WEBVTT
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Language: en

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I moved to Washington Heights in 1976,

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and I moved here at the invitation
of an artist organization.

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My former partner was an artist,
and shortly after moving here,

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looking for ways to become involved
in the neighborhood,

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I joined organizations
who were mostly working with adults.

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In the course of my adult work,

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I also worked
with other community activists.

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One of them who was
a major partner of mine at the time,

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we're talking about the early 1980s,
was Maria Luna,

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and together, we founded
a neighborhood association

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that was responding to the huge fighting
over crime in the neighborhood.

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You wouldn't recognize the Heights today

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and the Heights from the 1980s
as being connected.

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We had over 100 homicides every year

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just in this precinct.

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The organization formed
to foster better relationships

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and trust between citizens
who were really frightened

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and the police precinct.

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In the course of our meetings,
it was frequently brought up

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how much young people
were the cause of all these problems,

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and a few of us didn't feel comfortable
with that diagnosis,

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and I was coaxed
into writing a small grant

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to start an after-school program
at P.S. 128,

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which is just a couple of blocks
to the north of us.

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Although the funding
was very small, $9,100 a year,

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we wound up serving 140 young people,
elementary school,

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middle school, and high school students.

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Because we had no money,

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I wasn't paid,

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and my chief mentor and trainer
at the time, Coach Dave Crenshaw,

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also wasn't paid.

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Teenagers became the backbone
of the youth organization.

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They ran the gym,
they ran the homework room,

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they helped escort the young people
onto community service activities

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and fun trips.

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It was to that initial experience
which was

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during the warmer months,
started right here,

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and then the winter months
was at P.S. 128,

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that we learned about the insight
and the power of teenagers

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in making a difference to a local
community-based organization.

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Now, I moved
on from my initial youth program

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at P.S. 128

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and I became a co-founder
of the All Girls Sports

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and Education Program,
and then for 22 years,

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I served in various capacities
with the Police Athletic League,

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founding the first center

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for PAL in the Armory
in Washington Heights.

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After 22 years, the COVID crisis.

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Initially, a lot of people,
including myself, were laid off,

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and then after they slowly reopened,
it was financially trying times,

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and being
in the cohort of senior citizenship,

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I was asked to retire, which I did.

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It became both a source of sadness

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leaving the youth field full-time,
but at the same time,

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it coaxed me into paying attention

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to creating a memoir and a manifesto

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reflecting both my 30 years of experience
working with teens

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and empowerment movements
and also a statement

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to adults,
especially adults of my generation,

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the boomer generation,

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to stop characterizing

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teenagers in a negative way

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and look to them for their positive assets
and contributions.

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Both Coach Dave and myself
and dozens of youth-led

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organizations around the city,

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they created lots of opportunities
to challenge that myth about teenagers

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and gave them opportunities
to not only volunteer for organizations

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but to serve in an advisory capacity.

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That occurred mostly through the 1980s
and the '90s and early 2000s.

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In the early 2000s,

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the teen empowerment movement shifted

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and I became part of that movement

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where we decided it was not just
about listening to the teen voice,

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which is very important,

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but giving teens an opportunity to give
advice in ways that actually changed

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the way organizations operated

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and actually changed policies.

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My maiden voyage
in that was joining forces

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with an organization called
The Future Voters of America,

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which held
annual high school congresses every year.

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About 300 high school students
from around the city

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created a mandate

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asking that community boards
lower the age of eligibility

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from age of 18 to the age of 16.

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I worked closely
with about 35 youth organizations

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and teenagers who circulated petitions
and postcards and actually advocated

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in bodies of government, the State Senate,

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the city council,

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and also was Gale Brewer, who at the time
was the Manhattan Borough President.

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I called her the godmother of the movement
because she connected the decision-makers

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in Albany and in downtown Manhattan

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with the youth movements.

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Although we thought it would be
a slam dunk,

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it took seven years
to pass that initiative.

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Again,
because of so many negative stereotypes

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about teens, but once it shifted,
it shifted,

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and the law came to pass.

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My work today,

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I see as an expansion of that initiative

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because although community
board membership is great,

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both of the teams have become
board members and the boards themselves,

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it only impacts directly
on 114 at maximum capacity.

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Youth organizations and myself worked
on creating advisory boards

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to elected officials,

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expanding the influence of advisory boards
to community organizations,

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and most recently,

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we've become engaged in a movement

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to actually lower the voting age
to 16 in New York State.

