We are incredibly fortunate to have student activists like Mariama Sow and Gregory Hamilton from the KIPP NYC College Prep Class of 2021 creating a lasting impact that will benefit thousands of students in the years to come.

Our goal is to “represent black and brown voices and ensure they are heard,” says Mariama, who, along with her classmate, Gregory, are leading student activists for social justice and the elevation of student voice to shape the high school’s future.

Mariama and Greg are advising staff on how to decolonize the curriculum across all departments. This means moving the Haitian Revolution and the Mau Mau Uprising in Kenya to prominent positions in the History curriculum. In science, studying how Black bodies have been used historically for experimental medical research. In math, learning how the Egyptians used the Pythagorean Theorem before Pythagoras. And in microeconomics, discussing the causes and impact of the widening racial wealth gap in the United States.

Mariama, who is from the South Bronx and has five siblings, all of whom attend KIPP NYC schools, is taking AP Calculus, AP Microeconomics, AP Psychology, AP Seminar, and Advanced Orchestra (she plays the violin). She aspires to become an attorney and start a nonprofit that connects mentors to young people who have been incarcerated. Greg, who also has five siblings, two of whom attend KIPP, is taking multiple AP courses and a college-level Biology class offered by Syracuse University. He aims to go to medical school.

We are incredibly fortunate to have student activists like Mariama and Greg creating a lasting impact that will benefit thousands of students in the years to come.