***Our association raised $19,438.00 for the 2022 United For Change Memorial Scholarship. Thank you to those who contributed last school year. Your generosity is greatly appreciated.  The members of the Say Their Names Association are looking forward to our third year of providing the United For Change Scholarship to those students who meet the scholarship criteria. As we enter our third year, we hope we can count on your generouse contributions, which will help to make a difference in the lives of the recipients of this scholarship. As we did last year, we will provide periodic updates of the donations we have received. It is our hope that we can exceed last year's amount, which will enable us to present additional scholarships.*** 

We invite you to click on the link below to access an article that appeared in the July 15, 2021 edition of the Oceanside Herald, highlighting the culminating event of our first year as the Say Their Names Association. 

Say Their Names celebrates Oceanside students

The proud members of the  Say Their Names Association awarded ten $1000 United for Change Memorial Scholarships at the end of the 2022 school year. This was made possible by the generosity of close to 200 donors. Our association is beginning to look ahead with excitement to the 2022-23 school year and hope to surpass the donation amount of this past year. It is our goal to award even more scholarships for the 2023 school year. 

Messages From the Recipients of the 2021 United for Change Memorial Scholarship 

"I plan to continue using my voice to tell the story of underrepresented people occupying spaces in places where they feel excluded. I will let my voice ring with hope for a better tomorrow for the Black and Brown people who must reckon how the world sees them because of their skin color."

"Wallowing in self-pity is never going to make you feel any better so you pick yourself up and keep going." 

"In most communities, we need to put forth more of an effort to allow everyone to feel comfortable, not just because of the color of their skin, but from their background and who they are as a person, which can allow for more inclusion amongst everyone."

"The  ability to interact with and work with others, the importance of teamwork and leadership, has taught me how to stategically network and connect with others towards realizing common goals. I have also had the opportunity to understand and appreciate diversity, other cultures, the need for empathy, and breaking down stereotypes."

"We say "Say Their Names" not to portray them as above the rest, but instead, to show that their voice matters just as much as anyone else...To reach unity, we have to individually be motivated to better ourselves and our society... To do so, we have to be willing to get out of our comfort zone to fulfill our social responsibilities." 

"I've learned over the years to not be angry but to be empathetic and sympathetic and understand ignorance is the beginning of it all...It is my responsibility to bring awareness and educate instead of ignoring. I do not use my voice for just racism and discrimination against African Americans. I use my voice for everyone."

Being a part of community service has "allowed me to look deeper inside myself to become better by being more selfless, caring, compassionate, a big brother and caretaker."

"I promise to be better for the future of this country and to set a good example for the next generation. Let them see that everything is possible if one wants to fulfill their dreams."

​

About Our Organization 

The United For Change Memorial Scholarship is part of a growing movement to bring about change in our communities by offering Black and African American high school seniors with educational scholarships that will help to minimize the opportunity gap that exists for this underrepresented segment of our population.

It is our hope that we can contribute to the movement that began to gain real momentum with the events that have unfolded during 2020, and to also help eradicate the racial disparities that exist today for Black and African Americans.

Hope is essential throughout the process of bringing about change. Dignity, humanity and compassion are necessary ingredients that accompany hope, all in support of bringing about change that is respectful and necessary in our community and communities across the country.
It is in this spirit that we are committed to keeping the hopeful, respectful and necessary conversations going. This will lead to action, which in turn, will lead to the process of reversing systemic racism, a change that is both long overdue and imperative.
















Inspiration To Keep the Conversation Going

We invite you to click on the link below to access an article that appeared in the November 25, 2020 edition of the LI Herald.com. The article focuses on the Say Their Names Association, its mission, and the members of our organization who are committed to providing the United For Change Memorial Scholarship to high school seniors. Let's stand together, United For Change.

https://www.liherald.com/stories/new-non-profit-to-award-local-students-scholarships,128963?

Change
Song by Charlie Puth and James Taylor

One, two, three, four
Why are we looking down
On our sisters and brothers?
Isn't love, all that we got?
Don't we know everyone's
Got a father and mother?
The day we know we're all the same
Together we can make that change

Look around there are too many of us crying
And not enough love to go around
What a waste, another day
Another good one dying
But I know that the world will change
The day we know we're all the same

Why can't we just get along?
If loving one another's wrong
Then how are we supposed to
Get close to each other?
We gotta make that change, yeah
Why can't we just get along?

