The California Senate Elections and Constitutional Amendments Committee held an informational hearing at Reseda High School in Los Angeles last month titled, "From Voices to Votes: Breaking Barriers to Civic Engagement for the Next Generation."   This was the first ever California legislative hearing to be held at a high school. 

Committee Chair Senator Henry Stern and committee member Senator Robert Hertzberg attended, as did many local high school students. CCEP Director Mindy Romero gave opening testimony, providing an overview of the state of youth civic engagement in California.  Panelists included representatives of the nonprofit organizations Rock the Vote, Mi Familia Vota, Generation Citizen and NextGen Climate.  Teachers and students also provided testimony, including members of the YMCA Youth in Government Program. KNX News Radio was on hand to provide media coverage.  All in all, the event was a success, and hopefully will be part of an ongoing dialogue about how to facilitate greater and more representative youth civic participation in California.  

As featured recently on CBS Bay Area news, Oakland High School Senior Darius Aikens is proof that teens can play an active and important role in the civic life of their communities.  Aikens began to realize his leadership potential when he moved to Oakland and began attending NAACP meetings.  Today, he represents his peers and community as a student director on the Oakland Unified School District School Board.  In this role, he helps bridge the communication gap between the board and  the student body.  "Students always lean on me to lead on small scales. I felt that if I could do it on a small scale, I could do it district-wide," Aikens told a reporter last year. 

 

Aikens also attends school, works a part-time job, serves as the youth chapter president of the local NAACP chapter and is an ambassador for The Oakland Promise, a city initiative to triple the number of college graduates from Oakland.

 

Darius has overcome significant obstacles to become the young leader he is today.  His father died when he was nine years old, and his mother was unable to care for the family.  Still a child himself, he stepped up and raised his younger siblings.  "Many times I felt my life was worthless and that no one loved me," he recently told a CBS news reporter. "Those days were really difficult, I remember my siblings and I went to  school solely to eat."

 

Darius hopes to be able to continue to be a voice for the voiceless and vulnerable as he approaches graduation, and has his sights set on becoming Mayor of Oakland one day. 

 

CLICK HERE to see Darius on KPIX channel 5 CBS News. 

Huffpost contributor Yareliz Mendez-Zamora is a recent University of Florida graduate and daughter of N icaraguan immigrants.  She is very active in her community, serving in student government, as an intern at a public defender's office, and working with local Latina/o activist groups. In a recent article, she challenges her fellow Americans to expand their definition of civic engagement beyond the ballot box.  Learn more about this young woman's take on civic engagement by reading her inspiring piece in the Huffington Post.