By: Victoria Spear

Every third Monday of January we celebrate the holiday known as Martin Luther King Jr. Day in celebration of the Civil Rights leader and speaker who shaped the freedom and rights for everyone across the nation. Martin Luther King was known for his stance on equality, freedom, and development of community holding the foundation for love for all. As we all learned through our history, the civil rights leader was all about shaping his ‘beloved community’ for the better, hence the reason why many students and people volunteer on this day in his honor. 

Although this is a holiday about giving back to the community it is also sometimes hard for us to find opportunities to give back. Every year as an active sorority member and college student I make the effort to volunteer not only on the holiday but also each month to show activity within the community. In honor of the mission to serve the community, this is an excellent way to not only get involved in service to mankind but to ourselves as well. Here are a few examples of how you can leave an impact on your community:

1. Community Cleanups

Dr. King believed in the importance of maintaining and uplifting communities. Our communities are known for the vast need for cleaning services along the roads, parks, and public areas we reside. Organizing or participating in a local cleanup can significantly impact your neighborhood. Whether it’s picking up litter in parks, mowing the grass, or planting trees, these actions contribute to a cleaner, more vibrant community we all can enjoy. 

Even day-to-day cleanup on the streets helps. If you see litter or trash nearby is a small effort to help the community. Recycling as well, make sure to sort out plastic from trash and throw it in the nearest recycling bin. These small efforts day to make large improvements to our community for the better without having to do large community events. 

2. Food Drives and Meal Services

Addressing the issue of hunger and food insecurity aligns with Dr. King’s advocacy for economic justice. As a Birmingham native, there are multiple opportunities to make a change regarding feeding the less fortunate within our community. Volunteering at food banks, organizing food drives, or helping serve meals at shelters are great practical ways to support those in need. Your time and effort can provide comfort and nourishment to many who might otherwise go without. 

Downtown Birmingham Al, the University of Alabama at Birmingham has a volunteering service at Blazer Kitchen that provides food for UAB students, staff, and Birmingham residents in need. These services have left a huge impact on many people, taking into account dietary restrictions and needs while also improving their lives. If you have time check out Blazer Kitchen don’t hesitate to sign up through Blazer Pulse to help out your community. 

3. Tutoring and Mentorship Programs

Education was also a cornerstone of Dr. King’s vision for a better future for the youth. Volunteering as a tutor or mentor can help bridge educational gaps and provide young people with the support they need to succeed. Many organizations welcome volunteers to assist with homework, literacy programs, and skill-building workshops. Many schools and hospitals will even allow volunteers to sit in with kids and allow them to read in groups. This serves as a great opportunity to have that continuous volunteer experience. 

4. Support for the Homeless

As we know there’s a huge epidemic of the homeless in our community that Dr. King fought to solve. Volunteering at shelters, donating clothing, or participating in housing initiatives can help address homelessness in your community. These efforts not only provide immediate relief but also promote long-term solutions. 

There are many shelters in the Birmingham area to volunteer such as Interfaith Hospitality House, First Light, and Jessie’s Place. These areas are well known for helping those in need and creating opportunities for volunteers to make a difference for those in need. When you have the time make sure to check these shelters out!

5. Advocacy and Awareness Campaigns

Dr. King was a tireless advocate for civil rights. Participating in advocacy groups, attending workshops, or joining campaigns that promote social justice can continue his work. Educating others about ongoing inequalities and fighting for legislative changes are powerful ways to honor his legacy. There are many ways to join these groups on campus and off campus and rely heavily on your mentors to direct you. They have experience and might be able to reference you to these programs to leave an impact where it’s needed. 

6. Health and Wellness Programs

Finally, access to healthcare and wellness resources was another aspect of Dr. King’s dream. Committing service at health clinics, organizing wellness fairs, or supporting mental health initiatives can enhance community well-being. This will not only benefit the community but yourself as well, many volunteers at clinics now aspire to be nurses and doctors. Their experiences with volunteering left a huge impact on their future, and it could leave one for you as well. 

