AAHS hosted The Underestimated: Hillburn’s Brook School and the Fight Against Segregation, an evening revisiting the 1943 desegregation fight in Hillburn—when Black and Native American families, supported by the NAACP, challenged unequal schools and helped lay groundwork for the broader civil rights movement.
The program centered a descendant-led panel focused on family memory, education, and community resilience. Participants included Dr. Peter Alexander, Professor Emeritus at Southern Illinois University’s Simmons Law School (via recorded reflections); Bonni O’Blenis, Village of Hillburn Historian; Craig Long, Rockland County Historian; Travis Jackson, an educator from a multigenerational family of educators and a graduate of Suffern High School; and Peyton Powell, a biology teacher at Spring Valley High School. The conversation was moderated by Dr. Elias Rodriques, Professor of English at Sarah Lawrence College and AAHS Board Member.
Interwoven with the discussion was a dramatic reading by Drusilla Kinzonzi, whose performance of The Underestimated gave voice to the Black and Indigenous families of Hillburn who fought for educational justice. The reading added emotional depth and underscored the power of storytelling in preserving community memory.
Together, the panelists’ reflections and Kinzonzi’s performance helped the audience connect personally with this pivotal chapter in Rockland County history and its enduring significance.
The evening also featured a photo exhibition highlighting Historic Hillburn and the 1943 desegregation case, along with live music by the East Ramapo/Spring Valley Jazz Band and Brandon Hunt, a graduate of the East Ramapo Central School District whose performance underscored the enduring legacy of Black education, creativity, and community in Rockland County.
Before the program concluded, AAHS shared six copies of It Takes a Village: The Integration of the Hillburn School System by Leonard M. Alexander and Peter Alexander with attendees.
