We recently connected with Jermaine Somerset and have shared our conversation below.

Jermaine, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Can you talk to us about serving the underserved.

Our mission is to serve as a fund to promote cultural sensitivity and diversity, equity, and community development for young adults and their families who are negatively impacted by inequality and racial disparity in mental and physical health, literacy, education, finance, and cultural awareness.

Our organization purposely selected the City of Farrell, Pennsylvania for The Legacy Cultural Project. The project was created to respectfully, but intentionally teach grassroot initiatives, community development, student leadership, and civil action activities. The project will help students, residents, city and school leadership, and law enforcement translate what they learned during the project into everyday life experiences to be applied to their community and to invite discussion on social justice, community activism, cultural sensitivity, diversity, inclusion, and transparency through open and unscripted conversations in a non-traditional setting. The population of Farrell is 53.31% African American, 38.32% White, 5.84% Two or more races. The average household income in Farrell is $45,078 with a poverty rate of 41.34%, and the police department is 95% non-African American.

As a small grassroots non-profit organization, our day-to-day operations focus on community outreach initiatives that engage underserved communities by creating platforms that bring together city officials, law enforcement, school students, and residents. While we do not have paid employees, our dedicated volunteers and board of directors assist with canvassing, meeting with residents, distributing information regarding city council meetings, and addressing social issues that impact daily life. Our volunteers handle project coordination, meeting planning, content creation, and outreach, ensuring we stay connected with the community. Board members are selected for their expertise in education, community development, activism, and youth leadership, as well as their strong ties to local organizations.

Jermaine, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I was inspired by my grandfather Fred Somerset, affectionately known as “Grandpa Fred,” the grandfather of our Founder and Executive Director, Jermaine. Born in 1912 in Little Rock, South Carolina, Grandpa Fred taught himself to read and write, often sharing stories about growing up in the segregated South. One of his favorite sayings, “your wealth won’t be measured by how much money you have, but by how many lives you have touched,” left a lasting impression on Jermaine. In 1995, Jermaine and Grandpa Fred traveled to Little Rock, South Carolina, for what Jermaine believed was a family reunion with Grandpa Fred’s first cousins. Instead, it was Grandpa Fred’s personal pilgrimage to his birthplace after being diagnosed with prostate cancer. During this trip, Grandpa Fred shared vivid stories of their ancestors, born into slavery, and the role the Little Pee Dee River in Dillon, South Carolina, played in helping slaves escape to the North. This experience profoundly impacted Jermaine, and after Grandpa Fred’s passing in 1996, he established the Fred Somerset Memorial Scholarship Program to honor his grandfather’s legacy. Initially created to provide scholarships to disadvantaged students, the program has since expanded to combat social injustice and promote community development by highlighting African American culture and arts.

Additionally, the Legacy Cultural Project prompted the Farrell Area School District to also collaborate with the Hope Center for Arts and Technology in the creation of an African American Living Museum with exhibits inspired by the learning experience received from the cultural trip. Our organization is encouraged the success of the Legacy Cultural Project will continue to cause the community of Farrell, Pennsylvania to bridge divides, improve critical awareness and understanding of racial inequities in our history, and to encourage intentional reflection towards the development of positive community relationships between the residents, city leadership, and local police department. Along with our partners: The City of Farrell mayor’s office and city leadership, Farrell Police Department, Farrell Area School District, Shenango Valley Urban League, NAACP, and the CLSV Stey Nevant Branch Library, our organization has created social platforms for residents to gather and voice the need for positive improvements and express their concerns in the progress of the city and its initiatives. During the next two years, our organization is focused on advancing the Legacy Cultural Project. We believe our project will continue to confront issues of inequity and injustice in the City of Farrell, Pennsylvania. We aim to build positive collective action by continuing to foster open and unscripted dialogues between residents, city officials, law enforcement, and school district. Our approach centers on addressing racial disparities, cultural sensitivity, transparency, and inclusion by using African American history and the arts to create a platform for honest conversations about inequality. We are committed to making “good trouble” by intentionally creating spaces where difficult but necessary conversations about racial disparity, systemic racism, and community safety can take place. This effort involves engaging our community members through outreach initiatives, town hall meetings, and public forums where residents are encouraged to express their concerns and collaborate with local leaders to identify solutions. By empowering community voices, we are helping residents advocate for policy changes that address health inequities, economic disparity, and public safety concerns. Our work is up against entrenched systems of inequality that have long marginalized our community. At stake is the future of a community that has been disproportionately impacted by social and economic disparities for far too long. Our organization’s progress thus far has resulted in the strengthening of partnerships with key stakeholders such as the Shenango Valley Urban League, Farrell City Council, Farrell Police Department, and the local school district. However, there are barriers which remain in terms of funding, public awareness, and the need to further build trust between residents and city leadership. Our goal is to achieve sustainable change by creating a safer, more equitable community where residents, city officials, law enforcement, and the school district can work together to improve the overall quality of life.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

We found challenges in convincing a community to accept change, and police department to change policies through the following points.
• Workshops: Discussions on voting rights, police transparency, cultural sensitivity, and student leadership were central to the program, empowering participants to drive change in Farrell.
• Student Leadership Development: Students participated in an 8-week program with our partner, Hope Center for Arts and Technology (HopeCAT), to equip them with the tools to lead grassroots initiatives and engage in community development.
• Impact: The project has led to the Farrell Police Department revisiting its policing policies, focusing on transparency, cultural sensitivity, and community engagement. The Farrell Area School District has also integrated early African American history into its curriculum, inspired by the project.

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Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.fredsomersetmemorialscholarshipprgm.org/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the.somerset.program/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thefredsomersetmemorialscholarshipprogram