CBH Talk | Separate: NYC Public Schools 72 Years After Brown v. Board, An Intergenerational Discussion

Each year on May 17, the anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education invites reflection on the promise and limits of school integration. To mark 72 years since that historic decision, the Center for Brooklyn History hosts a live recording of the student-led Miseducation podcast and an intergenerational look at inequities in New York City public schools. Presented in partnership with The Bell, this special event brings together students, educators, policymakers, journalists, and advocates to discuss trials and triumphs in the longstanding struggle to integrate the nation’s largest school system.

We’ll take a specific look at the fight for integration though the lens of sports in a conversation with former principal of Park Slope Collegiate High School Jill Bloomberg; Small Schools Athletic League founder David Garcia-Rosen; and NYC Public Schools alum and former Miseducation student reporter Renika Jack, moderated by The Bell’s Sabrina DuQuesnay. We’ll also hear from schools Chancellor Kamar Samuels, who will speak about his administration’s goals for integration, and Pulitzer-Prize winning journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones, whose celebrated New York Times Magazine article, “Choosing a School for My Daughter in a Segregated City,” marks its tenth anniversary this year. To round out this powerful convening, student reporters Aponi Kafele and Roberto Bailey will share their reflections about what meaningful change could and should look like for the next generation. 

Join us for an impactful evening reflecting on the enduring realities of segregation in NYC schools and imagining a future of true integration.

 

About

The Bell is a nonprofit organization dedicated to building the next generation of journalists and civic leaders. Through immersive multimedia journalism internships and industry mentorship, The Bell’s students write, report, and produce illuminating stories on issues directly affecting New York City youth for the "Miseducation" and "P.S. Weekly" podcasts. The Bell also leads the Youth Journalism Coalition, which is expanding equitable access to journalism education across NYC and beyond.

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Participants

Roberto Bailey is a senior at Hunter College High School in Manhattan and will be attending the University of Pennsylvania in the fall. He serves as the Editor-in-Chief of his school's newspaper and has previously worked with publications like City Limits and the Berkeley Scientific Journal. As a student reporter for The Bell and Chalkbeat’s P.S. Weekly podcast, he’s covered the use of AI in schools, teens’ feelings about the 2025 mayoral primary, and student-led efforts to create a more diverse student body at Hunter College High School. 

 

 

 

 

Jill Bloomberg served as a NYC public school principal for 15 years after teaching for 16 years in the Chicago and NYC public schools. The Park Slope Collegiate (PSC) school community, where Jill was principal, worked to build an antiracist, integrated school and was active in the citywide movement for school integration. Jill holds a PhD in Politics and Education fromTeachers College Columbia University after completing a dissertation on the role that principals in racially diverse districts play in defining excellence, equity and diversity within their schools. She currently works as an Assistant Professor of Education at Molloy University and as a leadership and instructional coach.

 

 

 

Sabrina DuQuesnay is a New York City public school alumna with a bachelor of arts in political science and double minors in philosophy and creative writing from Stony Brook University. She has been involved with The Bell’s programs since her junior year of high school. During that time, she co-hosted the early seasons of the Miseducation podcast, reporting on inequities in New York City public schools, including unequal access to high school sports. In 2022, she joined The Bell’s staff, where she now works as student program manager — training high school students in audio journalism alongside her colleagues, and coordinating alumni engagement.

Sabrina is passionate about empowering young people to build confidence in their voices and tell stories that reflect the realities of their schools and communities. Her role is especially meaningful because it is full-circle: she now helps nurture the same kind of creative and journalistic growth that once shaped her own. She believes deeply in storytelling as a tool for connection, reflection, and change.

 

 

David Garcia-Rosen is a New York City educator of 28 years and a civil rights activist for educational equity. He founded the Small Schools Athletic League, serving students at 47 schools that had been denied equitable access to the Public Schools Athletic League (PSAL). His research revealed that Black and Latino students were disproportionately excluded from NYC DOE interscholastic sports, forming the basis of the civil rights case Moises Jimenez et al. v. NYC Department of Education, which resulted in systemic changes expanding access for Black and Latino students. For over two decades, he has challenged inequities in school resources and opportunities, situating access to athletics within the unfinished legacy of Brown v. Board of Education. He currently teaches social studies at TAPCo in the Bronx.

 

Nikole Hannah-Jones is a Pulitzer Prize, Peabody and Emmy-winning journalist at The New York Times. She is the creator of the 1619 Project, one of the nation’s most banned texts, which was targeted by federal legislation and a presidential commission under Donald Trump. Hannah-Jones is an institution builder, and this summer, she will open The North Star Books + Bar, a literary salon in her neighborhood of Bedford- Stuyvesant, Brooklyn. Photo by Regina Fleming.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Renika Jack is a student at CUNY’s York College, where she's studying psychology. She currently works as a behavioral technician, supporting clients through applied behavioral practices, and plans to pursue her master’s in social work to further her impact in the mental health field. In high school, Renika served as a host of the Miseducation podcast and a student reporter for the Keeping Score series, which followed a year inside a sports merger in a divided Brooklyn school building.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Aponi Kafele is a Brooklynite who's passionate about the educational and unifying power of storytelling. She’s a student producer of P.S. Weekly, a youth-reported podcast about the NYC school system. Her podcast about climate change was the catalyst for a composting program at her school. Aponi has been a leader in her community since her freshman year, when she founded ‘The Flare’ Newspaper, where she serves as editor-in-chief. She combines her creative and visionary skills at her job as a teen events planner at the Brooklyn Museum. In addition, she also works in her community as a volunteer at the Free Black Women's Library and as a creative intern at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. She has a love for all things community organizing and arts.

 

 

Kamar H. Samuels is the Chancellor of New York City Public Schools (NYCPS), the largest school system in the nation. Chancellor Samuels began his career in NYCPS through the NYC Teaching Fellows program as an elementary school teacher in the Bronx, serving at PS 41 and PS/MS 194. He went on to serve as principal of the Bronx Writing Academy (MS 323), followed by senior leadership roles in NYCPS central offices, including Executive Director of District School Design and Senior Director of Partnerships and Initiatives. Chancellor Samuels later served as a deputy superintendent in Brooklyn and as a superintendent in both Brooklyn and Manhattan (Districts 13 and 3, respectively). A veteran educator with more than two decades of experience and an NYCPS parent himself, Chancellor Samuels has devoted his career to advancing student achievement, strengthening instructional practice, and building schools that are safe, academically rigorous, and truly integrated.