I had just finished delivering the final speech at Seattle’s Martin Luther King Jr. Day rally in 2015. It was a powerful day — thousands had gathered in the streets to honor Dr. King’s legacy and speak out against police violence and systemic racism. Not long after walking away from the podium, I was on the phone with my mother, coordinating a ride to get to my two-year-old son’s birthday party.
That’s when it happened.
A Seattle Police officer, without warning or provocation, pepper-sprayed me directly in the face.
I wasn’t shouting. I wasn’t resisting. I was simply walking and talking to my mom. The assault was captured on video. And while I later filed a federal lawsuit — and eventually reached a settlement with the city — there was no real accountability. The officer who attacked me wasn’t even suspended for a day.
No amount of money could make that right.
But I made a decision:
If the system wasn’t going to deliver justice to me, I would use the resources I had to invest in the people who are fighting for justice — our youth.
That’s how the Black Education Matters Student Activist Award (BEMSAA) was born.
From Pain to Purpose
I used the proceeds from that lawsuit to seed the award, which recognizes and supports student activists in Seattle Public Schools who are organizing for racial justice — and doing so with an intersectional lens that includes resistance to sexism, homophobia, transphobia, Islamophobia, and class exploitation.
Each year, the award gives $1,000 and public recognition to students showing outstanding antiracist leadership in their schools and communities.
Since 2016, we have honored over 25 youth with a BEMSAA. Students who have spoken truth to power at school board meetings, organized walkouts, removed police from schools, built coalitions, fought for ethnic studies, won funding for counselors and free public transportation for students, and created space for their peers to be seen and heard. Last year’s award amazing award winners were Jay and Anya Souza-Ponce.
This work is about more than a plaque or a payout.
It’s about planting seeds.
It’s about telling students: We see you. We believe in you. We’ve got your back.
Nominations for the 2025 Award Are Now Open
If you know a young person in Seattle Public Schools who is leading in the struggle for justice — someone unafraid to speak up, build power, and make change — I invite you to nominate them.
Nominations are open from May 22 to June 11, 2025
Nominate a student here: https://blackeducationmatters.org/
Backed by Community
The BEMSAA board — Rita Green, Donte Felder, and Ayva Thomas — are fierce advocates for educational justice. Their leadership has helped grow the award beyond its origins and into a meaningful part of King County’s activist ecosystem.
We’ve also been fortunate to receive generous support from Michael Bennett, former Seattle Seahawk and lifelong advocate for justice, and Macklemore, Grammy-winning artist who continues to speak out and show up for youth organizing.
At its heart, BEMSAA is powered by a belief in the capacity of young people to transform our world, and a belief that we all must recognize and resource that power.
This award began as a response to violence. But every year that a student walks across that stage and receives this award, it becomes something more:
A celebration.
A refusal to let injustice have the last word.
A promise to the next generation.
Let’s keep that promise.
Nominate a student today: https://blackeducationmatters.org/apply-for-award/
In solidarity,
Jesse Hagopian
I AM AN EDUCATOR 