The week of February 18th, ERASE Racism organized a two-day winter “retreat” for students across Long Island to learn, connect, and have fun.

First, we hosted students at our office in Syosset for a Train the Trainer workshop. Three students attended in person and four attended on Zoom. The workshop’s main goal was to prepare students to lead our upcoming Long Island Leaders of Tomorrow Conferences, a gathering of hundreds of students from across Long Island around student activism, advocacy, and empowerment. At the Train the Trainer, students shared experiences and tips with each other on having meaningful conversations about race and social justice, and how to empower other students to organize and mobilize their communities. Together, we developed the presentations, workshops, and activities for the conference.

The second day featured a Teach-In hosted by Preservation LI at the “Joseph Lloyd Manor House” in Lloyd Harbor. Students and their parents participated in a guided tour of the historic Lloyd Manor House, where enslaved people lived, including Jupiter Hammon, the first-ever published African American writer. Through thoughtful activities, participants were invited to think critically about the site's name and history – who decides a name, what stories get preserved and told about the history of a particular place, and why it is important to continue asking questions and seeking answers about the past, in particular our rich, local history on Long Island.

Thank you to every student who participated and to every donor who made it possible for us to offer this critical programming to students at no cost to them. Click here to see more photos from the events. 

If you want to directly support this work, please consider making a donation to ERASE Racism today!