The Department of Planning and Natural Resources is launching an annual competition that asks U.S. Virgin Islands students to engage with the life and work of David Hamilton Jackson, a pioneering labor organizer who founded the territory's first independent newspaper.
The 2026 'I am David Hamilton Jackson' Challenge invites young people in grades 7 through 12 from all public, private, parochial and home-school settings to examine Jackson's activism, including his role in the 1916 labor movement in the Danish West Indies, his founding of The Herald, and his fight for press freedom. Students will then create original work addressing contemporary issues facing their communities.
Participants can submit work in several formats: political cartoons, essays, spoken-word pieces, short plays, short-form videos, or satire. The project asks students to investigate a current social or civic problem affecting the territory, consider it from multiple angles, and express their own perspective through their chosen medium.
Monica Marin, chief curator of the Division of Libraries, Archives, and Museums, frames the challenge around a central question: "If David Hamilton Jackson were here today, what would he be taking a stand for?"
Students will study Jackson's legacy alongside the broader tradition of Black-led journalism in the Virgin Islands, examining how editors and publishers used their platforms to challenge injustice and hold officials accountable. They will also review work by political cartoonist Leo Carty and other contemporary Virgin Islands artists.
The submission deadline is October 23. Selected student work will be displayed in an exhibit from noon to 7 p.m. on October 29 at Fort Frederik Museum on St. Croix. For details, students and educators can reach Monica Marin at [email protected].
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