This summer we have a energetic and ambitious group of 9 interns and fellows working with LICET, MRNY and NYCC in both Suffolk and Nassau Counties. Since June, we’ve worked on several issue-specific campaigns, including the fight to increase the New York state minimum wage, cleaning up the toxic waste dumping in local parks, and the ongoing battle for increased transparency and reform within the Hempstead School District. More recently, two of our interns had the opportunity to participate in the Paid Sick Days Day of Action, where they ushered in New York City Mayor Bill DeBlasio’s new workforce initiative alongside the Mayor himself.

 At present, we’re hard at work registering voters within immigrant and working-class communities of color on Long Island, where we hope to spark a powerful, resurgent spirit of civic engagement and participation. Our goal: to register 3,000 voters by Election Day 2014. Our mission coincides with the 50th anniversary of the Freedom Summer, during which student volunteers sought to register African-American voters in rural Mississippi at the height of Jim Crow. As we go out each day, we draw on the inspiring legacy of the Freedom Summer as a source of encouragement for our own work.   

 On that note, let’s meet this summer’s fierce and fabulous team of Movement Building Fellows and interns: 

Bashirou Ba

From: Hempstead, NY

Major:  Business

School: Nassau Community College

Fun Fact: I love watching football and basketball- favorite team is the Knicks.

Whitney Beber

From: South Windsor, CT

Major: Law, Jurisprudence & Social Thought

School: Amherst College

Fun Fact: After five years of cross country & track, I got to college and joined the Rubgy Team, looking for something “different”- and I definitely got it.

Timothy John

From: Hempstead, NY

Prospective Major: Bio-Chemical Engineering

School: Junior at Hempstead High School

Fun Fact: I like public speaking. 

Jelena Steele

From: Hempstead, NY

School: Mercy College

Major: Behavioral Science with a concentration in Psychology

What brought you here?: I appreciate the mission of the LICET, and its another step on my journey in life.

Fun Fact: I love seafood- “I could live off this stuff.”

Ben Walker

From: Plymouth Meeting, PA

Major: Law, Jurisprudence & Social Thought

School: Amherst College

Fun Fact: I learned to whistle for a marathon.

Sophie Downes

From: Northport, NY

Major: English & Linguistics

School: University of Chicago

Fun Fact: I play the Ukulele.

Stay tuned for more from: Miriam El Araby, Marcy Suarez, Hajera Siddiq