Mikayla Kendall, Rebecca Larkin, Jada Kelley, and Roderick Thomas from VOX ATL spoke on a panel hosted by the National Education Association, focusing on their experiences with activism and as students today. This panel, which closed NEA’s east coast conference on Jan. 26, shared students’ experiences as content creators and peer leaders. Listen in (and transcript provided) below.
Video recording by Tomi Aninyele and editing by Malia Jolley.
Panel Moderator NEA Secretary Treasurer Noel Candelaria: What do you see as the biggest issues facing youth activists?Jada: One of the biggest issues I’ve seen in my community with youth activists is that we’re not taken seriously enough. I’m in Gwinnett County, and Apalachee [High School], if you remember, it’s just about 20 minutes away from us. And that was such a dark time for Georgia in general. They spent about 1. 3 million dollars on clear backpacks instead of maybe metal detectors or more SRO agents. And a lot of the kids at my school felt like it wasn’t really doing anything. We didn’t feel safe still. And they did send out a survey and they didn’t really use any of our information to toward that problem. That would definitely be the most difficult and frustrating problem I see today in teen activism — just not being taken seriously and not feeling like you have a voice when you know what you’re talking about.
Rebecca: For me to feel supported as a student, I need to be known as a person by my educator. By knowing who I am, they’re able to help me academically because I’m not just a number in the classroom. I’m an actual person with an actual identity.
Candelaria: What is important for us to know as educators?
Mikayla: I’ll preface this with, this was my first ever election voting day. After we got the election results back, I was shocked. I had to step back and remember that it is a privilege that I am shocked, that that was the decision that was made by this country. Just because the books are being banned, because everything is coming to a halt, you can still arm students with knowledge.
Jada: I feel like a lot of those books, like “1984,” “Farenheit 451,” “Lord of the Flies,” they have such things to say about society that I think they’re so important. You know, they come from different viewpoints, and I feel like everybody needs to see that. If we’re not all inclusive, what change are we really going to make?
Roderick: My educator inspired me to want to become an educator. He showed me the power of what it really looks like when you’re able to grasp hold and take in knowledge from a book. Education is not just teaching. Education is the fidelity behind what you teach.
Rebecca: By uplifting our voices, that is how we are going to make an impact and how we are going to change society.
Mikayla: It’s empowering to students to see your identity as well. And honestly, it’s time to start some good trouble.
