The Princeton Prize in Race Relations
Every year, the Princeton Prize in Race Relations honors high school students doing outstanding work to advance race relations. The program’s Atlanta committee invites students in grades 9 through 12 to apply for a $1,000 cash award. The winner also will be invited to an all-expense paid trip to Princeton University to attend a symposium on race, and will be celebrated at an awards ceremony in the spring. The short application has no academic requirements.
For the application and more information about the program, go to www.princeton.edu/pprize or email pprize@princeton.edu or call 800-742-1036. The deadline to apply is Jan. 31.
How do you tackle something as big and important as race relations? If you are Kiana Chambers, you step up. Step up to make Black History Month something that the student body at Northview High School cares about. Her junior and senior years, Chambers, along with fellow student Yasmine Nana-Yeboah, re-energized and diversified the Black History Month committee at their Johns Creek high school. “We advertised that you don’t have to be black to be part of Black History Month,” said Chambers, now a freshman at Howard University in Washington, D.C. And to her surprise, students responded. For her efforts, Chambers was named Atlanta’s recipient for the 2014 Princeton Prize in Race Relations, a program sponsored by Princeton University that honors students working to advance race relations at their schools or in their communities. Chambers received $1,000 and attended a symposium on race at Princeton that she called “literally, the best experience of my life.” The application for this year’s Princeton Prize is Saturday, Jan. 31.
Q: Why did you take Black History Month on at your high school?
A: When I was a freshman, there wasn’t a lot of participation. There are not that many black students to begin with and a lot of students just didn’t care. I don’t think they were racist but I think nobody was telling them anything new about black history.
Q: How did you get them involved?
A: We used to cover Black History Month in a day. We planned a month’s worth of activities. We got speakers to come, including (radio personality) Frank Ski and (actor) Lisa Anderson, who gave motivational speeches to the student body. We got an amazing turnout. We talked about different black inventors. We had a trivia game and students learned about all different kinds of music started by African Americans. We had plays that got the whole student body involved. There were Asian students who did break dancing and white people who sang. They did a reenactment of a black choir. Everyone thought that was cute.
Q: What did students take away from the experience?
A: It brought students who wouldn’t normally talk to each other together. My junior year, we had a group of Asian students who danced and a group of black students who danced. My senior year, they came back with a choreographed dance together.
Q: What did you learn from the experience?
A: It definitely strengthened my leadership skills and taught me how to communicate more effectively. At first, I was mad and didn’t understand why no one cared about Black History Month. When I had meetings with the principal and other people on the committee, I realized they needed someone to step up.
Q: Why should kids apply for the Princeton Prize in Race Relations?
A: I got to meet so many different types of people on the trip, ranging from the other winners to Princeton University’s president. Everything is thought out for you and the people who put it together really want you to have a good time.
Q: What about the $1,000?
A: It was definitely helpful when it came to buying books.
Q: At the end of the day, what is your take on race relations in this country?
A: We have come a long way and we definitely have a long way to go. People still have these stereotypes. The only way that can be fixed is with time and education.
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