Keeping the Memory

We aspire to not be like Dr. King for one day but every day. By committing to community service and leadership, we can leave a huge impact on not only ourselves. Going out into the world, we forget simple acts of service make us human and leave longer impacts than we choose to think. We challenge you to go out as much as possible and partake in these activities as bright young women whose dreams they can attain one step at a time. As we all know, Dr. King’s dreams are still continuing to be fulfilled, but yet there is still so much work to do. 

If you haven’t already planned something, check out these events in Birmingham, AL for MLK Day 2026, https://bhamnow.com/2026/01/13/9-ways-to-celebrate-mlk-day-2026-in-birmingham/

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No one can discredit how far we’ve come, but segregation is no longer about separation. It looks like access and language. It looks like privilege disguised as merit. The walls have simply become more polite.

The Opportunistic Segregation

Meritocracy: the world’s favourite preach. A comforting idea that effort is the sole determinant of success. But beneath that optimism lies a quiet truth: not everyone begins from the same starting line. Opportunity is distributed unevenly, shaped by geography, wealth, and inheritance.

Children born in affluent neighborhoods with picturesque families have the world at their fingertips. They grow up with the resources to live the dreams they were allowed to dream. The ladder of success is built on a tilted stage, so many have to put in extreme effort to even get on the same standing ground that others had the privilege of being born on.

Technology mimics this, as, like most things, it is a result of our creation. Once held as the great equalizer, the digital world also possesses the same hierarchies it was made to dissolve. Algorithms are constantly learning what we do, thus adapting and mimicking them, and that also applies to our biases.

Algorithms are then reinforced by our interaction with them, allowing us to align with certain languages or faces favorably. Social media creates echo chambers that filter out opposing views; artificial intelligence misreads darker skin tones or flags marginalized speech as “harmful.” Perhaps one of humanity’s biggest juxtapositions is that what was made to unite has instead created an invisible divide.

The Barriers

Language proves to be a big barrier, not through the words themselves, but in what is said and how it is said. The way someone speaks, the accent they carry, or the dialect they choose can dictate how seriously others take them. What we deem appropriate or “professional” is a notion conceived through the previously privileged, educated, and historically dominant Western society.

Even in an age of global media, society sees certain stories as universal while labeling others “niche.” The world claims to celebrate diversity, but whose culture gets to represent modernity? Whose aesthetic dominates amongst others? Even through inclusion, minorities and women tend to remain in the background while others are the centerpiece.

Feminism and the world share a long history, much of it horrid, but ultimately successful. Women navigate workplaces that reward their competence but resist their authority. The narrative of progress sometimes forgets intersectionality: a woman’s experience is not universal but is shaped by race, class, sexuality, and geography. True equality cannot exist while society only sees certain kinds of women as symbols of empowerment. The workplace often sees women with families as less serious, preferring a cold, emotionless personality.

The Casual Divide

The streets echo stories of how you find who belongs and who doesn’t. Who defines what is a good or bad neighborhood? Gentrification often arrives cloaked as development, but for many, it is displacement disguised as progress. People walking the same streets live in different worlds.

Segregation does not limit itself to material situations. The need to belong often means silencing the parts of you that don’t fit the room you’re in. Code switching is a survival tactic, especially in professional settings. Inclusion, without true acceptance, breeds loneliness. The very existence of segregation forces people to feel that way almost instinctively.

Even empathy—the way we feel about people or situations—varies from person to person and is not based on personal choices. We learn to feel more for certain faces, certain tragedies, and certain accents on the news. The hierarchy of compassion mirrors the hierarchy of privilege. Diversity can exist in the room, but it may not be present in the conversation.

Believing the Unseen

When something isn’t there, we choose not to believe it. The consequences of this are tragic, allowing privilege to masquerade as fairness, bias to dress as taste, and exclusion to pose as order. When inequality hides behind civility, it becomes even harder to confront.

