GOAL IS TO ENCOURAGE AND TO INSPIRE PARTICIPANTS
Each week, this series will introduce you to an exceptional American who unites, rather than divides, our communities. To read more about the American profiled here and more average Americans doing exceptional things, visit onenation.usatoday.com.
What does it mean to you to be an American?
To me, being an American means to be part of a diverse and vast country, as full of possibilities and imperfections as I am. It comes with responsibility, this citizenship of America — a responsibility to uphold and advance the country’s founding principles of equality, justice and freedom.
What moment motivated you to launch this effort?
Teen girls in Los Angeles and other cities are faced with incredible challenges. ... To give them a place where they are supported by other women, and encouraged and inspired, is really something that lets me sleep at night, to know that we’re helping teen girls feel like their voice matters. So I think the work that I did previously as a songwriter, as a writer, nothing has been as powerful as the kind of work I am doing now.
What gives you hope and what concerns you?
We really help girls write about their families, their neighborhood, their culture, and what they see is that they have much more in common with other teen girls than they realized. And sometimes we have them even reading the work of other girls outside of Los Angeles to get that cross-pollination. I think it’s really important that people really look at their own stories and not be only looking out- ward to a story that’s being told to them by others. Because our story is what makes us American, our own personal stories.
What do you hope to accomplish through your efforts?
What I love is bringing people together who otherwise might not meet and (giving) them the chance to see the things they have in common. Los Angeles is full of people who are passionate about a lot of different things, so to be able to have that dialogue happen and to be able to bridge their various views and perspectives is really a terrific thing.