What a waste it would be to deny somebody
Of a chance to be theirselves
What a waste it would be if we hurt for nothing?
But I know that the world can change
The day we know we're all the same

Why can't we just get along?
(Why can't we just get along?)
If loving one another's wrong
(Why can't we just get along?)
Then how are we supposed to
Get close to each other?
We gotta make that change, yeah

I know we could break apart
We don't have to go that way
Not today

Why can't we just get along?
If loving one another's wrong
Then how are we supposed to
Get close to yeah
(Why can't we just get along?)
Why can't we just get along?
(Why can't we just get along?)
If loving one another's wrong
(Why can't we just get along?)
Then how are we supposed to
Get close to each other?
We gotta make that change, yeah

The change, yeah
​
Source: LyricFind
Songwriters: Charlie Puth / Johan Jens Erik Carlsson / Ross Jacob Golan / James Taylor
Change lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd., Warner Chappell Music, Inc

"Nothing can stop the power of a committed and determined people to make a difference in our society." 
John Lewis

"Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change that we seek."
Barack Obama

"It doesn’t matter how strong your opinions are. If you don’t use your power for positive change, you are indeed part of the problem."
​Coretta Scott King

"History has shown us that courage can be contagious, and hope can take on a life of its own."
Michelle Obama

“For it isn't enough to talk about peace. One must believe in it. And it isn't enough to believe in it. One must work at it.”
​Eleanor Roosevelt

“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”
​Martin Luther King, Jr.

"The need for change bulldozed a road down the centre of my mind."
Maya Angelou

"In order to change we must be sick and tired of being sick and tired."
Author unknown

"Invest in the human soul. Who knows, it might be a diamond in the rough."
Mary McLeod Bethune

"Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced."
James Baldwin


In Case It's Still Unclear

"400 years ago white men enslaved black people. And sold them. And treated them as less than human. For 250 years. While white men built the country and created its laws and its systems of government. While 10, 15 generations of white families got to grow and flourish and make choices that could make their lives better.

And then 150 years ago white men "freed" black people from slavery. But then angry white men created laws that made it impossible for them to vote. Or to own land. Or to have the same rights as white people. And even erected monuments glorifying people who actively had fought to keep them enslaved. All while another 5, 10 generations of white families got to grow and accumulate wealth and gain land and get an education.

And then 60 years ago white people made it "legal" for black people to vote, and to be "free" from discrimination. But angry white people still fought to keep schools segregated. And closed off neighborhoods to white people only. And made it harder for black people to get bank loans, or get quality education or health care, or to (gasp) marry a white person. All while another 2-3 generations of white families got to grow and pass their wealth down to their children and their children's children.

And then we entered an age where we had the technology to make PUBLIC the things that were already happening in private-- the beatings, the stop and frisk laws, the unequal distribution of justice, the police brutality (in the south, police began as slave patrols designed to catch runaway slaves). And only now, after 400+ years and 20+ generations of a white head start, are we STARTING to truly have a dialogue about what it means to be black.

White privilege doesn't mean you haven't suffered or fought or worked hard. It doesn't mean white people are responsible for the sins of our ancestors. It doesn’t mean you can’t be proud of who you are.

It DOES mean that we need to acknowledge that the system our ancestors created is built FOR white people.

It DOES mean that Black people are at a disadvantage because of the color of their skin, and,
​
It DOES mean that we owe it to our neighbors-- of all colors-- to acknowledge that and work to make our world more equitable.

BLACK LIVES MATTER!"

Author Anonymous


​ SAY THEIR NAMES

​ "…George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Trayvon Martin, Eric Garner, Michael Brown, Breonna Taylor, Tamir Rice, Stephon Clark, Martin Luther King, Jr., Medgar Evers, Malcolm X, Rosa Parks, Emmett Till, Rodney King…"

---

To learn more about why this song appears here, access the Billboard article by clicking on the link below.
https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/8478386/david-byrne-janelle-monae-cover-song