Past Event: Activist New York: The Next Generation

On the heels of Tuesday's midterm elections, come together with Amy Goodman of Democracy Now! and three inspiring young activist leaders: Brea Baker, Ramon Contreras, and Hebh Jamal. They'll share their front-line perspectives on the key mobilizations of our moment—from gun control to immigrant rights—and how they connect to New York City's previous waves of activism and protest. This event celebrates the Museum’s publication of Activist New York: A History of People, Protest, and Politics (NYU Press, 2018) and a new case study on the movement against the Vietnam War in the Activist New York exhibition. 

Afterwards, join us for refreshments, a book signing, and a musical performance by Carnegie Hall's Future Music Project Ensemble, a group of young musicians ages 14 to 19 from around New York City.

This program accompanies our ongoing exhibition Activist New York, the inaugural exhibition in The Puffin Foundation Gallery, which is dedicated to the ways in which ordinary New Yorkers have exercised their power to shape the city's and the nation's future. 

About the Speakers:
Brea Baker currently serves as the program and youth engagement coordinator and executive assistant at The Gathering for Justice. She has been involved with youth activism for years as president of Yale University's chapter of the NAACP where she focused on juvenile justice through campaigns such as mandatory memorandums of understanding in school and against police brutality in New Haven, Connecticut. Baker is the youngest national organizer for the Women's March, focusing on partnerships, college mobilization, and logistics.

Ramon Contreras is a 19-year-old organizer from New York City. He is the founder of Youth Over Guns, an organization dedicated to raising awareness about gun violence in black and brown communities. He organized a march across the Brooklyn Bridge attended by 10,000 people at which student activists carried a casket to symbolize deaths from violence in communities of color. Contreras is now the national field strategist for March for Our Lives working on the midterm elections. 

Hebh Jamal, now a first year college student, emerged as a young leader in the fight against Islamophobia in 2015 at the age of 15 after a New York Times article profiled her fears and experiences of harassment. Since then, she has co-created the first ever City-Wide Youth Council on School Integration run by IntegrateNYC. She is also currently the Muslim American Society Youth Director of New York and Vice President of her college's Students for Justice in Palestine. 

Amy Goodman (moderator) is the host and executive producer of Democracy Now!, a national, daily, independent, award-winning news program airing on over 1,400 public television and radio stations worldwide. Her books include New York Times bestsellers Democracy Now!: Twenty Years Covering the Movements Changing America (2016); The Silenced Majority: Stories of Uprisings, Occupations, Resistance, and Hope (2012); and Breaking the Sound Barrier (2009).

Steven H. Jaffe (introduction) is a historian and curator at the Museum of the City of New York. In addition to Activist New York: A History of People, Protest, and Politics (2018), his books include New York at War: Four Centuries of Combat, Fear, and Intrigue in Gotham (2012); and Who Were the Founding Fathers? Two Hundred Years of Reinventing American History (1996). 

About the Future Music Project Ensemble:
Future Music Project Ensemble is a collective of the brightest young musicians from across New York City. In this youth-led ensemble, teens bring their unique musical styles and learn the skills they need to create, perform, and produce original music. An audition-based music collective of up to 15 young musicians ages 14-19, Future Music Project Ensemble is as diverse and vibrant as New York City itself. The ensemble aims to create an aspirational place for exceptionally talented teens to develop music and ideas and share them with the world.