By Jasmine, Age 14, New York
My interest in government and politics started in 1st grade when I was elected as the mayor of our Lego town that we had created in the classroom. At the end of the year, I remember a classmate commending me about how I was “the best” mayor they had seen all year. That statement, though it seems insignificant, gave me assurance in my confidence when it came to leading change within my community. Since then, a lot of time has passed, but I am fervently passionate about politics.
Eight years later I was entering my freshman year of high school. I saw my school had a politics discussion club, I immediately signed up. A few weeks later as I waltzed up to the club meeting room, I peered into the window to see the club dominated by one demographic: White males. Despite the fact that the majority of government officials fall under this demographic, I was still startled. I know it isn’t because Blacks at my school aren’t informed about politics, but I still couldn’t help but wonder why this is?
That weekend I decided to descend upon the streets of Harlem and ask Black adolescents this question: Are you interested in politics? The results of this question reinforced what I saw at the meeting, as only 16% of the respondents replied “yes” to my question. This ultimately signals a larger problem that is often overlooked, and I feel that more must be done to ensure that young Black people are involved and have an interest in the legislative process.
I believe the solution to this is that there must be a larger effort enforced, preferably youth-led, to ensure that young Black people have an active interest in politics. The next fifty years will belong to us, and if we don’t practice speaking our voices now, what implications will that have for our future? What will this mean for the climate crisis or the criminal justice system? If we do not speak our voices, we ultimately are passing up the constitutional right to vote, that many of our grandparents did not have, because of Jim Crow.
I propose a solution that would entail a series of youth-targeted workshops for Black youth. The objective of these workshops would be to display to teens how topics that are currently being debated in government directly impact them, and what they could do to counter these effects. Methods for teaching kids to speak their voices about issues that concern them could be through utilizing social media campaigns, teaching them how to write legislation, and teaching methods of effective citizen involvement in government. The time is now for Black youth to act and ensure that they will continue to have their voices heard all around the country from here on out.
I dream of an America where all youth, regardless of color, understand how the executive, legislative and judicial branches of the United States impact their lives.
Originally published at https://thenew3rs.org on December 14, 2019.
