Transcripts For CSPAN3 The Mikva Challenge Soapbox Nation Speeches 20240714

Hello, everyone. Hi. Good evening. Thank you for joining us today. We are committed to developing young people to be informed and active citizens to create a just and equitable world. Named after two great civic leaders, we believe in the power of youth voice, like the amazing voices that are here with us today. And we believe in helping young people to create civic action to improve the world. Im going to turn it over to a great colleague and friend nicole from Facebook Education team. [ applause ] hi, everyone. My name is nicole and i work on facebooks Education Team focused on youth leadership. Our mission is to provide young people with the support, the tools and the resources they need to drive positive changes in their communities and in their schools. We are thrilled to continue this partnership to elevate youth voices around the country and super excited to hear the youth speeches today. And for you all, the young people that are raising your voices to help shape your communities. Were thrilled to be here so thank you so much. Ill turn it over to steph. [ applause ] im going to mention the amazing young people that are here today. My name is stephanie cruz. It is kpen these young people represent about 25,000 young people who have participated in the soap box challenge throughout the country. So we are very lucky to hear these amazing stories. [ applause ] wonderful. Thank you both so much. So myself and my colleague karla will be mcing today. We are thrilled to hear these speeches. These brave young people are going to speak out on issues facing the country and around the world. I wont be speaking so much today because we really want to center their voices and their wisdom and listen to their perspective. Im going to call up our first speaker mohammed. Come on up. [ applause ] 35,000, that is the number of innocent souls put to rest since 2012 by gun violence. Did they deserve it . Absolutely not. And yet here we are talking about them in past tense. My name is Mohammed Adam and i come before you to talk about the tragic gun violence epidemic that occurs in the United States. Since the horrifying School Shooting in Connecticut Sandy Hook Elementary School there has been 1600 Mass Shootings. While the families of those who have been killed in these ludicrous incidents down from grief, the government watches with glassy eyes. The unprecedented ideals of gun violence continues to be subverted as if it is not a real issue. Gun violence is a cruel inhumane and a catastrophic problem and an only in america dilemma. In 2018, the shooting in california marked the 307th shooting in 2018. When that occurred it was 312 days into the year meaning the u. S. Had nearly as many Mass Shootings as days. How disappointing that every day the possibility of a mass shooting happening is still active and real. In 2015 alone 2824 children who were clueless thwho were cluele of this dangerous and evil world, anticipating their birthday, their kindergarten graduation and waiting to tightly hug their parents once they got out of school died by gunshots. An additional 13,723 were injured. If we are capable of building walls blocking immigrants from coming in, then we are able to burn those very same walls that surround politicians who do nothing about gun violence as they are blindsided to those who have suffered. My call for action for you is to demand background checks. Make sure the guns are out of the hands of those who have criminal records. Demand more complex systems for buying guns. Finally and i cannot believe even i have to say this, but an 18yearold should never have access to an Assault Rifle. Are you kidding me . Are you kidding me . An 18yearold who has barely grasped responsibility and adulthood is all of a sudden granted a right to an Assault Rifle . What planet are we living in . Ill tell you. The planet where we learned from parkland, where we learned from san bernardino, where we learned from the synagogues in pittsburgh, parkland, columbine, the mosque in new zealand, where we learn from watertown, new york, but we did not learn to do something, in fact, anything for those 2824 children. And you want to know the saddest part . Places of worship are under assault every time a bullet is more important than a life. Do what is needed until this place can be safe for the future generations and children of america. Enough is enough. Thank you. [ cheers and applause ] thank you, mohammed. Up next we have ivy hoffman. Can you tell us where theyre from . Mohammed was from new york, queens. A book is a wonderful piece of magic. It can transport you to another world. It can give you a glimpse into the life of another person. It teaches you etmpathy. To children, reading is vital. And children from low income families need books the most. They need that escape, that hope for a better future. However, it seems that these children are our lowest priority when it comes to reading. Over 8. 7 million low income students are not proficient in reading. These are the kids who are going to make up the future of our nation and it is imperative that we give them the resources they need and deserve. And how can we do that if libraries are not getting the funding that they need . In 2013 the delaware state budget appropriated only 0. 06 of their money towards libraries. How can we grow and improve if we are taking something as magical as libraries for granted . Now, some people still may not believe that this is a problem. Books are disappearing to make way for a new era, the era of technology. And yes, technology is a wonderful thing, but studies show that children growing up in homes with books average three years more schooling than children growing up in homes without books. Thats regardless of their parents class, occupation and education. In addition to this, a study done by the Reading Agency shows that reading can reduce anxiety and stress, increase selfesteem and even reduce symptoms of depression. Its magic. Now that you know the problem, heres what i need you to do. Support organizations that work to solve this problem such as reading is fundamental or learn to read. Most importantly, read. By reading to the children in your life and encouraging them to read, we can move towards a stronger, better tomorrow. Thank you. [ cheers and applause ] thank you, ivy. Hi. This is my soap box speech. Before i begin, i would like to ask if everyone can see me