Fort Hamilton students enjoy ice cream and convivial conversation. Photo by Lora Morgenstern.
On October 6, 2022, Fort Hamilton’s Equity and Restorative Justice Team hosted an Ice Cream Social in order to connect people from all backgrounds and foster community bonds within the school.
Teachers and students enjoyed ice cream on a sunny fall day on the Fort Hamilton picnic tables. After an hour of playing games and making new friends, each attendee went home with a Lush lotion, which was a token of appreciation for coming to the event.
Navine Ortiz, the head of community outreach of the Equity and Restorative Justice Team and an activist of social justice within Fort Hamilton High School, helped coordinate the event. Ortiz admitted that, prior to the creation of the Equity and Restorative Justice Team, her activism had attracted negative attention, which made other students in the school community feel hesitate to join her in her activist efforts. As a student leader in the Equity and Social Justice team, Ortiz believes the team provides a “brave space” where students are able to speak their minds without fear of retribution, judgment, or shame.
Luanda Rivera, Fort Hamilton’s Equity and Restorative Justice coordinator, shared Ortiz’s sentiments. “One of our priorities is to make sure every student no matter where they’re from feels heard, every student’s voice should be represented and they need a safe space where they can do that,” added Rivera.
The ice cream social offered students a chance to kick the year off on the right foot. Connecting over shared interests and mutual love of sweets helps bring the community together one step at a time.
“Everyone has a sweet tooth,” said Ortiz.
Fort Hamilton’s Equity and Social Justice Team was founded in the spring of 2021, following
outcries for social justice across the nation, particularly after the murders of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor. After reports of microaggressions within the school community, Fort Hamilton decided that students and staff deserved a public forum in which they could voice their concerns about issues surrounding inequity within the school.
The ice cream social was one step toward a larger goal to create a safe space and community where students and faculty can feel comfortable navigating equity issues that often make people uncomfortable. As the year progresses, the Social Justice and Equity Team plans to collaborate with many other organizations within the school, such as ACT OUT, The Black Unity Club, The Muslim Student Association in order to achieve these organizations’ shared goals.
“All too often we think of community in terms of being with folks like ourselves: the same class, same race, same ethnicity, same social standing and the like. I think we need to be wary: we need to work against the danger of evoking something that we don’t challenge ourselves to actually practice.” – Bell Hooks