Meet the CA Assemblywoman behind an effort to lower the CA voting age
Earlier this year I had the privilege of sitting down with Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez to discuss her push to amend the California state constitution to allow 16 and 17 year olds to vote in school board and community college board elections. Though the measure ultimately did not pass, Gonzalez efforts along with a network of student activist across the state are setting the stage for a new discussion on voting rights. In the wake of a presidential election cycle which saw
Notes From The Field: A Different Kind of Prison
That afternoon, we found ourselves bumping along a remote, dusty road in South Carolina. And though Merritt and I were determined to visit this particular compound, I watched with grief as my phone gasped for its last satellite signal. Finally, the premises were in sight, and we turned into the parking lot. We were startled to be met with the hard gaze of an armed guard. He stood cowboy style, hand on gun, behind a cold metal fence. When we made our way past him to the secur
Notes From The Field: Too Many Students Are Dying
The most inspiring stories can often be found in the most unlikely places. In Webster City, Iowa’s StuCamp was no exception. First for some background: StuCamp is a day long mini conference hosted by students, for students. It follows the popular un-conference model where the agenda for the day is set in the beginning by asking the room of 50+ students, “What issues exist in your school that you want to solve?” The session suggestions ranged from “school lunch” to “What is th
In Response to Trump: Organize. Infiltrate. Blog.
It was a chilly January day when my colleagues and I entered the Capitol building in Frankfort, Kentucky armed with signage and talking points. The Kentucky State Police Officer posted at the entrance asked if we were there to take photos in the rotunda, a field trip that most Kentucky students embark on at some point during their lives. I smiled, shook my head, and politely explained that we were there to meet with the Chair of the House and Senate Budget Committees, the C
The Rise in Student Activism and Why We Should Embrace It
Chances are you’ve seen the viral videos of students yelling at professors and the arguments over Halloween costumes. Or maybe you’ve also seen the long lists of demands from student groups that run the gamut from demanding that student fees from African American students go to the Black Student Movement rather than the University to calling for the resignation of various University Officials. But there is something going on in America that is bigger than a click-bait video
Student: I think this school should be shut down.
I started off the roundtable in this rural South Carolina school the way I always do. I asked, “What can y’all tell me about your school that you think the adults in your school don’t know?” One student responded without hesitation: "I think this school should be shut down. I’m serious, no one here, not the principal, not the students, not the teachers, cares at all." It was an oddly warm winter day in South Carolina. Merrit and I arrived at the front door of the crumbling bu
