“We see you. We hear you. Your voices are so, so important,” this is the message from an adult that brought hope to youth activist Daphne Frias. What youth voices have been proclaiming to adults throughout the last six days of National Children’s Week (NCW) 2020: Vote! Make our voices heard. As the week closes out, today’s panels cue voters in on important issues to watch for on upcoming ballots.
The final day of NCW falls on Juneteenth. Honoring this national holiday, Natalie Mebane, National Children’s Campaign’s (NCC) vice president of Government Relations and Public Policy, and Jonah Gottlieb, NCC’s executive director, delve into this annual commemoration of the day in 1865 when the United States abolished slavery.
Panels surrounding the day’s theme of voting get underway at 2 pm EST with #Vote4OurFuture breaking down the Green New Deal to build an understanding of the movement. On the heels of this panel, at 2:30 pm EST the Children’s Environmental Health Network encourages those who are voter-aged to get out and vote by sharing vital information, including their 2020 Voter Guide. Ensuring everyone receives their right to vote, a 2:40 pm EST panel on voter accessibility relays information for removing obstacles to the voting process.
Continuing with the day’s theme are the following panels:
Youth Voting 3:20 pm EST
Future Coalition 4 pm EST
Civic Stage – NextGen Pittsburg 4:05 pm EST
Tomorrow We Vote 4:55 pm EST
As National Children’s Week 2020 makes its final bow, two special panels speak to the hearts of listeners. In
Finding Your Why, 5 pm EST, Mebane talks about the impetus behind her own need to fight for the planet. Joining her will be Youth Activist Jamie Margolin, who will speak about her new book, Youth to Power: Your Voice and How to Use It. Margolin shares Mebane’s story in the book.
The last panel (5:40 pm EST) of the day features a discussion between Mebane and Reverend Lennox Yearwood, the president and founder of the Hip Hop Caucus (HHC). Sure to be featured in the conversation is Respect My Vote!, the “longest-running, most successful, Hip Hop voter mobilization campaign ever.”
Tune in via NCC’s Facebook page or YouTube channel, be it for today’s panels or those from earlier this week on topics such as gun control, foster care, racial justice, climate change and education.
National Children’s Week 2020: Sources
National Children’s Campaign
Vote4OurFuture
Children’s Environmental Health Network
Future Coalition
NextGen:Pgh
Zero Hour
Tomorrow We Vote
Hip Hop Caucus
Respect My Vote!
Rock the Vote