Chair calls NYPL panel; Jasson Daniels testifies on Junior Scholars

Okay, we are gonna move on to a panel from New York Public Libraries.

Bill Goldstein, Brent Edwards, Key Choi, and Jalen Daniels.

And Jacqueline, is this the same?

This looks like the same thing.

Oh no, two different Daniels.

Jaylen and Jacqueline Daniels.

Jacqueline.

Jocelyn.

Jocelyn.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Whoever wants to start.

I can go first.

Oh, no worries.

Thank you.

All right.

Hi.

Hi.

Good afternoon, city council members.

My name is Jasson Daniels.

In 2015, my sister and I walked through these halls for the first time.

Even the mere presence of the same floors that Toni Morrison, Langston Hughes, Nella Larson, Zora Neale Hurston, and so many more have danced through made a significant impact on my psyche.

Being accepted into and chosen for a program like the Junior Scholars felt prestigious and allowed me to explore interests like spoken word, theater, and film,

all of which influences my calling of becoming a writer and producer today.

I remember I messed up the poem I had memorized for my first ever showcase, stuttering in silence, but it didn't matter because the show went on.

I was able to make a mistake and survive it in this building.

Outside these walls, however, I attended a predominantly white institution.

Many of the other students showed clear political affiliation to the

billionaire bigot America elected in 2016.

And the school also ended up enrolling our current president's child.

Safe to say I needed a third space like the Schomburg to find refuge.

I believe in the power of storytelling and preserving that power, especially in the age of AI,

where we soon might not be able to discern reality from fantasy.

This is what the Schomburg Center and the Junior Scholars can do for black children.

Give them the history and the tools to discern and discover hidden truths.

Thank you.