To fight something that doesn’t exist is a battle no one knows how to fight. Acknowledgment is just the first step, though. Understanding these differences allows people to at least voice their opinion without being overly judged. Segregation never left; it just evolved, so our methods of addressing and tackling it must evolve, too.

Click here to learn about mental health effects on minorities.

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What is Feminism?

Feminism is a range of social movements, political movements, and ideologies that share a common goal: to define, establish, and achieve the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that societies prioritize the male point of view, and that women are treated unfairly within those societies. Efforts to change that include fighting gender stereotypes, and seeking to establish educational and professional opportunities for women that are equal to those for men.

What are Feminist Movements?

Feminist movements have campaigned and continue to campaign for women’s rights. This includes the right to vote, to hold public office, to work, to earn fair wages, equal pay and eliminate the gender pay gap. To own property, to receive education, to enter contracts, to have equal rights within marriage, and to have maternity leave. Feminists have also worked to ensure access to legal abortions and social integration, and to protect women and girls from rape, sexual harassment, and domestic violence. Changes in dress and acceptable physical activity have often been part of feminist movements.

Some scholars consider feminist campaigns to be the main force behind major historical, societal changes for women’s rights, particularly in the West, where they are near-universally credited with achieving women’s suffrage, gender-neutral language, reproductive rights for women, and the right to enter into contracts and own property. Although feminist advocacy is, and has been, mainly focused on women’s rights, some feminists, including bell hooks, argue for the inclusion of men’s liberation within its aims. This is because they believe that men are also harmed by traditional gender roles.

Numerous feminist movements and ideologies have developed over the years and represent different viewpoints and aims. Some forms of feminism have been criticized for taking into account only white, middle class, and college-educated perspectives. This criticism led to the creation of ethnically specific or multicultural forms of feminism, including black feminism and intersectional feminism. 

The Origin of Feminism

The words “féminisme”  and “féministe” first appeared in France and the Netherlands in 1872, Great Britain in the 1890s, and the United States in 1910. The Oxford English Dictionary lists 1852 as the year of the first appearance of “feminist” and 1895 for “feminism”. Depending on the historical moment, culture and country, feminists around the world have had different causes and goals. Most western feminist historians contend that all movements working to obtain women’s rights should be considered feminist movements, even when they did not apply the term to themselves. Other historians assert that the term should be limited to the modern feminist movement and its descendants. Those historians use the label “protofeminist” to describe earlier movements.

The Four Waves of Feminism

The history of the modern western feminist movement is divided into four “waves”. The first comprised of women’s suffrage movements of the 19th and early-20th centuries, promoting women’s right to vote. The second wave, the women’s liberation movement, began in the 1960s and campaigned for legal and social equality for women. In or around 1992, a third wave was identified, characterized by a focus on individuality and diversity. The fourth wave, from around 2012, used social media to combat sexual harassment, violence against women and rape culture; it is best known for the Me Too movement. The history of feminism is certainly a complicated one, that continues to form as our society grows.

Interested in learning more about the history of feminism, check out this article Different Waves of Feminism!

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Jaahnavi Kandula was a bright grad student from India; she came to the States to earn a degree and support her single mother who remained in India. Despite making less than $200 a month, her mother pushed Jaahnavi to pursue higher education in the U.S. so that she could live a better life abroad. 

Jaahnavi was fatally struck in a Seattle crosswalk by a city police car responding to a call. This occurred in January, 8 months after the body-worn police camera footage was released and captured a phone call between two Seattle officers; “But she is dead,” says Officer Auderer before laughing in response to the person on the phone. “No, it’s a regular person,” Auderer continues, “Yeah, just write a check. Yeah, $11,000. She was 26 anyway,” he adds, mistaking Kandula’s age. “She had limited value.” 

