As a teen who actively works to address racism in my community, I’m proud to be part of the Youth Volunteer Corps of Reading’s S.T.A.R. (Stand Together Against Racism) initiative which aims to oppose racism through education and dialogue. Though we’re based in Pennsylvania, we have worked with other teens to address the rising incidents of racism happening all around the world.
Last winter, we collaborated with another student-led group across the world to address racism and celebrate diversity. The other group, S.O.A.R. is located in Daegu, South Korea, and is known as the Students Organized Against Racism Club at the Daegu International School. Their goal is to create a supportive community within their school that actively opposes racism. Both STAR and SOAR were formed in response to the murder of George Floyd in 2020 and have organized various projects and events to address racism in their respective communities. It was through this recent project that we joined forces to work together.
I, STAR’s Student Ambassador, met a member of SOAR through Civics Unplugged, an online program that trains, funds, and supports young civic innovators. I sent out an open initiation to a STR discussion about Allyship, and she responded saying that she was part of a group that did similar work in South Korea. We connected our leadership teams and started planning how we could work together to achieve our goals.
The first event we planned was a joint discussion. Both groups use conversation and education to oppose racism, so a discussion between all members about racism, intersectionality, and cultural differences was the natural first step. During this discussion, students and adults from Pennsylvania and Daugu discussed the racial histories of our countries, specifically the different experiences we faced related to America’s diverse community versus Korea’s homogenous make-up. The participants also shared our experiences with both systemic and interpersonal racism and discussed how the racial tensions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic affected us. Lastly, we ended the discussion with a call to action, discussing ways to address the racism we all saw and experienced in their communities. Everyone shared many ideas from school-based education, to community initiatives, to political activism, helping each other grow as allies and advocates. Overall, it was a thought-provoking, invaluable conversation that revealed not only the different forms racism can take but also the many ways we can all stand against it.
However, we did not stop there. Before STAR and SOAR could part ways, we knew that something more needed to be done. We wanted to create something impactful and inspiring, and to do that, we decided, a campaign was in order. April is recognized as ‘Celebrate Diversity Month,’ and since both groups not only champion diversity but also demonstrate it as a collective of young advocates from different nations, we chose diversity as our topic. Throughout January and February, we worked together to design a project to highlight the importance and power of diversity worldwide. An initiative that would call on youth everywhere to share their ideas, experiences, and stories; And in February of 2024, The Power In Our Differences Campaign officially launched.
The campaign launched via social media as an open call to share the importance and meaning of Diversity with STAR and SOAR, who would then showcase it in our campaign. By April of that same year, The Power In Our Differences had reached people in India, Uganda, South Korea, and The United States. From their homes around the world, people shared how important diversity is to them through artwork, videos, songs, stories, essays, and more. Middle school girls in Pennsylvania created collaborative posters about allyship and diversity. Students in Korea created digital artwork emphasizing the importance of the media in diversifying one’s knowledge. A group of friends in Uganda recorded an original acapella song about friendship and unity regardless of their differences. Many others sent in written and video answers about why diversity is important, and what it means to them. All these responses were posted online throughout April to honor the month by celebrating diversity and showing others its importance. Afterwards, physical showcases were also held in STAR and SOAR’s collective areas, to share the content from around the world with people in their communities.
Though this partnership lasted only a few months, we were able to address and work against racism together and then highlight and celebrate diversity on a global scale. Through the combination of our efforts the students were able to create something impactful, exceeding our initial expectations. That is why we decided to name our effort “SOARING STARS” – an international collaboration to combat racism and celebrate diversity.
