On Oct. 25, 2024, Brentwood students involved in the Social Justice Peer Program (SJPP), My Brother’s Keeper (MBK) and the Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA) club took a trip to Suffolk Community College at the Ammerman Campus in Selden to engage in an inclusive Youth Conference celebrating Unity Day. The event encouraged students to learn more about diverse self-advocacy, addressing contemporary challenges while fostering confidence, awareness, and expression.
Students had the honor of connecting with Ken E. Nwadike, a peace activist who used his childhood upbringing to inspire the hearts of every child he communicated with. His background of homelessness and isolation, overcoming those challenges through his passion for track, established the humility and tenacious spirit he has developed over the years. He founded the Free Hugs Project, following in Martin Luther King’s legacy of nonviolence.
He taught every student that it doesn’t take hatred, power, or a weapon to strive for equality and justice. We all have the incredible strength of our voices to make change. With that, no dream becomes impossible.
What made this field trip so special wasn’t just his words, but rather his demonstrated commitment. When you’re a Black man put in the middle of tear gas, rioting chaos, and even gunfire for the Black Lives Matter Movement, yet still have the heart to see all individuals as suffering humans, not becoming corrupted by flawed systems and beliefs, you become a bridge builder to society and a healer to communities.
He taught students that as a Black man, injustice is not born; it is truly taught. We must not use rival forces to overcome injustice but educate individuals on the fact that we are all human with our own voices.