These insensible comments about a beloved woman who was a daughter and beyond any dollar value are outrageous. It doesn’t stop at these comments, it goes deeper into this idea of whose life has value and whose doesn’t. For decades, women, especially women of color and immigrants have been perceived as being of less value. I am tired of not being taken seriously. I am tired of this hierarchical system that places white straight men above everybody. I am especially tired of our society’s concern with value. This is about treating every single person with respect and creating a system that fosters unconditional respect and dignity for all.

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 It pains me to share that people of color are forgotten in the pages of history. Unfortunately, women of color are most likely underrepresented, underappreciated, and overworked. Society needs to be better at honoring the work of all citizens, especially women from minority ethnic backgrounds. Below are three Latinas in politics who deserve to be in every textbook because of their significant impact on the world.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

She went from being an unknown bartender to being the youngest congressman in the US seemingly overnight. The “democratic socialist” was born in the Bronx, one of the poorest boroughs in New York, in 1989 to Puerto Rican parents. The Nuyorican did not let her underprivilege determine her density.

Instead, from an early age, she was passionate about controlling the outcome of her life. While she was in high school, she was a part of the National Hispanic Institutes’ Lorenzo de Zavala (LDZ) Youth Legislative Session. Moreover, she participated in the 2007 Intel Science and Engineering Fair and won second place. After high school, she attended Boston University and double majored in international relations and economics.

AOC in Politics

Due to her family’s economic situation, she took waitressing and bartending jobs in her early twenties to help support her family; her father’s cancer journey and subsequent death put the family in debt. Therefore, Cortez worked hard to help pay off her family debt while paying off her student loans. Her lower-class socioeconomic background and her young age are two factors that significantly helped her become a popular choice among lower and middle-class Americans, as well as Generation Z.

Her first involvement in politics was during the 2016 presidential election because she was a volunteer organizer for Bernie Sanders, an American senator from Vermont. She became a household name two years later, on June 26, 2018, when she defeated 10-term incumbent Joe Crowley during the 2018 midterm elections. Four months later, the newcomer became the youngest-ever congresswoman.

According to AOC’s website, her first action as Democratic representative for New York’s 14th district in the Bronx was the Green Deal resolution, “which envisions a 10-year national mobilization, akin to FDR’s New Deal, that would put millions to work in good-paying, union jobs repairing the nation’s infrastructure, reducing air and water pollution, and fighting the intertwined economic, social, racial and climate crises crippling the country.” While her first legislation is impressive, the young up-and-comer didn’t stop there.

Instead, she introduced 22 more pieces of legislation, including the Loan Shark Prevention Act, which would cap credit card interest rates at 15%. In 2019, Donald Trump, a Republican, was the President, but AOC did not let Republican control of the Senate and Presidency stop her from accomplishing her goals. On the contrary, she became a nightmare for the republican party as she became an effective questionnaire in committee hearings, a consistent town hall host, and saw three amendments pass into law.

Sonia Sotomayor 

She was the first Hispanic, the first Latina, and the third woman to serve on the High Court. Just like AOC, she was also born in the Bronx neighborhood of New York to Puerto Rican parents. Another similarity to AOC is that Sonia’s father passed away while she was young, so she had to work to support her family. She knew at age ten that she wanted to be an attorney, so she studied diligently.

Her academic efforts paid off as, in 1972, Sotomayor graduated as the valedictorian of Cardinal Spellman High School. After high school, she attended the prestigious Princeton University. At the Ivy League school, Miss Sotomayor was a part of Acción Puertorriqueña, a Puerto Rican activist group. After graduating from Princeton University with a bachelor’s in history, she attended Yale Law School. Her first job in politics was as an assistant district attorney to famous Manhattan attorney Robert Morgenthau.

SS in Politics 

During her time working under Mr. Morgentau, a particular case was the Tarzan murder case. Five years after working with Morgenthau, she joined a private practice known as the New York law firm of Pavia and Harcourt. Rather than handling matters related to shoplifting, robberies, assaults, murders, and police brutality, she mainly dealt with businesses, corporations, and property rights under the private firm.