well. No. Come forward. Can you now . Great because in the eyes of Society People of color are seen as invisible. No matter what we abolish, no matter what we establish, it will still be there. No one else is going to fix this. We are not going to fix this tomorrow. Racism is something that has always been a part of our world. While my generation, generation z has been brought in a place where the bathrooms are segregated, racism has not gotten any better because racist people find other ways to be racist. After slavery was aboliabolishee jim crow laws were set. Martin luther king, jr. Did not die for us to tweet happy mlk day. He most certainly did not die for me to hear stories on the news about a school allowing their students to paint themselves including their faces black. A decade passing without anyone thinking this isnt okay. The cowards who turn their heeds away from this are adding to the problem. The Police Officers who think its okay to shoot people of color are adding to the problem. And the pure ignorance of these people is adding to the problem. In the words of dr. Martin luther king, jr. Nothing in the world is more dangerous than insei sincere ignorance. When dealing with police, 50 . When applying to a job thats 56 . People are being discriminated against for their skin color. Th in the words of dr. King, no. In the words of me, i say that racism isnt okay. It has never been okay. And the people that make excuses for racists are just as bad as the racists themselves. In the words of me, i say theres no excuse for hating someone for the fact that their skin color is different than yours. Dr. King had a dream. So do i. Until every color feels included and people stop looking at your skin, his dream will stay a dream. And the thing is we see racist acts all the time and we dont denounce them. We let them think its okay to be like this. I personally invite everyone to join me on this journey of denouncing this behavior. And the thing is, im 13. A 13yearold should not be asking adults to do their job. It is summer. I should be going to a pool party. I should be worrying about which drama happened at the beach. Instead im here telling the adults to shape up. [ applause ] im not done. [ laughter ] and you want to know why some people have nightmares . Because the last man who dared have the strongest dream of them all got shot. [ cheers and applause ] thank you. Up next we have nehemya jackson. [ applause ] have you ever seen it in person or maybe on social media. Its happening all over the country even all over the world. This need to end. The United States government and its employees are turning a blind eye to u. S. Police who kill u. S. Citizens. In 2018, 998 people have been murdered by police and thats just two people away from 1,000. In 2019, 480 people have been murdered by u. S. Police officers and we are in the month of july. This is not how citizens should be treated because we are all human beings. Whats even worse, though, is when we have proof, video proof of this violence being committed by government officials. I have research that in 2017 two Police Officers have beenbeatin protest. He was really an undercover officer. What does the government do when the Police Murder people . Nothing. Its almost like the police and government are teaming up to make citizens scared of them. This is not right. Today all races are being brutally abused by police. When i grow up, i want to put an end to this nonsense because i would never want this to happen to my family or me, because this could be your grandson or your son. I believe that Police Officers need a punishment for brutality. My solution is to have Police Officers get better training on how to deal with the public, better and longer training will help Police Officers understand that people might have Mental Illnesses or might be scared when stopped by police. During Training Police learn state laws, criminal investigations, firearms training, traffic control, defensive driving, selfdefense, first aid and computer skills. Something they dont learn is how to deal with scared citizens. Something they dont learn is how to deal with Mental Illnesses. Something they dont learn is how to handle their own anger or impulse. Because of this, i would like to create a nondeadly weapon that doesnt kill. It seems to me if we could create 3d printers 5g internet, send rovers to mars, have cars that drive themselves, surely we should be able to make a weapon that doesnt kill. Maybe we can create some type of rubber bullet if we truly want fewer deaths by police. If america really truly wants to become great, then it will have to begin to treat their citizens like their lives actually matter. To include the words of famous rapper, cops kill a brother and get acquitted in a minute. They try to blot our vision and make us think the murderers are the victims. Its just the world we live in. Peace. [ applause ] thank you. Good afternoon. Today i have a sensitive topic that i would like to talk to you all about. Firstly, i would like everyone in the audience to close their eyes and envision this. You are a 9yearold girl being dragged into a hut. An elderly woman tells you to strip off your clothes and lay naked. That same old woman brings over a sharp, rusty looking orange knife. Using that knife she slices off something in between your legs. You scream in agony and in pain. You look at your mother for help, yet your mother looks over at you and tells you to quiet down because youre being too loud. Now open your eyes. This is the story and reality of a girl. That delicate piece of flesh the woman sliced off was her genitals. Now, i understand this toop topic is difficult but it is also a subject that receives little to no recognition. For that reason, i ask for the audien audiences full attention. If everyone is too afraid to discuss this, progress will never be made. 200 million women world wide, 44 million of those being under the age of 15 are victims of fgm. Fgm is female genital mutilation or circumcision. The whole purpose is to control a womens sexuality. It is thought to increase virginity before marriage. The consequences of fgm lead to ptsd, depression, anxiety, infections, childbirth complications and lastly death. Fgm is a disgusting, horrible, barbaric procedure that must be put to an end. Sign a position titled end female genital mutilation by 2020. Population growth will outpace progress over the next 15 years. The number of women subjected to harm