she started during a 10-month apprenticeship with the Public Allies program. The national non-profit organization has been around 28 years and operates program in 25 states, including in Chicago, Illinois, where Michelle Obama served as the executive director.
"We pride ourselves on being a social justice organization that focuses on homegrown local leadership," program director and alum Janeen Ettienne said. "Where were tapping into young leaders who are traditionally left out of rooms of power."
The program works by pairing participants, or "allies," to work with local community-based non-profits to development their leadership skills and build confidence -- and there is a peer support component as well.
"I was expecting it to be peers, but we had people who were like my grandmother's age," Douglas said. "Which adds to how amazing to our cohorts is, and Public Allies."
ABC7 Unite: Photographers offer free headshots to 10K unemployed Americans
The program has also led to career changes.
"Before I started Public Allies, I had a career in public relations and entertainment," alumni Vincent Cunningham said. "And I wanted to find a way to segue into doing something that I felt was more impactful."
Cunningham, 30, is now working with City Harvest's Plentiful, moving into a full time role after his apprenticeship.
[Ads /]
"It made me really realize that you need different pieces of the puzzle to get the picture," he said. "You need different people, different shapes, different sizes, different philosophies. And this truly changed the trajectory of my life."
MORE ABC 7 UNITE
See more stories at abc7NY.com/unite
SEND STORY IDEAS TO EYEWITNESS NEWS
[Ads /]
Watch Here & Now
Here & Now episode archive
RESOURCES
We are also publishing resources in a range of areas, which will grow and can be found below:
Ways to Help
Black Lives Matter
Black Voters Matter Fund
NAACP
National Institute for Criminal Justice Reform
No New Jails NYC
Voices of Community Activists & Leaders (VOCAL-NY)
Black LGBTQIA + Migrants Project
Teaching the Next Generation
Black Lives Matter at School
Creating Space To Talk About Racism At Your School
Teaching for Black Lives - Rethinking Schools
Black-Owned Bookstores in New York and New Jersey
Cafe con Libros (Brooklyn)
Grandma's Place (Harlem)
Sister's Uptown (Manhattan)
Source of Knowledge (Newark)
The Lit. Bar (Bronx)
The Little Boho Bookshop (Bayonne)
Books
Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood by Trevor Noah
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
Raising White Kids: Bringing Up Children In A Racially Unjust America by Jennifer Harvey
So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo
The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander
White Fragility: Why It's So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism
Podcasts
1619
Black Wall Street 1921
Jemele Hill is Unbothered
Still Processing:
Movies
American Son: Available on Netflix
If Beale Street Could Talk: Available on Hulu
Just Mercy: Available on Amazon Prime
Selma: Available on Amazon Prime
The Hate U Give: Available on Amazon Prime
When They See Us: Available on Netflix
Documentaries
13th: Available on Netflix
America Inside Out with Katie Couric: Available on National Geographic
Becoming: Available on Netflix
I am Not Your Negro: Available on YouTube