Three years later, she was appointed to serve as a district court judge. During her time in district court, she remained veiled from media attention as she mainly dealt with non-controversial cases. Six years later, she was appointed Court of Appeals Judge. According to Oyez, Sotomayor heard “more than 3,000 cases and [wrote] around 380 majority opinions.”

Upon the retirement of Supreme Court Justice David Souter, the Barack administration quickly got Sotomayor his seat. On May 26, 2009, Hispanics across America and many working-class people from the Bronx rejoiced as their favored representative rose to the position.

Aida Álvarez

She is the first Hispanic and Latino American woman to serve in the United States Presidential cabinet. Similarly to the first two Latinas, Alvarez also hails from Puerto Rico and grew up in New York. In high school, she was a part of the ASPIRA program, a non-profit founded by Dr. Antonio Pantoja to “empower the Latino community through advocacy and the education and leadership development of its youth” (ASPIRA).

Upon graduating High School, Alvarez attended Harvard University, earning a Bachelor of Arts. Her first job was being a journalist for the New York Post. She later became a successful news anchor for Channel Five. She received an Emmy Award, Front Page Award, and an Associate Press Award. Aidachanged her career path from news reporter to investment banker and succeeded in it. After a decade, in 1997, Alarez made history by becoming the first Hispanic and Latina to serve on the cabinet.

AA in Politics

Her role as an executive officer was to handle small business administration. According to Stanford University, “She presided over record activity: $61.5 billion in guaranteed loans and venture capital financing over four years.” She created social change by “trip[ling] lending to women and doub[ling] lending to minority-owned small businesses” (California Competes). Currently, Alvarez serves on the board of many major businesses, such as HP Inc., Zoosk, and Oportun Financial Corporation. Moreover, she is on the board of the Latino Community Foundation and the San Francisco Symphony.

Click here to read about how women’s voting rights are so important in politics.

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• Little Amal represents the millions of children and families who have been forced to flee their homes due to conflict, persecution, and other crises. She embodies the resilience and courage of refugees, reminding us that behind every statistic is a human story.
• Hope and Resilience: Little Amal’s journey is a testament to the indomitable spirit of refugees. She embarks on a journey filled with challenges, but her determination to reach safety and find her family reflects the hope and resilience that many refugees hold onto in the face of adversity.
• Unity and Compassion: Little Amal’s story transcends borders and speaks to the universal values of compassion and unity. As she travels through different countries, she encounters people from diverse backgrounds who come together to help her on her journey. This reflects the idea that we are all connected, regardless of our differences, and that we have a collective responsibility to support those in need.  

Why is Little Amal important?

• Raising Awareness: Little Amal’s journey serves as a powerful platform to raise awareness about the refugee crisis. Through her story, people are reminded of the human faces behind the headlines and statistics, fostering empathy and understanding.
• Fostering Empathy: The Walk project and Little Amal’s character invite people to step into the shoes of refugees, even if just for a moment. This empathetic connection can lead to greater compassion and a willingness to take action to support refugees and migrants.
• Promoting Dialogue: Little Amal’s journey sparks conversations about the refugee crisis, immigration policies, and the need for international cooperation. It encourages individuals and communities to engage in meaningful dialogues about these complex issues.
• Inspiring Action: Little Amal’s journey isn’t just a passive experience; it encourages people to take action. Whether it’s supporting refugee organizations, advocating for policy changes, or volunteering, her story inspires individuals to make a positive difference in the lives of refugees.

Representation for those in need

Little Amal is more than a puppet, she is a symbol of hope, unity, and compassion in a world divided and indifferent to the suffering of others. Her journey serves as a powerful reminder that we can all play a part in creating a more inclusive and empathetic world.

By embracing the values she represents, while taking action to support refugees and migrants, we as a collective people can make a difference. We must ensure that the world becomes a more welcoming place for those seeking safety and a better future. 

Here are the following dates for where Little Amal will be walking across America:

• Sept 20 – Pittsburgh, PA  
• Sept 22 – Cincinnati, OH 
• Sept 24 – Oakland, MI  
• Sept 26 – Detroit MI 
• Sept 28 – Chicago, IL    

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Who is Little Amal?