will rise dramatically. How many more young girls have to be subjected to harm and have their childhoods deprived of them. Only 6 out of 195 countries have equal rights for men and women. The lives of women and girls in third world countries are just as valuable and they need someone to speak up for them, because global issues matter too. So please, sign the change. Org petition and put an end to the barbaric horrible custom known as female genital mutilation. Thank you. [ cheers and applause ] up next we have jaylen johnson. [ applause ] School Shootings have no place in our country. They have no place anywhere. You have a son. Hes beautiful, born with big dough eyes and tiny fingers. Hes yours. All yours to love and be loved by. You come home from work one day and you decide to watch some tv, the news. You arent surprised by what you see. Its just another School Shooting the news anchor says. When are we going to learn that these things just happen. You learn it isnt some school far off in another state thats on the news. That school with the active shooter inside of it, thats your sons school. You call your mother. You call everyone you know. You pace, you pray, you bend at the waist and beg god for the return of your child. That boy who has been yours to love since he took his first breath, is this the day he takes his last . In 1998 parents had this same exact fear when a boy murdered two of his classmates, shot and murdered two of his classmates. In 2012 the parents of Sandy Hook Elementary School kids lost their babies because a grown man murdered 20 first graders with a gun. In 2015 at an Oregon Community college, a man murdered eight of his classmates because he felt that he didnt fit in. In 2018 a boy attending marchjo Stoneman Douglas high school killed 17 people with a gun. 17 people. Since 2012, School Shootings in america have become terrifyingly consistent. Just in the twoyear time span between 2013 and 2017, 142 School Shootings have been reported. As of 2018 that number has rose to 239. Following 2012, over 400 people have died as a result of open gunfire on a school campus. According to the central news network, teen homicide rose 27 in 2016. Firearms contributed 87 to these teen homicide. This calamity has Many Americans including myself calling for the absolute ban of guns. The idea of banning guns strikes quite similar to the muslim ban donald trump temporarily put in place. I find it disgusting how our president is quicker to forbid a human being from entering our country than a thing that kills human beings that already exists in our country. My classroom floors are not land mines. My desk should never have to defend me from gun bullets. I shouldnt have to worry if my teachers sacrifice their lives to save mine. Thats my right. Not only as a citizen of the United States, but as a compatriot of the earth. I am here to say there is a desperate need for change. As someone who is not yet legally allowed to vote, i implore all of you who can, when our time comes, please vote for efficient gun laws. Vote to protect the future of america. Vote to protect us, your babies, your children, your sons and your daughters. We deserve better than a country that refuses to prioritize the peoples safety over the safety of inanimate objects. Thank you. [ cheers and applause ] thank you. Up nextaria bowman. That mask of makeup she wears is to shield the eyes from her freckled face. Shes a pretty girl. But she wont ever believe it. Those crossed arms over her stomach are to hide that extra piece of cake from last night that she thinks makes her fat. Yet, she wishes she wasnt so skinny. Shes a pretty girl. But she wont ever believe it. The things she saees on tv tell her that shes not good enough. She needs it be thin, tall, white, successful, have a small appetite, thick. Shes a pretty girl. But she wont ever believe it. When she wakes up in the morning with a zit on her face, she tells her mom she cant go to school because hes sick. She cries herself to sleep because when she looks in the mirror she cant stand herself. Shes a pretty girl. But she wont ever believe it. She stays away from boys because they couldnt possibly love someone that looks like her. She was told she had to look a certain way to attract men. Attract men. Like its her job to attract men. She was told this certain way was not how she looked. Shes a pretty girl. But she wont ever believe it. How could she believe it when society tells her every part of the way she looks is wrong . Put on some weight. Are you even healthy . You look manly. Guys dont like skinny girls. People like you shouldnt wear bikinis. You are ugly. Shes a pretty girl. But she wont ever believe it. The body expectations that are thrusted upon young women eat them alive until they are nothing more than names. She wishes she loved herself, but wherever she looks there will always be someone more beautiful. Shes a pretty girl. But she wont ever believe it. Young girls are told to sit quiet, look pretty, be obedient, be perfect. When will we stop tearing each other and ourselves apart over what the media tells us we must look like . Accepting our r ourse ining our. I hope one day we will all find that courage to let that beauty shine through. Shes a pretty girl. And she knows it. [ cheers and applause ] thank you, ari. All right. Up next, luke singh. Did you know that 91 of plastic isnt recycled . Recycling is when you throw metals, paper, glass, plastic, batteries, electronics, in the recycling bin, convert waste materials into new materials and objects. Of the 8. 3 billion metric tons thats been produced 6. 