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Well, there are some things
that set us apart or did set us apart,

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especially in the days
of community challenge

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where the city budgets were being cut
and resources diminished

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and we lived in areas

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where we had very high levels of violence.

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What separated the Heights
is we were very,

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very well organized with community-based
organizations, youth organizations,

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and we were privileged
with a set of elected officials

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that really related to the leaders
in those organizations.

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In some cases,
elected officials were limited

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because they could not get everything
they wanted given

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the broad nature
of city and state government,

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which tended to run more conservative.

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They worked closely with us.

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For instance, when this park
was really dilapidated,

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didn't have a smooth surface,

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it didn't have any facilities,

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if young people,

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Stanley Michels was the city councilman,
made it his business

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to give discretionary funding

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to our organization
and to the neighborhood,

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and when we had special events,
he made it his business

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to come down here and speak
to the young people directly

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so they would know they had support
in the corridors of power.

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From the perspective of young people,

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the unmet needs, you reflect
the same needs that are unmet for families

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in general.

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We have the shortage of affordable
and good housing for people.

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It's gotten so expensive
that the populations of working class

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and Dominican populations
have actually declined

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in the last 10 years
because they can't afford the rents.

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Is having equitable provision
of health services,

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and this is something that Coach Dave

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joined in that movement with Black Health,

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and Dr. Bob has been advocating
his entire professional career.

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Now, to give one example,

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one is a question of accessibility

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in that people don't know

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that they have the opportunity
to even engage with these services.

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I think one of the things that we need
is collaborations

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like we're doing now with Dr. Bob

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so that young people feel comfortable
engaging professionals

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in the health community.

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Then we also need adequate funding

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for the institutions
that are funded by the city.

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Agencies like Department of Youth
and Community Development,

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they do a great job reaching out
funding as best they can,

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and also counseling and providing
support to organizations,

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but they don't get anywhere near
the money they need to do the job

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that they want to do.

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The Board of Education,
there's legislation now in Albany

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that's sponsored
by State Senator Brad Hoylman

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that in addition
to lowering the voting age, age 16,

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would also mandate
an action civic semester

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for every single high school student,

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because people talk about the lack
of participation by young people,

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but why should young people be involved

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when they actually don't participate

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in the workings of civics
and local government?

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That understanding should start
from the ground up

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and branch out.

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Once they learn the mechanisms
of government

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and that direct experience,
then they can start looking to the state,

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the federal government, and beyond.

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I think one message I would give is
to follow the example that's provided

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by Dr. Funmeth and Coach Dave

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and the graduate students now
in School of Health

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is that it's not about providers
and clients.

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It's about community partnerships

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where everyone is part
of the same community.

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They have different roles,

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but in the end, it's about being
a good neighbor

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and fostering a sense of friendliness

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that we're all human beings,
we're in it together,

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both for the successes and and challenges.

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Another message I would give
would be to follow

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the example
of the American Library Association,

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who's been in the forefront
of challenging censorship.

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We need to encourage more local authors

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and book readership.

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Something that's done locally
by bookstores such as WordUp

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and by the local libraries
that we have in this neighborhood.

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They should introduce

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young people to literature

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that talks about young people,

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who they are,

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what they're concerned with,
and what they do.

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What I would like to see created
in the Department of Education

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is an educational social
studies curriculum

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that profiles the work of team leaders

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in the social studies classrooms.

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If young people learn
about the work of other young people,

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that will give them a hook

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to learn about the work of others.

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Let's see. General message is

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in the face of adversity,

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in the face of challenging circumstances,

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one of the best things that a young person
can do and an adult can do

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is find a friend.

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In friendship, find someone that believes
in them so, together, they can confront

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the challenges and make changes
because it's always about being a team

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and not about just individual heroism.

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It's about teams working together,

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again, locally from the ground up
that will make a difference.

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It was a message
that I'm actually borrowing

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from Eleanor Roosevelt,

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who used to be the First Lady to Franklin

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and also a major player
in the Reform Democratic movement.

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When she gave an address
to the United Nations in 1957,

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in that address, she stated,
"Where does it all begin?

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It begins at home

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in the community where people live,
where they go to school,

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where they work,
where they form their friendships,

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and where they have their first encounters
with adversity.

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If people learn to bond together
and solve problems at the local community,

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then we'll have a larger democracy,
but without that community incubator

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and involvement, democracy is
and will stay in trouble."