Little Amal is not your ordinary character – she is a giant puppet; a 3.5-meter-tall young Syrian refugee girl, brought to life by the acclaimed Handspring Puppet Company. This artistic creation is part of a project called “The Walk,” a remarkable and ambitious theatrical journey that was conceived to highlight the plight of refugees and migrants. Little Amal’s story is fictional, but her presence carries a profound message of empathy and solidarity. 

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Before the Vote & Political Sheroes

Before the Vote is a ten-episode podcast video series on YouTube that covers the many ways teens can exert influence over government and politics even before they have the right to vote. On the series, I have been able to interview some pretty cool women that work in the Alabama legislative and judicial systems on how and why they got into their positions, as well as how teen voice can help them in their jobs. On other episodes, I’ve chatted with fellow teens on tangible ways we can share our voices outside of voting. 

If you’d like to check out the series (which I highly recommend you do), you can find it here. Also, if you watch a video, please consider taking the survey linked in the description box of each video. This lets me know what you think of the series! The survey is completely anonymous and takes a maximum of two minutes to fill out.

Now that I’ve given a brief overview of what Before the Vote is, I wanted to share with you some of the major highlights of the interviews and conversations that made up the series to hopefully empower you to use your voice to influence politics in today’s world.

1. We all have a part to play in our government

Oftentimes teens assume that because they don’t yet have the right to vote, they don’t have a part to play in government affairs. This is a far cry from the truth, because our country’s government is designed with the goal of representing all citizens, not just those over 18.

While there are certainly downfalls in that system today, there are still means for teens to get their voices out to ensure they are well-represented, and it’s our responsibility to utilize those resources. This is especially important for female teens, who are vastly underrepresented in today’s government.

2. Know those who represent you

The job of representatives and senators is to represent their constituents, and you are one of them! After talking with two state representatives and a state senator on the podcast, it was made clear to me that they value any and all input from the people they represent, especially young teens.

Teens have a unique perspective and an acute awareness of issues that older generations simply don’t know as much about, therefore, it’s our civic duty to ensure that we share those issues and perspectives with those that represent us. Find the contact information of your State Representative and Senator, as well as your Congressional Representative and Senators. And let them know what you’re thinking! This is definitely a means of sharing my voice that I hope to engage in more going forward.

3. Stay informed

In order to be aware of issues affecting us and our communities, we have to be tuned in to the news. I like to get my news from podcasts, but you can also educate yourself on current affairs by reading online news articles, print news sources, or even on social media, however, a major problem we face today as consumers of the media is the massive amount of misinformation and bias flying around.

It’s a good idea to fact-check information you consume and keep an eye out for potential biases in reporting. Sometimes it’s best to read about the same event from multiple sources to try and weed out the true facts of the case.

4. Use social media to your benefit

As I’m sure you already know, we have a powerful, powerful tool at our fingertips. In addition to using it to get quick updates on current events, social media can also be used to spread the word about a cause you have a passion for.

You can share educational posts that other users make, you can join an online community centered around a specific cause, or you can even create your own page dedicated to an issue you care about. Just make sure that the information you’re sharing is factual, and be sure that you’re understanding and respecting others’ differences in opinion.

5. Get plugged into local politics

Many people overlook the presence of local politics in our daily lives, but if you’re looking for a way to make a direct impact on your community, then getting involved in your local government is a great place to do so.

See if you can form a teen coalition at city council meetings, or get in touch with your mayor’s office to see if there are any opportunities for you to get involved. Even carrying out local community service projects can help further a cause you care about.

6. Explore youth in government programs

Youth in government programs are a fantastic way to get direct experience with the actual processes behind passing legislation, deciding a legal case, and creating policy. The YMCA has Youth in Government programs, including the Youth Judicial and Youth Legislature conferences, in just about every state in the US. There are also Girls State and Boys State programs across the nation.

