My name is Maddy Lowry and I am a rising junior in Africana Studies and Linguistics. This summer, I’ll be interning with the Fair Housing Action Center, a non-profit organization in New Orleans that works to combat housing discrimination.
These are my goals for my internship.
The first is to develop my understanding of Fair Housing laws, including understanding the various protected classes, covered transactions and covered dwellings, intent vs.
impact, the obligation of jurisdictions to Affirmatively Further Fair Housing and legal remedies.
The second is to increase my knowledge of the history of various discriminatory
housing policies in the United States, the Open Housing Movement in the 1960s and the passage of the Fair Housing Act in 1968, as well the persistence of housing
discrimination and inequalities and the systemic impact of discriminatory housing policies.
Third, I hope to increase my networking and organizational skills as an outreach coordinator.
Fourth, I would like to improve my public speaking and facilitation skills through conducting “Know Your Housing Rights” presentations for first-time homebuyers, tenants, people with disabilities, youth, formerly incarcerated people, and other audiences. I’m currently a CEA for Tulane’s Center for Public Service, so this will build on skills I already have.
Finally, I want to work on my Spanish and English writing skills through translating legal
concepts and policy issues into accessible, engaging blog posts targeted toward various audiences.
This also ties in directly with my work as a Newcomb Scholar. Last semester, I did my Newcomb Scholar literature review on the impact of historical lynching on contemporary forms of violence, including housing segregation. The work I did reviewing this literature impacted me profoundly. Although the review took extensive hours of research, it was something that I found immensely powerful and fulfilling, so I hope to continue this incredible work this summer. Although the context is slightly less academic, I will be doing research for the Fair Housing Action Center that will complement the research I’ve already done for Newcomb Scholars.
I will be doing some preliminary research about these issues to prepare for my internship. I will also spend some time practicing my Spanish. I’m excited to use this internship as an opportunity to challenge some of the social justice concepts that I’ve explored only in an academic setting, and put them to use in a more tangible way.
Maddy