Partnership between ADL and Brooklyn Nets aims to build bridges
NEW YORK - Early Wednesday morning, 40 high school students from across the city sat in Barclays Center, talking about what being a New Yorker meant to them.
The new program is part of a partnership between the Brooklyn Nets and the Anti-Defamation League with the goal of building bridges across communities.
The conversations involved identity, bias prevention and the value of diversity.
Featuring leaders across different faiths, organizers hoped to foster a love of collaboration despite their differences.
ADL says it does anti-bias and anti-hate work in more than 300 schools across the city, impacting close to 200,000 students.
"You're joining an effort that is nationwide," said Scott Richman, ADL's Regional Director for New York and New Jersey. "We believe deeply that you can't just fight one form of hate, you have to fight all forms of hate."
"The world is so consumed by hate, and there's just a lot of evil in the world. And during times like this, we really need to get together and have certain discussions," said 12th grader Leeyah Simeon who came to participate with her school's Unity Club.
Wednesday was the first of a series of conversations that will be spanning several weeks.
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