The Children’s Defense Fund Freedom Schools Program hosted a National Day of Social Action on July 15, calling on voters to stand up for children by voting with the issues that affect them in mind.
A virtual rally took place live on Facebook on July 14 to encourage children and their families to participate in a National Day of Social Action, co-hosted by the CDF and Michelle Obama’s When We All Vote initiative.
The rally featured three young poets—Sasha, Safalani and Ixchel—who shared poetry about the injustices in our country they would like to change, hoping to inspire adults in attendance to vote in order to tackle these national problems. Sasha’s poem called for banning the Confederate flag; Safalani presented a powerful speech about ending racism; and Ixchel read her poem about striving for equality for all by electing representatives that truly represent the population.
The rally’s main calls to action for its participants were:
- Amplify children’s voices.
- Register voters.
- Engage the electorate on the state of America’s children to hold them accountable for voting on behalf of children at the polls.
The rally also informed children and their families about ways in which they could become involved in their communities and participate in the National Day of Social Action this year—like by becoming a CDF Voting Captain.
Children were encouraged to create a poster sharing the issues they are passionate about, share pictures of the poster to social media and put the posters up around their neighborhood, in their yards or windows to make their voices be heard.
And the kids delivered—below are some of the impassioned posters children around the country created:
As reported previously on Ms.:
The initiative encourages individuals to vote on behalf of children, and to be aware of the specific issues that hurt our country’s youth, who can’t yet vote for themselves. It is a social responsibility of adults to amplify the voices of children by not only listening to their perspectives, but by using their voting power to put those perspectives on the national agenda.
Cultivating the activism of children in communities is crucial, given the scope of the inequities they’re facing. Children are speaking out and demanding change.
The rally ended with the quoting of iconic civil rights activist Rep. John Lewis, who recently passed away:
The vote is precious. It is almost sacred. It is the most powerful non-violent tool we have in a democracy.
We must advocate and vote with our nation’s children in mind this November.
