MPS Foundation Creates Ruth Bader Ginsburg Scholarship to Diversify Milwaukee's Legal Workforce
Priyana Cabraal. (Picture provided by Milwaukee Public Schools Foundation)
U.S Representative AOC, or known as Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, has come on the scene with an undeniable passion and desire to make positive change, and she lets it be known that she’s not take anyone’s BS. AOC is inspiring a generation of women, and one of those young women lives in Milwaukee, WI. Priyana Cabraal, is a 17-year-old junior at Milwaukee School of Languages that is working towards a career in Law. She’s on the track to graduate early.
Cabraal will be attending Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. to major in political economics. After undergrad, she plans on attaining a masters with the goal of becoming a Civil Rights attorney or a policy specialist for the United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF).
Her passion to enter into the Law field and to change it from within comes from her experiences in the courtroom at a very young age.
“My earliest memory was in a courtroom, where a life-altering decision made on my behalf was contingent on the current mood of the day's judge. I remember overwhelming emotions surrounding me and my utter sense of powerlessness as I stood before two pivotal figures in my life,” said Cabraal. “To the right, I saw my mother, her eyes flooded with a pool of tears. To the left, I saw my father, poised, calm, and confident, with the knowledge that he was destined to win regardless…the simple fact was my mother was a Black woman entangled in the American justice system. She lost before she entered the courtroom.”
Priyana Cabraal will be attending Georgetown to major in political economic. (Picture provided by Milwaukee Public Schools Foundation)
Cabraal will follow in the footsteps of her role model AOC and serve as an American Congresswoman. But the journey to that goal can be a long one, especially as a Black women, which is why the Milwaukee Public Schools Foundation recently established the Ruth Bader Ginsburg Scholarship (RBG).
The RBG Scholarship was named after Ruth Bader Ginsburg herself for her life-long efforts to bringing and expanding opportunities available for women.
To be eligible, you must be a women of color, have a good history of academic achievements and be recommended by teachers, mentors, supervisors, or other adults.
Undergraduate recipients will receive $2,000 each year of their undergrad. And, Graduate recipients can receive up to $10,000 per year if they attend the University of Wisconsin Law School or Marquette University Law School.
According to Milwaukee Public Schools Foundation Executive Director Wendall Willis, this scholarship will give Black, Brown, Latina and other women of color an opportunity to get into the room to become policy makers that push for the things that really matter to the people. He also said its up to organizations around Milwaukee to be intentional about looking for talent in the City, and helping craft that talent.
“How can you as an organization say we don’t have talent? What have you done to make the talent be where you want it to be,” said Willis. “The talent is here and you’re not looking as hard as you could.”
With a background in political activism, Cabraal feels she’s a great fit and has applied for the RBG Scholarship. Cabraal worked with the Milwaukee-based youth activism organization Leaders Igniting Transformation (LIT) on a two-year fight to end Milwaukee Public School’s contract with the Milwaukee Police Department. The battle was successfully won by LIT.
“I think the scholarship was such a great idea,” said Cabraal. “Young people of color are the future of the world, and they should take charge of the movement. We need to share our demands.”
The deadline to apply to the RBG Scholarship is April 16, 2021. To apply, click here.