A simple photograph and short interview with a boy from Brownsville, Brooklyn has sparked an Indiegogo campaign to help him, and other kids from the rough neighbourhood they live in, to get a chance at attending Harvard University some day.
Vidal Chesney appeared in this post on the Humans of New York Facebook page (HONY), which is run by photographer Brandon Stanton. Stanton goes around the city taking portraits of ordinary citizens to find out about their lives.
Chesney attends school at Mott Hall Bridges Academy and when he mentioned how the principal at his school, Nadia Lopez, is helping mould and change the lives of the kids positively. Stanton set out to find her and learn more about her work and what challenges they face at the school.
“This is a neighbourhood that doesn’t necessarily expect much from our children, so at Mott Hall Bridges Academy we set our expectations very high,” Lopez said in her interview with Staton that was also posted on the page. “We don’t call the children ‘students,’ we call them ‘scholars.’ Our color is purple. Our scholars wear purple and so do our staff. Because purple is the color of royalty. I want my scholars to know that even if they live in a housing project, they are part of a royal lineage going back to great African kings and queens…When you tell people you’re from Brownsville, their face cringes up. But there are children here that need to know that they are expected to succeed.”
Stanton, Lopez and the school’s director of programs then chatted about how HONY could help the school and the idea to raise money for an annual tour to Harvard was born.
“Since many of her scholars have never left New York, she wants them to know what it feels like to stand on the campus of one of the world’s top schools, and know that they belong. She thinks the experience will broaden their horizons and expand their idea of their own potential,” Stanton says.
The money is being raised on Indiegogo Life and in just five days, the campaign has already surpassed its goal of $100 000, currently sitting at over $803 000. As it stands, $700 000 is enough to pay for ten years worth of Harvard trips and separate summer school programs.
Today, Stanton announced that the rest of the money raised above the $700 000 mark will go towards a new Harvard scholarship fund, named The Vidal Scholarship Fund, that has just been set up to benefit deserving learners.
A committee of MHBA educators and administrators will choose the scholarship recipients each year – Chesney has already been chosen as the first recipient.
When asked by Stanton in another interview what his greatest achievement was, Chesney replied, “Getting publicity for my school.”
[Image – Humans of New York Facebook]
