NYC Celebrates Juneteenth with Scholarships
New York City is celebrating Juneteenth with three programs aimed at ending racial disparities in education.
What you need to know
Juneteenth commemorates the ending of slavery in the United States. Annually celebrated on June 19, this holiday serves as an homage to the actual ending of slavery in 1865. While it’s widely believed that Black enslaved people were set free by the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863, not all were free until 2 1/2 years later.
The city is launching the Juneteenth Economic Justice Plan, which will include universal college savings accounts for kindergarten students, CUNY scholarships for African-American and low-income teens and 200 paid internships.
The city will pour $45 million into 2,800 four-year scholarships (valued at $4,000 per year) for Black and low-income CUNY students with the primary focus being on 1,000 students at Medgar Evers College and 1,800 low-income students living in neighborhoods impacted most by COVID-19. The investment will cover gaps in financial aid, books, transportation and advising for eligible students. For more scholarships in the area of New York visit https://app.ioscholarships.com/app/#/scholarship/search/uuid=5ff9c443-ad82-4671-be1f-6180d2ee0d98
Medgar Evers College will launch the Brooklyn Recovery Corps to provide over 200 students annually with the opportunity to contribute to the ongoing economic recovery of Brooklyn, focusing on experiences that integrate science, business, public health, or the green economy.
The $900,000 annual investments ($4.5 million over 5 years) will student fellows will gain technical skills, academic credit or paid internships, work experience, career preparation support and engagement with the community, and STEM-focused career placement opportunities.
The mayor said the goal of the program was to build generational wealth, citing the wide disparity in the average net worth of white and Black households.
“The answer is redistribution. The answer is purposeful, focused efforts to right the wrongs,” De Blasio said at a news conference.
The Taskforce on Racial Inclusion & Equity brings an equity-based approach to COVID-19 response and recovery efforts in the city’s hardest-hit communities. Services and supports are tailored to meet the unique challenges of New Yorkers in communities of color that have been disproportionately impacted by the pandemic.
For more information about this Plan visit https://juneteenth-nycgov.hub.arcgis.com/