作为保利第一次虚拟聚会的一部分, the Board of Governors Social Justice Initiatives (SJI) Committee invited alumni 和 the wider community to a panel discussion on May 13 with Poly alumni whose career paths focus on social justice 和 activism.

香农·科霍尔10届 担任主持人. Cohall是罗格斯大学法学院(Rutgers law School)即将升入法学院的三年级学生. 她在圣路易斯市的华盛顿大学获得公共卫生硕士学位. Louis 和 completed her undergraduate studies at Cornell University in 2014. 目前, she serves as the President for the Association of Black Law Students at Rutgers, 法律中心的研究员, 不平等, 和 Metropolitan Equity; Secretary for the Cornell Black 校友会.

与小组会面

乔纳森·贝克尔斯， of the BOG SJI Committee, welcomed attendees 和 introduced the panel: 09年的帕克大炮，09年的艾薇·约翰逊， 和 Michael Onah, 09年.

《博彩网站排名》 是乔治亚州众议院最年轻的议员, 乔治亚州黑人立法小组秘书, 公民和人权委员会主席, 和通讯联合主席. Cannon serves on the Insurance 和 Small Business Development House Committees, 亚特兰大市代表团, 富尔顿县代表团, 两党未来核心会议, 她是妇女党团会议的秘书.

艾薇·约翰逊09年 在达勒姆的死刑诉讼中心工作, 在北卡罗来纳州，她代表北卡罗来纳州死刑犯. 在那之前, she was a civil rights litigator at the Southern Coalition for Social Justice where she litigated prison conditions cases, 警方问责案, 以及投票权案例, 重点是让投票箱合法化. Johnson also worked for the North Carolina Justice Center where she focused on efforts to end cash bail 和 pass legislation exp和ing expunction eligibility to make the transition from incarceration back into society less burdensome.

Michael Onah, 09年 是菲利普斯·布莱克律师事务所的助理律师., where he represents incarcerated individuals who seek to challenge their convictions 和 death sentences in state 和 federal appellate courts across the country. He focuses on post-conviction cases in Texas, California, 和 Pennsylvania. 他也是新庇护联盟的志愿律师, 协助无证移民申请庇护.

当前社会正义工作探讨

在开始讨论时， 香农Cohall 他说“很高兴成为虚拟团圆的一员”.她开始说 公园的大炮, who said she was named after an actress 和 people would be surprised that as a member of the House of Representatives of Georgia, 她还有“另外三份工作:舞蹈老师, 保姆, 还有劳动助产师.”

艾薇约翰逊 told Cohall she was encouraged to see this year that the state of Virginia had abolished the death penalty. North Carolina, the very conservative state where she works, has a moratorium on the death penalty. 约翰逊回忆起那位历史老师 Harry Bernieri, 85年，15年，19年  读她的课 《十大博彩网站排名博彩平台网址大全》 Howard Zinn在他的课上写的, which she still has 和 which was “pretty important to me to learn about social justice issues.”

“向我们在保利的所有历史老师大声喊一声，”科霍尔说.

Park explained that she grew up in Georgia, but went to Poly 和 returned to Georgia. 她说她第一次投票是为了 Grace Brahimy, 09届 选班长. 公园里指出, “我一直因为恪尽职守而上新闻,” alluding to being arrested in the State Capitol for knocking on a door during a bill signing. The main issues she is concerned with are voting rights 和 reproductive rights.

“Poly was a part of me just wanting to speak up for people,” Park added.

“我的教育中有很多很棒的老师，”她说 Michael Onah, 09年. “最让我难忘的是我的朋友们,包括约翰逊在内, 谁和你有相似的职业道路和兴趣.

“你从哪里获得社会公正的信息?科霍尔问小组成员.

俄拿回答说:“从网上搜来的。. “从网站、博客. 我去他们那里了解问题.他还引用了 马歇尔计划 网站和推特上的律师社区.

“互联网可以是一个好地方，也可以是一个可怕的地方.”

约翰逊说，她的伴侣是一名记者. 约翰逊不指望推特, but does check out Instagram 和 “people whose values 和 opinions I value.” She added, “互联网可以是一个好地方，也可以是一个可怕的地方.她强调有必要核实信息来源. “我无法强调这有多重要.”

科霍尔问坎农，她会给那些寻求真相的人什么建议. “去你信任的机构，”坎农说. “有些问题不是新问题. 向后看. 我希望与那些已经投票40年的人交谈.”

小组成员在工作中面临的挑战

Cohall向专家组询问他们在工作中面临的挑战. “有很多截止日期，”坎农说. “我希望更多的人能坐在谈判桌前，在这些问题上发挥领导作用.” The Georgia House of Representatives is only in session 40 days in the year, she added. 虽然有2700万美元的预算，但“我们没有为教育提供资金.她说，监狱是预算中最重要的项目之一.

Johnson said that a challenge for her is other people’s perceptions of her work on behalf of prisoners 和 their questions such as “Why are you representing these people?她说，即使人们不是无辜的，他们“仍然是一个人”.

Onah noted that he would like to see more diversity in the legal profession, 注意到85%的律师是白人，60%以上是男性, 为黑人和棕色人种服务.

应对“积极分子疲劳”

“你如何应对‘积极分子疲劳’，平衡工作与生活?科霍尔问小组成员.

“我并不总是假装自己没事，”Cannon说. 她说，选民“希望得到认可”. “他们有问题，(他们认为)你有解决方案. But with issues such as unemployment, our office does not have the answer. 我们并不总是有答案.”

Johnson said she tries to get exercise 和 tries to be honest about feelings. 每个月的一个星期五，她会见一个博彩网站排名恢复性司法的小组.

“让你自己意识到过去的一年是不寻常的，”奥纳补充道.

In responding to a question from Beckles about how they respond to bigger issues, Johnson said she tries to “personalize issues” such as “the worst thing you have ever done” 和 ask others to do the same.

坎农说，2015年她决定竞选公职. She wondered why there are so many “polarizing conversations about voting” 和 noted that some voters, 比如她的姑母, have suffered “trauma informed voting” after having the experience of being put off the voting rolls.

回首在保利的时光

最后, Cohall asked the panel if there is anything they wished they knew or had done earlier or when they were at Poly. Onah said he wished he had been more outspoken 和 found his voice earlier.

约翰逊补充说:“16岁不知道自己想做什么没关系.”

Cannon said she wished in high school she “could have taken more time in the library just reading a book.”

Afterward, Johnson said, “I was surprised with how engaged the audience members were. 当然, 小组讨论是在Zoom上进行的，所以论坛有限, but it was exciting to see people nodding along 和 reacting to everything the panelists were saying.” Johnson added, “I felt particularly proud of my graduating class, the Class of 2009. That the panelists 和 organizers were all members of the same class makes me think something was going right while we were all at Poly!”

“我希望看到更多的面板，”约翰逊说. “I think sticking with the broader ‘social justice’ theme would be great 和 there are so many topics that fall under that umbrella. I’d be especially interested in environmental justice or housing crisis themed panels. I think it’s important to acknowledge these issues are all intersectional 和 you can’t really focus on one without discussing the others.”

Cohall补充说, “我为我的同学们感到非常骄傲, who are bravely using their positions of privilege to serve various communities in need. 尽管保利并不是一个完美的机构, it has taught us the importance of finding your passion 和 using your skills to make the world a better place.”

科霍尔说，她欢迎今后举办更多这样的活动. “Virtual events allow alumni from all over the country to reconnect, network, 和 engage,” she said. “I like the idea of having courageous conversations about social justice 和 equity issues.”