Programs: Civil Rights Internships

History
In 1989, CCI created the Civil Rights Internship program to engage high school, college, and graduate students in summer-long anti-racist work. Since then, more than 30 young scholars and activists have participated in the Internship Program and over 200 students have applied for these opportunities.

For more information about the Internship Program:
Contact Paul Marcus at pmarcus@communitychangeinc.org or 617-523-0555.

Life of the Civil Rights Interns

Education:
Organization-wide discussions facilitated by CCI staff and guest presenters immerse interns in topics such as affirmative action, racism in education and in health care, the death penalty, and immigrant rights. Print materials and videos from Community Change’s comprehensive Library on Racism are used extensively.

Networking/Community Connections:
Interns become involved in learning-through-action by visiting and lending assistance to allied organizations and community activists. They build an understanding of the necessity for cooperation among social justice organizations and develop organizing and facilitation skills as they observe and practice collaboration.

Programming:
Interns participate in planning meetings and help implement CCI’s goals. Interns develop skills in and practice the collaborative integration of theory and action.

Reflection:
Through writing, discussion, and participation in assessment and evaluation of CCI programming, participants reflect on their activities, as well as on the impact and the implications of their work.

Operations:
Interns gain essential knowledge and skill in the “nuts-and-bolts” of running a small nonprofit organization by preparing mailings, answering telephones, and responding to inquiries and requests.

Impact
The impact of the Civil Rights Internship Program reaches far beyond the individual interns and the CCI constituency. We view the Civil Rights Internship Program as a pebble dropped into a pond that creates ever-widening circles of influence. On completion of the Civil Rights Internship Program, participants return to their campuses, their work, and their communities, spreading what they learned during their experience at CCI into the broader community.

Greater Boston Community ("the Pebble Drops"):
Working with CCI staff and volunteers, interns collaborate with multiracial groups organizing around issues and concerns critical to our communities. In summer 2004, for example, interns sat with CCI staff on the planning committee of the Boston Social Forum and collaborated with CCI staff on the design and facilitation of workshops on racism and healthcare, racism and progressive organizing, white privilege, and gentrification.

Beyond Boston ( “the Ripples on the Pond”):
Feedback from interns indicates that the impact of this action-oriented education has an ever-widening reach. Many interns change the focus of their career in order to center on lifelong antiracist work. Just one among the many stories of immediate impact tells the experience of 2004 intern Julia Koch who, since returning to Mount Holyoke College, has been actively involved in organizing students and faculty around issues of racism and white privilege. Using the theoretical and practical knowledge and the organizing skills she learned as a Civil Rights Intern at CCI, Julia is the primary organizer for the third Conference on White Privilege, which will bring hundreds of participants from all over the United States to the campus in the spring of 2006.

Civil Rights Interns Describe their CCI Experience

"In my memories of CCI I know a place that was safe to learn in, but never would have allowed me to forsake this learning; I know a place that taught and led by example about how I intend to live my life; and I know a place that connected me to others who had chosen to make their life’s work what had already become my passion, which in turn, reconnected me to myself." (Julia Koch, 2004)

"Ongoing discussions about current events pertaining to issues of racial disparity took place in the office on an informal basis. I was also encouraged to take advantage of the resources in the library and to read as much as possible through out the summer. I learned a great deal about myself and about the ways in which racism continues to plague our society. My beliefs about racial injustice and inequality have been strengthened and my confidence in speaking about and addressing these issues has increased."

"I enjoyed preparing for the community hearing on affirmative action, including the meetings I attended with community and coalition leaders. One thing that made an impression on me was witnessing how much more constructive and effective it felt to be in a more multiracial coalition, taking leadership from the people of color."

"I have learned more this summer than I realize yet, and that just being present with the affirmative action coalition will allow me to return to school knowing more deeply what needs to happen and how."

"I helped to plan and facilitate two workshops. For one of these workshops, a number of girl scouts involved in a weeklong program about social justice came to CCI to learn about racism. The girls were fairly young, ranging in age from twelve to fifteen. Nearly all of the girls were white and had grown up in predominantly white neighborhoods. We began the workshop by asking the girls how race affected their lives. Each of them responded that race had never really impacted them, as they grew up in homogenous neighborhoods. We then spent much of the workshop discussing white privilege and disproving race as anything but a social construct. By the end of the session, it was obvious from the conversation that all the girls had realized the effect race plays in their lives on a daily basis. They were energized and begged us to explain to them how they could most effectively share this knowledge with their friends and families." (Emily Goldberg, 2004)

Community Change Inc.
14 Beacon Street, Room 605
Boston, MA 02108
Telephone: (617) 523-0555
Fax: (617) 523-1847

© 2006 Community Change, Inc.