DOVER, Del. (AP) - It was a little like fate that brought together the founders of the Delaware Black Student Coalition.
Tariah Hyland, a senior at St. Georges Technical High School, was trying to get the Black Student Union off the ground at her school and, through Instagram, connected with Kaylan and Kassidy Parker, seniors at Dover High who lead their own organization. She ended up in a group chat of what would become seven cofounders of the DBSC.
“I cannot even begin to explain how it all fell into place,” Ms. Hyland said. “We hit it off and DBSC wasn’t even in the conversation at all; it was never in the plan.”
But the group is cofounded by student leaders - Lauren Hicks, Ms. Hyland, Kaylan and Kassidy Parker, Hasana Parker, Elise Sampson and Amanda Eric - whose involvement has brought them to top positions in their own schools and even in the state. It was natural that it evolved.
“It’s just really a coalition, stemming from … helping me get my Black Student Union and we realized that that’s what we wanted to give other Black students within the state of Delaware, help them continue to grow as student leaders within our state, empower these Black students and just really cultivate them into amazing advocates,” Ms. Hyland said.
DBSC officially launched in January. On March 26 at 5 p.m., DBSC will hold an open house for a Q&A, presentation and other activities. Those interested in attending can email for Zoom details.
While the group does have support from others, like adviser state Rep. Sherae’a Moore, D-Middletown, it is entirely student organized and led.
“It is really authentic because we’re all students; we’re all in the same boat,” said Ms. Sampson, a junior at Smyrna High. “We understand each other more than anyone else could ever relate or understand us.”
Though many of the girls are leaders of their BSUs, connecting across the state - across public, charter and private schools - is important, Kassidy said.
“It shows that a lot of Black students of Delaware are having similar experiences and that they feel like they need to talk and that they feel like they need to have that safe space,” she said.
The group has three main facets: initiatives, mentoring and advocacy, with the goal of making long-term change in the state for Black students.
Mentoring is what sees the most excitement, Kaylan said.
“It’s one of the things that I think really showcases our ‘Students Supporting Students’ motto,” she said.
Through a stacked structure, members/volunteers beginning at middle schoolers through post-graduate community members can be involved. High school students will mentor middle school students, college students will mentor high school students and professionals can mentor college students.
“It’s like a support system down the ladder,” she said. “Pull me up, and I’ll pull you up.”
Since launching, the group has 25 members across the state through online recruitment. DBSC is hoping to welcome more middle school students and post-graduate professionals as they continue to grow.
But the founders, who have had opportunities to speak on panels and achieve leadership roles, want to open the door for their peers.
“We always say there are other Black students who are having similar experiences, or worse experiences, and also have stories to share,” Ms. Sampson said. “So I feel like this is also our way of not gatekeeping all the opportunities that we have, because everything that we are on or that we have, we open it up to the rest of the Delaware Black Student Coalition. And I always say there’s not another space in Delaware where you’re going to gain something like this.”
And while the group pushes for advocacy and long-term change - many of them contributed to preparing legislation on teaching Black history and culture in public schools - they also emphasize the social element of DBSC.
“You might go to church and gain that feeling of family and unity, but they’re not all the same ages; they have not all gone through the same struggle as you,” Ms. Sampson added. “You might be in your own school, and you might be in your Black Student Union, but there’s only a certain amount of students, again, that will relate to you. And this is the one designated space in Delaware where Black students can come, they can talk, they can have a safe haven.”
They have meetings where they strictly follow their agenda, Ms. Hyland said, but they have more than that, too.
“We have our social meetings, and then we have our mental health check-ins, and check-ins to see: where are you right now and how can we assist you?” she said. “Not only are we community rooted in leadership, but also just like taking care of yourself and taking care of the community that you’re a part of as well.”
DBSC is one more thing atop their already packed schedules: they’re students, with the seniors applying to and looking ahead to college. If one needs to unplug for a little to put their mental health first, the others work hard to help keep things moving.
“If I burn out, I still have to do the work,” Kassidy said. “Who else is going to do it? Nobody was doing it before I started doing it so I’m going to have to keep pushing through and I’m going to have to do this work.”
“Now that we’ve done this work and we’re really passionate about this work, there’s no way we can stop doing the work,” Kaylan added. “We’re going to be doing this work for the rest of our lives.”
What they’re facing and how they’re responding looks different than their predecessors, they agreed. They have been told by others that they shouldn’t say certain things, do certain things. They’ve been told to be digestible, to be the quiet storm. But through a group led by students, they want to create lasting change for Delaware.
“No, this is a hurricane,” Ms. Sampson said.
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