The Prince George’s County Lynching Memorial Project is pleased to share and congratulate the winners of our 2025 Student Racial Justice Essay and Creative Arts Contest. We invited all Prince George’s County high school public, private, or homeschooled students to submit an essay, creative writing, or visual artwork that addressed an historical or current racial justice issue to an online portal. A panel of expert judges selected 10 winners from over 50 submissions representing 12 high schools across the county.
The students were celebrated at an awards program held at the Greenbelt Community Center on May 3, 2025. Students presented their inspirational and moving essays, creative writing, and artwork to an enthusiastic audience of families, friends, teachers, and community members. Winners received certificates and scholarships ranging from $1000 for first place to $200 for third place. In addition, local elected officials including State Senator Alonzo T. Washington, State Delegate Ashanti F. Martinez, and Prince George’s County Council Member At-Large Jolene Ivey attended and presented citations of recognition to each student.
We thank the Greenbelt Black History & Culture Committee, Greenbelt Recreation Department, and the City of Greenbelt for continuing to co-sponsor our awards ceremony and the Greenbelt Access Television team for recording the ceremony.
We are especially grateful for the donations from community individuals and organizations that make the scholarships possible. We applaud every student who entered their justice reflections in our contest.
We look forward to the 2026 contest and welcome anyone who would like to join us in this work.
The 2025 contest winners are:
| Name | Award | Title | School |
| Essay | |||
| Ginelys Tavarez Ramirez | 1st Place | “From Chains to Denial: The Hidden Cost of Colonialism in the Dominican Republic” | Chesapeake Math and IT Academy North High School |
| Zyon Lawson | 2nd Place | “The Unfinished Fight Against Lynching” | Oxon Hill High School |
| Caroline Gyan | 3rd Place | “Veil of Injustice: The Erasure” | Frederick Douglass High School |
| Devin Bond | 3rd Place | “The Struggle to Desegregate Prince George’s County Public Schools: A Legacy of Resistance and Resilience” | Frederick Douglass High School |
| Creative Writing | |||
| Cheyenne M. Godfrey | 1st Place | “Fields of Greed” | Eleanor Roosevelt High School |
| Kaliyah Fletcher | 2nd Place | “The Strength in Our Stride” | Frederick Douglass High School |
| Ava Raines | 3rd Place | “Parties Unknown” | Eleanor Roosevelt High School |
| Visual Arts | |||
| Angel Adesoji | 1st Place | “The Intercepting Fingers” | Chesapeake Math and IT Academy North High School |
| Angelina Akumkperik | 2nd Place | “Latasha Harlins” | Charles Herbert Flowers High School |
| Riley-Alicia Burton | 3rd Place | “Never Forgotten” | Charles Herbert Flowers High School |
Special thanks to the PGC LMP Education Committee members: Crystal Carpenter and Pat Neal Co-Chairs, Lula Beatty, Mark Collins, Mary Craft, Mark Docken, Terry Hamlin, Neil Hartigan, Pat McCartney, Sherri Mehta.