Brooklyn Nets
Essay Contest
BROOKLYN NETS X
BALDWIN INSTITUTE ESSAY
Baldwin Institute is excited to announce the return of our Essay Contest. We are continuing our partnership with the Brooklyn Nets and happy to announce Pepsi Bottling Co. of New York as our new partner & scholarship sponsor! Winning writers will be celebrated as part of the HBCU home game at the Barclays Center. We will be accepting essay submissions from ALL Brooklyn students grades 9 through 12, offering the opportunity to win a $5,000 scholarship courtesy of Pepsi Bottling Co. to the college of your choice and an on-court experience with the Nets!
ESSAY CONTEST GUIDELINES:
The Baldwin Institute will be accepting essays from ALL Brooklyn high school students from February 14th until Tuesday March 17th. In the days following your essay submission deadline, our team and representatives from the Brooklyn Nets will grade all submissions, selecting our 24 semi-finalists. All 24 semifinalists will be announced before Friday March 20th and invited to a pre-gameday celebration on Sunday March 22nd. (Be sure to save the Pre-Game Day Celebration date!) Our top four essayists will be announced the following week and invited to the Nets’ HBCU game on Tuesday March 31st. These top four essayists will be honored on Game Day and will receive $5,000 in scholarship to the college of their choice courtesy Pepsi Bottling Co.!
Your essay should be 450-650 words and will be graded on...
Creativity in fully and clearly answering the prompt.
Narrative style and ingenuity.
Proper grammar and structure.
ESSAY PROMPT
February of 2026 marks the 100th anniversary of the first “Negro History Week,” which would later be recognized as Black History Month in 1976. This commemoration of Black American history was championed by Dr. Carter G. Woodson among other key historians and scholars. Resisting centuries of cultural erasure and intentional miseducation, Dr. Woodson advocated for young Black Americans’ right to learn about their heritage, their ancestors' accomplishments, and the truth of the United States’ racial history.
Consider one of Dr. Woodson’s quotes regarding the power of memory, history, and education…
Those who have no record of what their forebears have accomplished lose the inspiration which comes from the teaching of biography and history.
In your essay, please consider the importance of historical awareness and memory in your own life/education. What is the significance in uncovering, uplifting, and celebrating the histories of those who have been repeatedly silenced? Alternatively, what is the institutional power in repressing, altering, or oversimplifying the history/experiences of marginalized communities? You may draw on historical examples, present politics, and/or your own personal history