3 billion metric tons has become plastic waste. Of that, only 9 has been recycled. The vast majority, 79 , is accumulating in our landfills our lay in our environment as litter. At some point ends up in our oceans, the final sink. Could you imagine that much plastic in the ocean, sea animals eating our plastic and possibly dying . Speaking of which, over 100,000 marine creatures die a year from plastic entanglement. Thats awful. By the end of 2050, there will be 12 billion metric tons of plastic in our landfills. That amount is 35,000 times as heavy as the empire state building. Also about 8 Million Metric Tons of plastic ends up in our oceans, equivalent of five bags of plastic trash per foot of coastline around the world. Some restaurant have been getting rid of plastic cups to reduce the plastic in our oceans. Also, we put specific labels on recycling materials and using reusable Water Bottles instead of the plastic ones. I want people to not be lazy and throw their recyclables away. I think they should find a better way to bring the items to the mrf, Materials Recycling facility. Visualize a World Without any plastic in our oceans and a World Without trash every place you go. Visualize the tea turtles floating in the clean ocean and birds and whales eating flesh and plankton instead of eating a plastic bag thinking its a jellyfish. Lets make this a reality starting today. [ applause ] awesome. Thank you, luke. Next up, elani gilbert. Im sorry, black men, but the place where your work will be of fe adistan sassistance will be streets you were raised in. Since youre mexican, im going to pay you to work under the table because i know thats what youre used to. Discrimination has got to stop. People are being profiled, prosecuted and punished every day just for being themselves. As an africanamerican woman in todays society, i sometimes feel like it is impossible for me to escape the unsuccessful fate that was given to me before i was even born. I sometimes feel like i must tame my hair or dial down my clothes because my skin tone, alone, is enough for me to be labeled as the, quote unquote, unsophisticated black girl. Black men often feel like they shouldnt try to achieve greatness because theyre be turned down because of the color of their skin. They then run to the streets where they either end up in prison or killed. Statistics show that 82 of africanamericans feel like their racial group is most discriminated upon in todays society. Having a father who is christian and a moth who ais muslim, i never understood how much hatred and inequality could stem from religion. Meanwhile, around the world, people going as far as to kill just because someone with a history of that persons religion has done something bad, like do we really believe our muslims have something to do with 9 11 . Have we had a legitimate reason to hate jews . Police officers are carelessly going around arresting people who look, quote unquote, latino. They so ignorantly forget so many United States citizens of latino descent. Statistics also show 50 of hispan hispanicamericans feel like they are racially discriminated upon on a daily basis. When are we going to change . When are we as americans going to start looking at each oather as equals . We must take time to reflect on ourselves before we can actually make change. We must look at the time that discrimination happened right before our eyes and could have done something taabout it but w didnt. After re reflect, stake a step toward change. From here on out the next time you see someone being discriminated upon, put yourself in their shoes. Be against discrimination and realize everybody is equal. Thank you. Thank you, aylonne. Next up, lilian biolo thompson. Come on down. This is all our fault. The countless lives that have been lost due to the arrogance of our lawmakers. The 13 lives of columbine. 27 lives of sandy hook. 49 lives of the pulse nightclub. 58 lives of the las vegas mass shooting. And the countless others we choose to ignore. Their blood has stained our nation red but has yet to reach the colorblind leaders in our government. Every day, we say we live in the land of the free but how can we be free if we know the hate that lives outside our doors . We should be scared. Because in the u. S. , alone, there are 393 million civilianheld firearms. That is 46 of the worlds civilianheld firearms and more than enough to outnumber each person in this country we should be scared because we are not safe here. As students, we are expected by the government to get up every morning and go to school hoping that it will be safe. Hoping that we will come home. Even though nothing has changed since columbine and nothing has changed since sandy hook. How are we supposed to trust something that has failed us so many times before . Going out to have fun can end in disaster. Like it has for the victims of the pulse nightclub shooting and the las vegas mass shooting. Practicing religion can be chaos like it has been for the victims of the pittsburgh sin gone shyn shooting. Even going to the Grocery Store can be scary because we know theres a chance we may never come home. In 2018, alone, there were over 300 Mass Shootings. Over 300 times, a gun was fired killing or injuring at least four people, and we watched and let it happen. Our laws let it happen. Our laws let armed people come into our schools, houses, places of work, and places of worship. We are a nation divided, divided by greed and hatred and guns. We have been failed time and time again by our legislation and government. When asked what they value more, they chose guns over our lives. The countless lost will forever be a reminder to our generation and generations to come of this horrific time in our country. There is something wrong here, and people expect it to work itself out. We will not be sent into war zones so things can work themselves out. We will not risk our lives every day knowing there will be no change. Because we are not targets. We are your future. [ cheers and applause ] yeah, if you dont mind. All right. Thank you. Next we have jalen grimes. Give her a hand. [ cheers and applause ] when i was 4, i became the big sister to my first foster brother. He was 2 and though we didnt share the same parents, we sh e shared the same birthday. He came into my life broken. When he was put into foster care he suffered from a fractured skull, yet he was one of the most joyful, friendly, loving people i know. He was the meaning of resilience and strength. I thought a lot about my time with him. One of the most special relationships that ive experienced. There are over 437,000 youth in foster care. All needing a place to call home. Whether its an emergency placement that might last a night or two, or a longterm placement that could end in adoption, i know from my experiences with my family you dont truly provide a home for a child if you dont treat them or love them as their own. These children come from places of pain and hurt. Whether it was from abuse or neglect, theres trauma from that experience. On average, a child moves seven times while in the foster care system. Its unfair that they never truly get to settle in one place. But ill admit, its a scary thing to be a foster family. All the whatifs of a situation make for uncertain living and that still shouldnt be a reason for people not to foster. We see