Umaiya Eman is a storyteller who grew up in Boston’s Roxbury neighborhood around Nubian Square—and advocacy isn’t new to her.
“I was part of youth-led organizations that planned protests and youth engagement events. When I was in high school, we would invite students from other high schools to come and learn about systematic racism and the policies that affect our education.
“We were also trying to stress the importance of going to college. Because I went to Boston Latin School, I was fortunate enough to have academic and career support. Many people from other high schools didn’t have that advantage, and that sparked my interest in advocacy.”
Eman went on to earn a degree in animation from Lesley University, and today she’s a student at Bunker Hill Community College, earning a paralegal certificate. Her goal is to make legal services easily available to communities that lack them.
As a Strategies for Children intern, Eman focuses on community outreach and resource accessibility for underrepresented populations in Boston. Her specific focus is food insecurity.
“I grew up on food stamps, and I was in the free lunch program until lunch was made free for everyone.”
For Eman, advocacy is a matter of acknowledging that capitalism, racism, homophobia, and patriarchy are “cut from the same cloth. Social movements are intersectional as they rise to respond to unmet needs and human rights abuses.”
A key tool that she’ll use in her advocacy work is storytelling. At Lesley, she made a film on grief that was influenced by the book, “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks,” a story about a Black woman who faced abuse and discrimination in the medical system. Lacks’ cells were extracted without permission and used for scientific research.
Eman is also putting her communication and design skills to good use by assisting with Strategies’ social media blasts and with the Advocacy Network’s Reception for Reflection materials. She is also developing a framework to turn The 9:30 Call into a podcast.
“This internship has been an opportunity for me to work with a collective of people who are connected to resources. It has been inspiring to see so many people do this work and care about our city and ultimately, this country.”