Young people participate in virtual town hall
Event called `Youth Voices: A Black Lives Matter Conversation' was livestreamed
A youth-led virtual town hall was hosted last week by U.S. Rep. Kendra Horn, who told young people that their voices were important, regardless of their age.
The event, called “Youth Voices: A Black Lives Matter Conversation,” featured Horn, along with a panel of community leaders and an elected official who spoke to young people about issues they expressed concern about.
Horn, D-Oklahoma City, reminded participants that Oklahoma City youths have found ways to make their voices heard over
the years. She said members of the Oklahoma City NAACP Youth Council led by civil rights activist Clara Luper began the nonviolent sit-in movement to protest segregation in Oklahoma City, inspiring youth sin other parts of the country to do the same during the Civil Rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s.
Horn also held up as inspiration the late Rep. John Lewis, who was her colleague in the U.S. House of Representatives. She said he also began exercising his right to be heard at a young age.
“It's so important for all of us to have a seat at the table,” she said.
Day' Qu ann Er vin, Sergio Martinez, Lejend Collins and Charli Stovall, who served as Horn' s district interns, helped organize and facilitate the virtual event. The town hall was open to the public but questions were reserved for students and youth adults. Participants joined the town hall and asked questions via Zoom or Facebook Live.
Chacey Schoeppel, district press secretary for Horn, said the four young people — three Black and one Latino—co or dinated the virtual meeting specifically for young Oklahomans to talk with Horn and community leaders about the movement for racial justice and other issues that are affecting young people.
Along those lines, Ervin, one of the interns, joined Horn in encouraging young people to ask questions and voice their concerns.
“We're here so young people have a dialogue. We're in this together and having a conversation is the best way to move us forward,” he said.
Pane lists included Oklahoma City Police Lt. Wayland Cubit, leader of the police department's Family Awareness a nd Community Teamwork (F.A.C.T.) youth outreach program; state Rep. Jason Lowe, D-Oklahoma City; Jason Brown, Oklahoma City Public Schools' deputy superintendent; and Kaitlyn Wilkinson, MSW, NorthCare communications specialist.
Questions from young people ran the gamut.
How can trust be built between young men of color and the Oklahoma City Police Department? How can young people connect with their elected leaders? What is the difference between equality and equity? Why does the graduation rate at some high schools in the Oklahoma Cit y School District l ag behind that of some others in the district? How can young people who can' t vote due to things like their citizenship status or prior incarceration make their voices heard?
Other topics that came up included de funding police departments, suspension rates f or Black youths in the Oklahoma City School District, combating the stigma that exists in the Black community regarding mental health issues, and State Question 805, which would prohibit the use of prior felony convictions to enhance sentences for nonviolent crimes.
In closing, Horn expressed her a pp reci at ion for all the participants, particularly those who joined in and asked questions.
“Please know this conversation doesn' t end today. We need to know what you're experiencing, what your hopes are. We need to know your ideas. We are invested in you,” she said .“We have to continue down this road together and it requires that we talk to each other. It requires that we listen to each other.”
`A lot of engagement'
After ward, Collins, 17, another intern who helped organize the event, said she was pleased with the virtual meeting. The Douglass High School senior and member of the the Douglass Law Academy said she would like to see similar events planned, especially f or Black youths.
“I feel like it turned out better than we thought it would — a lot of respect and maturity, nothing negative,” she said. “There was a lot of engagement and I liked that some of the students weren' t afraid to talk about what was going on in their schools.”
Ma uri Hubbard, a Douglass educator and coordinator of the school's law academy, said she was proud of Collins and other young people who participated in the virtual event.
“Our students have a voice and the town hall meeting was a prime opportunity for their voices to be heard,” she said.