Students from SPLC’s Youth Leadership Institute win college scholarships
One afternoon in May, Isabella Dennison and Madison Thompson received a message from the manager of the Civil Rights Memorial Center (CRMC), Lauren Blanding. Could they join her for dinner that evening?
The guests included staffers from the Southern Poverty Law Center, which built and sponsors the CRMC at its Montgomery, Alabama, headquarters. The two seniors at Booker T. Washington Magnet High School in Montgomery were happy to oblige.
When they arrived at the downtown restaurant, however, they were surprised to find that they had been invited to do more than enjoy a meal.
“When we got there, we realized that we were the speakers,” Dennison recalled with a laugh.
The two students are members of the Youth Leadership Institute, a program created by the CRMC and funded by the Gilead Foundation, and focused on education, health equity and leadership.
“We wanted to find a way to connect with the younger generation,” Blanding said. “To give young people an opportunity to speak out and stand up with the Southern Poverty Law Center on racial and social justice issues but also to talk about what’s going on in their schools and communities when it comes to justice, education and health equity.”
Since joining the program last year, Dennison and Thompson have tackled topics such as mental health, community-building and finding one’s purpose in life.
This fall, they will begin that journey as college students, equipped with the skills gained at the leadership institute, as well as $10,000 scholarships awarded by the Equal Justice Initiative’s Montgomery Public Schools Legacy Scholarship. Thompson and Dennison were among 34 students awarded this year.
“EJI created the Legacy Scholarship to support and encourage area students in Montgomery Public Schools who have demonstrated a commitment to their communities and who have overcome obstacles,” said Mia Taylor, project manager at the Equal Justice Initiative. “We think these remarkable young people should be affirmed as they continue their academic and professional journeys. It has been so inspiring to hear from students and their families about how the Legacy Scholarship has shaped their plans for the future.”
Both Dennison and Thompson share a passion for civil rights and community service. That’s what motivated them to apply for the Leadership Institute and the Legacy Scholarship. Each hopes to be the first in their families to earn a college degree. Dennison will major in art at Savannah College of Art and Design in Georgia, and Thompson will seek a mechanical engineering degree at Xavier University of Louisiana in New Orleans.
“I think what I learned at the Youth Leadership Institute is going to help me be able to better make connections and communicate with people,” said Thompson, who was named valedictorian of her high school class and awarded a full-ride scholarship from Xavier. “To be able to walk into a room and, regardless of who’s in that room, know how to move in it.”
Lessons learned
Thompson is also a saxophonist and poet. She learned of the Youth Leadership Institute after performing at an SPLC-sponsored youth poetry slam last year with the Freedom Writers. Jonathon Peterson, a senior administrative assistant in security at the SPLC, created the group to give young adults an outlet to express themselves through poetry and spoken word. Their performances cover topics such as social justice, Black history and civil rights.
“Madison is amazing,” Peterson said. “She has a lot of talent, and she really loves poetry. Even since she’s graduated, she’s still calling me to ask about opportunities to perform before she leaves for college. She’s a real go-getter and a real leader. Often, I feel like she even motivates me, and keeps me on my toes, as opposed to the other way around.”
Dennison, who acts in charity shows at Montgomery’s Cloverdale Playhouse, shares this passion for the performing arts, as well as the visual arts. As a child, Dennison’s mother encouraged her to pursue her creative passions. Her teachers, she said, often encouraged her to submit her work in competitions. When the SPLC put out a call in 2022 for student artists to help create a mural at the SPLC’s downtown office, one of Dennison’s teachers suggested she apply.
“I’ve always been interested in activism alongside art,” said Dennison. “If you grow up in Montgomery it’s hard not to be.”
Divided into four sections, the mural represents the SPLC’s four impact areas: strengthening democracy; eradicating white supremacy; ending over-criminalization and mass incarceration; and eradicating poverty and racial economic inequality. Dennison’s team worked to illustrate the latter.
“Personally, that was very important to me because I grew up in impoverished communities,” she said. “Part of my motivation in life is to make art more accessible for everyone.”
Dennison said she relished the opportunity to brainstorm with other students and to create an image that ran counter to negative assumptions often made about people living in poverty. The students created a sketch that depicts imagery of a greenhouse and people working in a community garden, Dennison said, to show that it was possible to progress from hardship.
“From the first time I met Isabella at the Civil Rights Memorial Center meet-and-greet with all the students participating in the project, she just lit up the room,” said Sunny Paulk, an artist and senior designer in the SPLC’s creative department who led the mural project. “She had such an infectious personality – cheerful, open and bright. Isabella is incredibly talented, and she was always available and helpful to other students who wanted her eye or input on things.”
On to college
The two students are anxiously awaiting their departure and the start of a new beginning, a new opportunity to pursue and expand their passions. The lessons learned from the Youth Leadership Institute, they said, will serve them well in the future.
“One thing I always find myself doing is encouraging people to speak out for the change they want to see, and I feel that I’ll do that wherever I am, wherever there’s an issue or something that needs to be done,” Thompson said.
Blanding, the manager of the CRMC, is currently recruiting a new pool of high school students to join the Youth Leadership Institute in August. Enrollment is open to students in Montgomery and Lowndes counties. Interested parties may contact her at Lauren.Blanding@splcenter.org.
Image at top: Isabella Dennison and Madison Thompson (center) of the Youth Leadership Institute join other delegates at the Mississippi Youth Summit at Hinds Community College in Raymond, Mississippi, in June 2023. (Credit: Hillary Hudson)
