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B-PEACE Youth with Massachusetts State Representative Byron Rushing

B-PEACE Youth Organizer Tania Ortiz, Lead Organizer Julia MacMahon, and B-PEACE youth with Massachusetts State Representative Byron Rushing

On Wednesday May 28th Julia and I had the opportunity to bring a group of teens from ages 12-18 to meet with representative Byron Rushing to talk about how young people can take a bigger leadership role in the legislative process. The young people were advised to vote, make meetings with their district legislators, and to speak at public forums to share their opinions and beliefs. Rep Rushing talked about the importance of youth voice and how crucial it is to organize our peers. He shared wonderful stories about his experiences with community organizing and what it actually looks like. Rushing said,

” A lot of people like to say that young people are the future. You know what I say? they’re wrong . You are the now, the present.”
I could not have stated it better. Young people are the “now” and they will become the future. It was great to see the young people engaged and asking questions about the real actions they can take to make Boston a safer place. A highlight from the meeting would have to be the attendance of Pedro Cardoso, an 18-year-old who will be graduating high school this spring and attending Benjamin Franklin Institute next fall. He was really interested in figuring out how to get more police patrolling in his neighborhood. Overall, I believe this meeting brought a lot of knowledge and opportunity for those young people present to start thinking about how their future actions can help to curb gun violence.
Categories: B-PEACE