groups of siblings split up because there arent homes large enough to fit them, we see kids with special needs constantly moving from home to home because theres not enough families that can provide them the level of care they need. And then theres the big question everyone asks, well, i dont think i can do that, what if you become emotionally attached . When it was time for my foster brother to reunite with his biological family, it broke my heart. But looking back, the most rewarding part is i know we made a difference and it meant something. He left my home in a better place emotionally and physically than when he came in. Theres honestly no way to show someone that theyre truly valued and loved without becoming attached. It means something to take someone in and show them that they are important. So the real question becomes, what if you dont become attached . Thank you. [ cheers and applause ] thanks, jalen. All right. Up next, matthew bingham. [ applause ] if you see someone whos wearing old, ripped up clothes, you may think that he or she is just dirty or not worth your time. You may completely dismiss them. This is whats called a preconception. And the preconceptions that we have for others can completely ruin any chance of a healthy relationship. That person with the ripped up clothes could have easily been your best friend or even your spouse in the future, but you dismissed them simply on the basis of how they looked. Likewise, i, like so many other africanamericans, have to hope that when a Police Officer sees the color of my skin, they dont automatically assume that im doing something illegal. Its for things like this that ive come to speak to you about police distrust. During the summer, i was driving a friend home when we were hit by another car that was coming out of a parking lot. Everyone was fine and i knew that i wasnt at fault so i called the police to come resolve the issue. However, as time passed and i waited for the police to arrive, i just became more and more nervous. I began to think, what if i move too fast . What if they think im going to shoot them . What if they shoot me because of that . Its in times like this that i realize exactly the type of world that we live in. We live in the type of world that a community can be afraid of the very people that have sworn to protect them and they can be very untrusting of those protecters as a result. Its not just any that thinks like this. According to the national geographic, so many black parents rehearse an entire script with their kids to keep them safe. Lower your car window so the officer has a clear line of sight, turn on the superipea in lights, keep your hands visible, have license and registration visible, for gots sake, let the officer know youre reaching for them so he doesnt shoot you. The child doesnt even have to be doing anything wrong but each of them knows because they have a little bit of color in their skin they have to be extremely cautious and on the brink of anxiety any time that the police arrive. This can cause so many africanamericans to not call the police in situations that it would be extremely beneficial to have them there. Thats just insane, right . And the solution is social media. This technologybased world, social media can be one of the most influential carriers of change. This has become so evident after the situations with Trayvon Martin and Michael Brown with blacklivesmatter proliferated across all social media platforms and the issues the Africanamerican Community faces were brought to light. Another solution is to bring these concerns to your local lawmaker. Simply bringing these issues to the legislative stage can create a wave of positive change through changes in legislature and, more importantly, changes in how we as a society view black culture. And lastly, if you happen to see someone with dirty clothes, dark skin, or even a police uniform, release your preconceptions and prepare to love others, who they truly are. Thank you. [ cheers and applause ] awesome. Thank you, matt. Next up, moona. Come on up. [ applause ] the blacker the bearer, the more conventional the news. From the outside looking in, getting darker in the field, walked in the house that had to keep their hatred concealed. Ripped away from the field only to be ripped screaming, thinking about how the molatos got it better, they been hating each other ever since. Derived from white sfrupremacy, birthed by racism. Look at your brothers complex and start debating them. And all the while we have bagerrenmy that look bigger enemy that looks a the all of us. Although black women love their men, how youre not only ha handsome but beautiful. Yeah. Beautifully ignorant. You talk down to lupita nyongos. All loud and doggish, when a woman the color of your stick of butter walks by and darker skinned women dont want to say so they bleach so they can match their palms. All the while their mother, auntie, sisters, cousins and friends preach to them to continue down that same path like it was a song. You know, kiki palmer said we need to stop by how dark and light we are, yet we do it with our musicing acting out light or dark you are proves if a rapper is up to par, drakes lightskinned demeanor, rapping and singing about his felons dont make him a real rapper, not a real negro. Shes one of the most influential rappers of the 21st century, but you and your talk of masculinity combined say no. He has 100 million worth of a Study Foundation but still aint real. You and your talks of masculinity would have been working the field but we all would have been on the same plantation. In 2008 the university of georgia came up with a study saying the hue of ones skin tends to have a psychological effect on the selfesteem of africanamericans which is also known as the wellkept secret in the black community. I guess the code affects more than dead bodies. Then on the other side of our no snitching communities we lack in black idols to help in stitching the communities, africans versus blacks. Your Corner Stores faster than acknowledging that you look to your right and called me an african booty scratcher. Problems. The problem is there is a deep selfhatred and selfdivision within the black community. We lack selfawareness and we dang short lack unity. How to stop it, we need to stop it. Getting ready to enter another roaring 20s, we know of the dominating eurosent riccentrism. We know how to love ourselves. We have plenty enough to educate each other on