Alumni Profile: Jerrell Braxton
Jerrell Braxton, ’73, a social worker at Milwaukee High School of the Arts (MHSA), understands what it means to attend school in fear.
Growing up in Lackawanna, New York, in the heart of the civil rights movement, he witnessed and experienced rampant racism. As a result, he joined other black students to form a group called Students for Education, Equality, and Knowledge and boycotted his high school. The students started an ad hoc school at the Friendship House in Lackawanna and were taught by Buffalo State and University at Buffalo professors who volunteered their time.
“It was a phenomenal event that affected my commitment to change and human rights,” Braxton said.