2006 Youth Activist Scholarship -- Ashley Nicole McKay

Ashley Nicole McKay first distinguished herself as a social activist during the “Robinsonville School Fight.” As increasing numbers of whites moved into this traditionally poor African-American county, they sought to build a new – and all white – school. Ashley joined the fight to stop the resegregation of the areas educational institutions, and won. A new school was built, but the state-of-the-art facility is in the heart of the African-American community. Ashley is an active member of her church and the youth choir director. She belongs to several local and national social justice organizations, participates in many school activities, and has conducted leadership development training in the United States and Puerto Rico.

Following are excerpts from Ashley’s scholarship essay.

My name is Ashley Nichole McKay. I am a senior at Rosa Fort High School in Tunica, Mississippi. I was raised in the struggle for civil rights, human rights, and freedom for people of color. My mother has been doing community organizing work since she was 13 years old and my father has been working in the struggle to better our people for over 15 years. I have lived my entire life in Tunica County Mississippi, which is known to be one of the poorest, most oppressive, and most racist communities in the United States.

At first, I had no choice in fighting for community empowerment and human rights because I would be around my parents and they would talk to me and “drag” me to all of the meetings and trainings. This started when I was around 8 years old. I really got a taste of community power and I began to understand personal liberties in 1996 when I helped to stop the building of an all white elementary school in the Robinsonville area. The whites wanted to build a school for their children with the intention to prevent us, blacks, from attending it. This new elementary school was the magnet to be used in creating an all white community that was designed to take over the entire county. I helped to do the petition drives and community canvassing at that time. We helped to organize other students and adults for a door-to-door survey to help prove that the Robinsonville area did not house enough children to justify the school. In 1998, the US Department of Justice sided with the community and declared that the school would cause a segregated effect. The older white people were furious. This fight helped to open my eyes to the racism that existed in our community and the State of Mississippi. This fight helped me to understand why the White students went to the private academy and the Black students went to the public schools.

When I was 12, I really became serious about activist work and I helped to start Tunica Teens In Action with 2 other youth members. Tunica Teens In Action is the youth leadership development component of Concerned Citizens For A Better Tunica County, Inc. Concerned Citizens is a community organizing group that has been fighting for civil liberties and human rights since 1993. Tunica Teens In Action has helped to provide a voice of leadership to over 500 youths in Tunica County.

I believe that in order to better the United States, we as young people must take an active role not only in voting but also in policy making. Youth today are expected to be seen and not heard. I believe that every young person has a voice that should be uplifted. Social justice work teaches me that as a young person I have the right to be an active part of the decision making process. I also believe that I should have a say in every law that is written. We also need to be more in tuned to our current events. We as young people need to realize that every law made affects us in some way. These are some of the reasons I fight for social justice. I feel that it takes a whole community to raise and educate a child, even the child him/herself.

I will graduate in May 2006 from Rosa Fort High School with honors. I plan to attend Tougaloo College in Jackson, Mississippi and major in Political Science and History. I have chosen Tougaloo because it is a historically black college that has been a leader in the struggle for civil rights. After, I graduate from Tougaloo, I will go on to law school. Finally, I will return to my community to continue my social justice work through out the state of Mississippi and the region.