history, beauty and diversity. You talk about how they hurting us. Well, youre hurting me. I call out to the entire black diaspora to not continue what has been started just base they hate on us doesnt give us the right to kill each other and be coldheart coldhearted. Thank you. [ applause ] thank you, muna. Up next, we have james hendricks. [ cheers and applause ] test. Test. Test. Thats good. A. C. T. , s. A. T. , s. T. A. R. What the hell is standardedized testing and why do we need it . My response is we dont need it, we dont like it and dont want it. Testing should be abolish. I say this because testing is not the best way to measure our understanding and our knowledge. We are not onesizefits all. Standardized testing n ining do create diversity nor you all got me messing up, man. Standardized testing does not create, does not value creativity nor diversity. Everyone has talents, unique talents and abilities. These tests should be eliminated from our school systems, period. Standardized testing said, i quote, this test is too crueled to be used and should be abandoned. Instead of testing with multiple outdated tests, we should have selfassessments and social surveys that measure our creativity, persistence, conceptual understanding and digital skills. Besides, this is a digital world, right . Standardized testing hason stud. They can cause anxiety because we feel too much pressure to do well on tests and when we dont score well on tests, we lose confidence in our abilities, d doubt ourselves and eventually become disinterested in school. When it comes to testing, we are treated more like robots s instd of human beings. Eliminating standardized testing would give us more freedom in the classroom to be ourselves. These tests do not take into account that many of us have language barriers that prevent us from doing well on tests. Were academically talented but sometimes we just dont test well. Finally, were primarily tested on reading, math and writing. What about our motivation, cooperation, and problemsolving skills . If you, too, are stressed out from testing, testing and more testing, i urge you to get involved. Protest. Contact your superintendent, your representative, your mayor, your congressmen, even your president. Lets put an end to standardized testing and encourage students to be great in their very own way. Thank you. [ applause ] awesome. Thank you, james. Next up we got charlotte. Cop come on up. Woo [ applause ] why dont you clap up the stage . [ applause ] typically, this would be signed with spoken interpretation but in order to reach a wider audience, ill be using simultaneous communication. A deaf child attending a Mainstream School surrounded by the sound of silence sits in their seat in class without an interpreter, without a voice. Are you aware of deaf students struggles in everyday life . Today, im talking to you about the growing demands for American Sign Language interpretation. According to the bureau of labor statistics, the demand for asl interpreters are expected to rise 46 in the next 2 years. According while the americans with disabilities act requires schools to provide services for students with disabilities, 20 of requests arent filled due to the shortage of qualified interpreters. Currently, there is a National Shortage of sign Language Interpreters in the u. S. And this shortage will only increase as the demand for interpreters increases. Imagine if your deaf child wasnt given the same opportunities and education because they dont have an interpreter translate for them . The New York Times interviewed a deaf student who spends the majority of her school day without an interpreter. She stated she feels lost and trapped inside the classroom. Every day, many parents are letting their deaf child attend a Mainstream School without an interpreter. But we have a solution. More students need to be made aware of sign language interpretation as a career opportunity. Schools such as Scott Community College Offers programs that can qualify graduates for entry levels of work ranging from 20 to 25 an hour. I am here to ask you to speak to your school and District Administration about the importance of including asl as a language option in high school so that more students are made aware of it as a career path. I also ask you to speak out about the need to hire qualified interpreters so all deaf students can be included in the Mainstream Schools. If we dont come together, over 20 of deaf children in the u. S. Will never have a voice in schools. Thank you. [ cheers and applause ] you go, girl. Thank you, charlotte. How do you clap in sign language . All right. Up next, we have raven alicia nash. [ applause ] okay. Are you listening . Are you listening . What about all of you back there . Are you listening to me, too . Okay. I have a few words for you. So you better listen close. It hoyts you all of a sudden, its the middle of the day. Youre surrounded by friends and the sun is out but something isnt right. Theres this feeling, a very uncomfortable feeling in your mind. Its in the pit of your stomach. You want to leave. You want to go somewhere thats dark but you are being consumed. Its wrecking you from the inside out. What can you do . Suffer . Thats what many of us did. So many of us do. Ill tell you a short story. Once upon a time, a young girl in a faraway place called milwaukee, wisconsin, wished she was dead. She was flawed and afraid. No one understood the pain and emotion she tried to express. How can a quiet person speak out when no one tried to hear . After countless times in hospitals, she did find someone. She changed schools. Found a home where she could express herself in knowledge and creativity. That girl, shes me. She was diagnosed with epilepsy, depression, two different types of anxie zxiety and adhd. Guess what, not everyone gets a chance to have change like me. According to the American Psychiatric association, 17. 