Furthermore, most schools have a student council of some sort where students can take on a decision-making role within their school governments, which is crucial, because students are the ones mostly impacted by administrators’ decisions.

7. Learn how to have civil conversations

This is a tough skill to take on in today’s politically-polarized society; I struggle with it myself, but it’s crucial if we hope to have a future generation of problem solvers that are united by shared nationality and not divided by different parties.

When faced with a difference in opinion, we must choose to see the person behind the opinion and not just the party. We can’t villainize the other side and get defensive over our own opinion. Instead, we must try our best to listen to the reasoning behind the other person’s beliefs and use the disagreement as an opportunity to educate the other person on our beliefs. If all else fails, and no one is able to pull the other person to their side, then simply agree to disagree. Don’t let political arguments disrupt relationships—it’s just not worth it.

Reflect on everything

This was a lot of information, but don’t be overwhelmed! Those are just a few of the major themes that ran throughout the conversations I had while making the Before the Vote series.

I hope you’ll take a moment to check out an episode or two, but even more than that, realize how important your voice is toward the effectiveness of our government!

If you wish to stay updated on politics and the daily news in the area, click the link here and check out podcasts that cover politics!

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The Impact of Mental Health on Minority Communities

Mental health issues can have a significant impact on minority communities. Studies have shown that members of minority communities are more likely to be diagnosed with mental health conditions than members of the general population. Additionally, they often face barriers to accessing quality mental health care, such as lack of insurance and language barriers. These issues can have a lasting impact on the mental health of minority communities, which is why it is so important to provide access to mental health resources, as well as support for these groups.

The Benefits of Mental Health Awareness

Raising awareness of mental health in minority communities is essential for helping those in need. Mental health awareness can help reduce the stigma around mental health, as well as provide access to resources and support for those who need it. By increasing awareness, we can help create a culture of understanding and acceptance for those who are dealing with mental health issues as well as create a more inclusive environment that is safe and better for all people.

Mental Health Resources

It is important to make sure that members of minority communities have access to resources, and there are many organizations that provide mental health services for minority communities, such as the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI).

Additionally, there are many online resources that provide support and advice for those who need it. These resources can help individuals in minorities get the help they need, as well as provide support for those who are struggling with mental health issues.

Mental health is important, and National Minority Mental Health Awareness Month serves to bring attention to the unique challenges that members of minority communities face when it comes to mental health. It is essential to provide access to mental health resources and support for those in minority communities who need it. By doing so, we can ensure that minority communities have the resources they need to take care of their mental health.

Click here to read how Girl Spring contributor Alejandra Briceno shares her story of being a Hispanic American.

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After the Supreme Court’s decision in Students for Fair Admissions v. President and Fellows of Harvard College and Students for Fair Admissions v. University of North Carolina ruled that affirmative action in admissions programs was unconstitutional, a new lawsuit emerged that challenged Harvard’s preferential treatment towards children of wealthy donors and alumni.

The Supreme Court ruled that schools can no longer take race into consideration as the specific reason for accepting a candidate. 

The students attending Harvard come from predominantly white, wealthy families, and make up as much as 15% of the school’s admitted students. Lawyers for the civil rights group stated that, “This preferential treatment has nothing to do with an applicant’s merit. Instead, it is an unfair and unearned benefit that is conferred solely based on the family that the applicant is born into.”

Elimination of the Policy

The practice highly damages the chances of applicants of color getting into these prestigious schools. The lawyers for civil rights also said that 70% of the legacy applicants to Harvard are white and that legacy applicants are 6 times more likely to be admitted. 

No one is born with a school attached to their rights, yet this practice gives students a leg up into the most challenging institutions, solely because of their family history. These policies systematically disadvantage students of color, and with the court removing protections that came from affirmative action policies, it is imperative now that these policies are eliminated. 

Everyone should have an equal opportunity for a college education, click here to see how you can prep for college, wherever you end up!

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