Marri Gebril

Peace y’all! I’m Marri Gebril, a junior in Dunster House pursuing a joint concentration in Sociology and African & African American Studies (Afro-Latin track), along with a citation in my native tongue, Arabic. My roots are Egyptian, but I was born in New York and proudly raised in New Jersey by my single mama.

I’m deeply passionate about the intersections of community organizing, faith, mental health, and incarceration—specifically how systems of care and harm impact marginalized communities, and how grassroots work and personal faith can reimagine pathways toward healing and liberation.

Beyond the classroom, I perform poetry across Cambridge/Boston and am involved with KUUMBA, PBHA (FIO-SUP Director 2025, HSHS Case Manager, Restorative Justice Committee, FASE Afterschool Programming), and AFRO. I also serve as the Executive Director of the Food Justice Fridge Initiative, a community fridge based in my hometown of Passaic, NJ. 
 

Why Sociology?

I initially came to Harvard planning to pursue psychology, but after taking Sociology 1000, I fell in love and found a deep alignment with the field and the questions it asks. Sociology helped me move beyond the individual level to better understand patterns across communities, institutions, and systems, something that resonated with both my academic interests and lived experiences. Over the years and after being exposed to a variety of sociology courses, I have come to value how flexible and applicable the discipline is, offering tools to analyze social dynamics in everyday life while grounding my interests in community organizing, mental health, and social justice. For those considering a change in concentration, I'm open to talk, just know it's completely normal! Be open to things shifting, because following that shift led me to a field where I feel both intellectually challenged and at home.