1 million youth members have or have had a diagnosable psychiatric disorder in the u. S. Each year. The impact is more than in statistics. Its in feelings and emotions. Its in our families, with our friends, and in our communities. Having a mental disorder shouldnt be any different than experiencing a physical illness. The people and families who deal with Mental Illness need to feel safe to get help and discuss what is considered the forbidden subjects in order for accepta e acceptance. So, it is possible and it is time to have healthy, open dialogue about these subjects and it is time the world learns how. Many people throughout the u. S. Perceive the phrase, Mental Health, as a person that should be in a psychiatric hospital, a teenager or even an adult can be put in an inpatient hospital only to be stacked up by pills. How would i nknow . I was in them. The topic of Mental Health isnt being taken seriously. I advocated for immigrants last year and i will continue that. Right now, i will advocate for the people who are afraid to admit that they have depression or bipolar disorder. In case any of you think that suicide is a Mental Illness, well, guess what, its not. Its the cause of one. All of those people who decided it was better that if they left the life of the living are just misunderstood and judged for nothing. You know what, i would know, too. Ive tried. Ask me how many times ive tried, and id tell you. Id tell you straightup. So after therapy and visiting a psychiatrist, i can definitely admit im better now, but the story of people have inspired me to be better and to tell their stories. Im standing here, right here, in between this piece of tape. I wish i could scream out, but im not. I wish, oops, no, i want you to remember this speech. I excuse me, let me rephrase that. I need you to help me make a sound about Mental Health. Its something that needs to be heard and something that needs to be accepted. Its not taboo. Its important. Once again, i advocate it for immigrants, but i will advocate for people like me today. Bipolar disorders, adhd, depression, anxiety, definitely my main topic today. So i hope you were listening. You know what, i have an idea. After my speech, every time you see a social injustice on social media, you hear someone joking about killing themselves, you know what you can do for me . Put a hashtag, changeme. Put that every time you see that. Fight back for the people who you know are in pain when they see somebody joking about something that shouldnt be joked about. This is extremely serious and i need all of you, youth and the adults, this has to be taken more seriously. Right here, i am speaking for all those people that were like me that hid in the dark, that cried in the night because they wanted to kill themselves. So right now, i am joining im joining the people who want to raise their voice for Mental Health. So im not concluding the speech. Im just beginning. Raaven alicia. Remember that name. [ speaking Foreign Language ] translation, im going to change the world, and youre going to help me. [ cheers and applause ] okay. Faren, youre next. Come on up. [ applause ] the sun rose on a beautiful world. Birds are chirping. Breathing in the clean, fresh air. The dolphins and fish are playing in a beautiful blue ocean. Pedestrians walking down the sidewalks living the good life. Unfortunately, the world i just described is not reality and we need to stop acting like it. Hi, my name is viren mehta, and i believe it is time for a change. The world is not what we want it to be and its only going to get worse without action. We need to stop global warming. According to the National Oceanic and atmospheric administration, in 2015, there were ten weather and climate disaster events in the United States that caused over 1 billion in losses. This spike in storms annually has only been increasing, hurting our economy, our environment, but most importantly, ourselves. How sad would it be for me to go to future generations and say, i am so sorry we cannot fix it . I am so sorry that because of the issues i created, you could not experience what i could. And i am so sorry that despite the undeniable existence of climate change, we ignored it. We are like a car heading for a collision course, and the only sensible thing to do is to press the emergency brake. So how would we solve this problem . By promoting public transportation. The American Public Transit Association claims that public trans transit saves an estimated 14 million tons of Carbon Dioxide each year. Some School Districts like in white plains, new york, are even investing in, get this, zeroemission school buses which are electrical. Unfortunately, like in places like indiana, theres no requirement for a School District to provide bus transportation to their children. We need to get buses in communities where they dont have them and encourage public transportation. A pictureperfect world might be closer than you think, but if we continue to ignore the signs we have in front of us right now, our dreams for a pictureperfect world will vanish into thin air and might as well be gone forever. Not only that, we can hope for a pictureperfect world, but hope without action is meaningless. We have the solutions in our hand. Now is the time to utilize them. Thank you. [ cheers and applause ] thank you. All right. Thank you. How you guys feeling . Great. Up next, we have saynab. [ applause ] i am saynab. I am a muslimamerican student. I am a badger state scholar. I want you to listen to these two words and try to find the difference between them. Al akbar. Alahu akbar. The difference between these two words is that the first one comes from the mouth of a nonmuslim american student who says this racial slur because its fun and funny. They throw it to every single muslim they see because it symbolizes the blowing up of something. The second one comes from the mouth of a muslim man or woman who says it before they pray, when they need help, when they need guidance. It symbolizes the reassurance that god is the greatest and brings us the calm and peace. I feel bad for the muslim boys and girls but mostly the girls, they wear a hijab on their head that represents their religion. They are scared of going anywhere imagine walking down the hall one day, going to work, someone yells it out, al akbar. You try to laugh it off, you dont want to be the uncool one or the unfun one or the party pooper. Alahu akbar. Just stop. Its not cool. Its not funny. Its not epic. Its not funny and never was fun funny. Im here to speak out on behalf of all the muslims. Not only is this joke offensive, its also scary. Scary as youre walking anywhere, everyone thinks youre about to blow the place because of what youre wearing, because of your religion, because of what you believe in. Alahu akbar. I have to prepare myself. Yes, prepare myself every single day for endless questions and comments like whats that on your head . Why cant you eat pork . Why do you wear long things all the time . Oh, my god, oh, my god, what