For those who follow the Facebook and Instagram photography series, Humans of New York (HONY), you may have noticed the recent focus on the photography of a Brownsville, NY middle school. In January, HONY photographer Brandon Stanton took a photo of a young schoolboy named Vidal, a student at the Mott Hall Bridges Academy in Brownsville, Brooklyn, NY, and asked him a few questions. The first interview between Brandon and Vidal was posted to the HONY social media pages on January 19th:
“Who’s influenced you the most in your life?”
“My principal, Ms. Lopez.”
“How has she influenced you?”
“When we get in trouble, she doesn’t suspend us. She calls us to her office and explains to us how society was built down around us. And she tells us that each time somebody fails out of school, a new jail cell gets built. And one time she made every student stand up, one at a time, and she told each one of us that we matter.”
Initially, Vidal’s interview was just like the next, and HONY continued to interview other New York residents. However, on January 22 a picture and interview of a woman titled “Ms. Lopez” emerged. Nadia Lopez, principal of Mott Hall Bridges Academy, and the influential woman who Vidal spoke so highly of, discussed her themes and aspirations for her students and the Mott Hall Bridges Academy as an educational institution — her will for her students to realize that they matter, they can achieve whatever they set their minds to, and are meant to be where they aspire to be as long as they work hard and accept the support and mentorship of their teachers and mentors. Her work as an educator, administrator, and mentor has influenced the lives of countless students in her school, as exhibited through the testimonies of students in other HONY interviews. Vidal’s photo began a series of photos and interviews throughout the Mott Hall Bridges Academy, profiling students, faculty, and even an alum who discussed their experiences with failure, hope, and their common strives to improve their own lives and the lives of their peers and students.
While the HONY photography series gave the Mott Hall Bridges Academy students and faculty much acknowledgement and attention for their admirable strength, motivation, and life mottos, the real power of this series was revealed later in January. In honor of Vidal and the Mott Hall Bridges academy, Brandon and Ms. Lopez teamed up to start a fundraiser to achieve one of Lopez’s goals for her students: to send them on a class trip to Harvard University. In her words, “I want every child who enters my school to know that they can go anywhere, and that they will belong.” Within 24 hours, enough money was raised to make the Harvard trip a permanent part of the Mott Hall Bridges Academy curriculum.
Just as it seemed that the Mott Hall Bridges Academy story could not get any better, Vidal and Ms. Lopez have been featured on the Ellen DeGeneres Show, where they received state of the art technology for their school and schools in the Brownsville district, and just recently were invited to the White House for a discussion with President Obama.
With a single photographer, a single student, a single woman, and a huge social media following, the story of HONY and the Mott Hall Bridges Academy has proven the power of social media and activism. Generally coined as “slacktivism,” or the attempt to “advocate” for a cause by only liking photos on Facebook or sharing a series of links, HONY has proved that photojournalism and social media can make a genuine, powerful impact. A previously low-profile middle school school is now known around the country, and Ms. Lopez’s dream of opportunities for her students has been exceeded.
Additionally, Ms. Lopez serves as yet another powerful and influential woman who has seen a problem and created change. Her persistence and strength to continue her work at Mott Hall Bridges Academy has already been acknolwedged by the New York Times and local NY channels and publications. Now, with the assistance of HONY and the newly created Vidal Scholarship Fund, her goals and prorams can grow exponentially, giving even more students the opportunites and mentorship that she envisions for them.
HONY’s lead in social media fundraising and activism will hopefully inspire other photojournalists, media organizations, or media users like us to realize that social media activism is possible, and can begin through any medium and with any person.
For more information about the Mott Hall Bridges Academy or to donate to the fundraiser (which will close on February 10), visit https://life.indiegogo.com/fundraisers/let-s-send-kids-to-harvard (or click the photograh above!)
And be sure to keep following Brandon and Humans of New York on both Facebook and Instagram.
Photos: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13