Mother raises money to buy laptops for students left behind by remote learning

When most learning went remote a year ago, a lot of children were left behind. The Census Bureau estimates 4.4 million households with students lack consistent access to a computer. One determined mother is trying to change that. 

Tanesha Grant is closing Harlem's digital divide for school children one computer at a time. Her group, Parents Supporting Parents NYC, has helped raise money to get new laptops into the hands of children lacking the essentials for remote learning. 

"If you can complain about it. You can get up and do something about it," Grant said. 

So that's what the activist and mother of three did. She's now helping kids obtain the right technology so they can participate in school. 

"I do this work because I love my people. I love our babies. And I was one of them little Black babies that was told that I totally deserved hand me downs," Grant said. 

Grant has helped give away more than 100 laptops since the beginning of the school year. 

"In the society that we live in, like what I'm doing is abnormal. So it's hard for people to even believe," she said. 

On a recent day, Grant gave 23 laptops to kids like 8-year-old Cataleya, who now can set up her own Zoom calls. 

"When I didn't have the laptop, I felt like I was the only one that didn't have one. I felt sad but with this new laptop, I feel so happy and I feel special," she said. 

Grant said she hopes the new computers give the students confidence to be "whatever they want to be." 

"That's why I do it, because if I don't do it, who will?" she said.