would you do if i just snatched that off your head . Well, all of these get annoying after getting repeated every five seconds by a stranger. The worst thing ive been told is to warn someone the day before i bomb up the school. I take comfort in knowing that i am a fun person to be around. These people throw this racial slur left and right around me because i am someone who does not care. My religion is not your joke. My religion is not your insult. I am not a terrorist. I am zainab yahiaoui, a muslimamerican, badger state scholar. Thank you. [ cheers and applause ] thank you. And id like to call up to the stage our last speaker. Rayvon, come on up. Hey, everybody. Hey. So my favorite artist, j. Cole, has a song, and he said, theres all sorts of drama from trauma that children see. Type of stuff that would normally cause for therapy. Yall know how to goes in the black community. See, we got to keep it in no matter how hard it could be. Fast forward, theyre grown and all smoking trees and popping pills due to chronic anxiety. Tell me my friends, are you comfortable in your skin, or are you just hurting yourself so you can keep it in . In 2017, it seems as though the media adopted Prescription Drug abuse as the new must to be cool. Hiphop artists, futures, newenew est rap song hadme and my friends singing Molly Percocet when we didnt know what it was. The drugs we know as molly and percocet contain the opiums that according to the nations Opioid Crisis website, dont quote me, those opiums that they contain are the numbers 3 and 4 in the top five leading opioids to cause overdoses in teens nowadays. See, its funny. We never realize the matches we entice our children to play with. We never weigh the possibility of them starting fires that swallow most whole. I didnt. See, 2017, i was doing my thing. I had just left my freshman year, going into my sophomore year of wrestling. I placed fourth in the city. Wrestling, sparring with a super heavyweight, i broke my leg right before wrestling season started. Two weeks later, life led me to my older brothers funeral. An injured wrestler, a restless person, a groieving sibling. The say in my room with a bottle full of pills that made me feel better. All i knew is that the more i took, the less i felt, and the better off i was until i woke up. So i took more and it went from two to four to six until me finishing 90 pills in 1 week. I was right at the brink of addiction when my doctor realized how fast my prescription requests for coming in. When my friends told me i started to act so different. When my parents told me the light in my eyes didnt look the same. They sat me down and they made me talk, and after that, i went to therapy. See, the problem wasnt that i was in pain. The issue was that i was in pain emotionally. That i had problems going on inside of me that i couldnt deal with without talking. So i say we put down pills and we pick up conversations. We make the common conversation be open in american societies. We allow people the opportunity to dream, to be free, to feel weightless as i did, because not many got to be me. Many fail to be counted as 1 of the 72,000 and rising to die from drug overdoses in america since 2017. I say i say that we grab this problem from the root and we allow everyone to express themselves the way they need to. I say that we start this conversation because maybe in five minutes, we can save five peoples lives. Maybe in ten minutes, in my speech right here, in 10 minutes we could save 20 peoples lives. Theres no telling what we can do unless we start the conversation. So i beg you, and i ask you humbly, after hearing my story, after hearing old stories on the news of x amount of teens dying over drug overdoses and opioid overdoses, stop numbing the pain and allow them to express themselves. Sit them down and talk to them. Start the conversation, and if you agree with me, please, i ask you to say with me, start the conversation. Start the conversation. Say it like you mean it. Start the conversation. Start the conversation. Say it like youre in church, saying amen. Say start the conversation. Start the conversation now post that on your facebook. Thank you. [ cheers and applause ] please, another round of applause for these incredible speakers that we just heard. [ cheers and applause ] i want to thank all the young people today who spoke, who were brave, who helped us learn about the Critical Issues that are facing young people, facing adults, facing our communities in this country. Thank you. We are so grateful to learn from you. We are so grateful for you to speak out and this is just the beginning. You all are so powerful. I cannot wait to see what you do next. Thank you to the adults for coming out and supporting youth voice, supporting everything these young people are working toward. Please take what they say to heart. Take action on these issues, too. I want to give a big thank you to Facebook Education for being an incredible partner in making all of this happen. [ applause ] and have a fantastic night. Thank you. [ applause ] heres a look at our primetime schedule on the cspan networks. Starting at 8 00 p. M. Eastern on cspan, t a meeting on developing future political leaders. At 7 30 p. M. On cspan2, live remarks from jim mattis about his book, call sign chaos. At 8 00 p. M. On cspan3, its American History tv with programs commemorating the 400th anniversary of the first africans arriving in virginia. Watch cspans campaign 2020 coverage of the democratic president i president ial candidates at the New Hampshire Democratic Party convention. Our live coverage is saturday at 9 00 a. M. Eastern on cspan, online at cspan. Org, or listen with the free cspan radio app. This weekend on American History tv, saturday at 8 00 p. M. Eastern on lectures in history, the California Gold rush and the environment. At 10 00 on reel america, the 1977 film on italian newspaper journalist marino de medici. And 4 30 p. M. Eastern, scholars on the u. S. Policy toward iran and Irans Nuclear program. At 6 00, historian dan albert talks about his book, are we there yet . The american automobile. Acting Homeland Security secretary Kevin Mcaleenan testified recently on president trumps 2020 budget request for his agency. Members also asked about the administrations Immigration Enforcement actions, efforts to protect migrant children, drug interdiction efforts and femas response to recent flooding in oklahoma and tornadoes in missouri. This is about two hours