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Sarah-Julia Marion: Voting's Visual Storytelling Through the Lens of Change
In a constantly evolving world, and in our democracy where every voice matters, young voters stand at the forefront of change. To inspire this demographic to engage in the electoral process, it is passionate and talented activists like Sarah-Julia Marion who harness the power of visual storytelling, which acts as a catalyst for conversation and action amongst the youth. Going beyond traditional means to underscore the vital importance of voting, her work closes the gap betwee

VoteThatJawn
Jun 265 min read


How Kamryn Davis Uses Her Passion to Inspire Change
“[Voting is] not something that's taught and it’s such an important process that impacts the rest of our lives. If you don't teach us now in high school… that's why we're not voting until we hit, maybe, 30… Then people are still more likely to just only vote for the president or vote for whoever they see on mainstream media. … That's why we try to [educate] because there's so much wrong with the systems that impact young people every day.”

VoteThatJawn
Jun 265 min read


Ceci Schleinitz: Beyond the Ballot: Youth Leaders Are Born
The coolest thing about Ceci Schleinitz--among many cool things--is that she gets to mentor students who are just a few years younger than she. So, she’s like the cool aunt who is also wise and strict. After the election ends, she says, it’s easy to sit back and think that the work is over. But think again. Because sometimes the greatest impact happens beyond the ballot. Sometimes, it’s those moments of quiet when young people discover the power of voting for the first time.

VoteThatJawn
Jun 265 min read


Zion Sykes: How He Turned from Loss to Leadership
Was it the loss of his grandmother, or his curiosity, that led him to become the president of the University Park Undergraduate Association, the student representative to the Borough of State College’s City Council, and the chair of the Committee on Governmental and Community Relations?
For Zion Sykes, the answer isn’t as simple as either/or—it’s both.

VoteThatJawn
Jun 263 min read


Your Voice, Your Vote
Let’s travel back in time to 2020, the year the world shut down as coronavirus spread. I was sixteen years old, a sophomore in high school. Suddenly, my friends and I no longer communicated in the cafeteria during lunchtime or on the way to class. Our lives moved online.

VoteThatJawn
Apr 302 min read


These Are The Rules I Will Live By
I may not have a vote, but I do have a voice, and I intend to use it. Encouraging others to engage in the democratic process became my way of contributing, even if indirectly, to US democracy. For every person I convinced to register or to show up at the polls, I felt like I was speaking up for those of us left out.

VoteThatJawn
Apr 302 min read


Funding SEPTA: A Matter of Justice
Every evening on my walk from Drexel’s library, I watch packed SEPTA buses pass by. Many are packed with healthcare workers from nearby hospitals and riders returning from medical appointments. Many are packed with students returning from college. Others are traveling to restaurants in Center City or a Flyers game. Over 750,000 rides are taken on public transit daily through SEPTA.

VoteThatJawn
Apr 295 min read


Too Young to Matter
I used to wish my parents had forged the date on my birth certificate. Or at the very least, I’d been born two weeks earlier.

VoteThatJawn
Apr 234 min read


Letting 18-year-olds Drive Us to the Future: Confessions of Old, Some of Us, Like, Seriously Old, Youth-Vote Advocates
Each day, another 50 or so 17-year-olds in Philadelphia turn 18, and soon it’ll be time to hand them the keys.

VoteThatJawn
Nov 12, 20243 min read


Deja Kilgore – Vote That Jawn!
Deja Kilgore sits across from me at Philadelphia City Hall, leaning in with a quiet confidence, poised for our conversation.

VoteThatJawn
Nov 12, 20244 min read


Championing Change: Inside the Philadelphia Citizen with Executive Editor Roxanne Patel Shepelavy
I spoke with The Philadelphia Citizen’s Executive Editor about her experience editing and writing for The Citizen.

VoteThatJawn
Nov 12, 20243 min read


Democracy in Danger: The Battle for Your Ballot
Preventing residents from exercising their constitutional right is unacceptable

VoteThatJawn
Nov 12, 20243 min read


Philadelphia College Students Are Mobilizing To Get Out The Youth Vote
At the Vote That Jawn press conference, student leaders from across Philadelphia and city officials reminded voters that their voice matters

VoteThatJawn
Nov 12, 20243 min read


Students: Turn Your Emotions Into Action!
The upcoming election carries a lot of weight for Philly, the biggest city in one of the biggest swing states.

VoteThatJawn
Nov 4, 20243 min read


2024 Trend That Jawn
Eight University of Pennsylvania students who attended Trend that Jawn offered their reflections from the evening.

VoteThatJawn
Nov 1, 20244 min read


Youth Voting Initiative Hosts #TrendThatJawn, Youth Vote Press Conference at City Hall
At their annual event, #VoteThatJawn encourages young people to register and vote!

VoteThatJawn
Oct 2, 20243 min read


We Need Black Teachers! Here’s a Pipeline
Today, we’ll dive into the ongoing legacy of Philadelphia, part of a long line of efforts to liberate people from oppression.

VoteThatJawn
Aug 9, 20243 min read


How Freedom Schools Made It to Philadelphia
By Rae Norman Imagine a school that teaches “young people to function productively and meaningfully in society, or [gives] them the tools...

VoteThatJawn
Aug 9, 20244 min read


Freedom Summer 60 Years Later: Lessons from ‘The Other Philadelphia’
No one outside of its residents had ever really heard of the small Mississippi town before June 1964. That’s when the stories began.

VoteThatJawn
Aug 7, 20242 min read


The Freedom Summer: When Students Rose Up and Changed the World
Today in 2024, we find ourselves at the 60-year anniversary of some of the most influential few months of the Civil Rights Movement.

VoteThatJawn
Aug 7, 20244 min read


Freedom Summer 60 Years Later: Chapter 3 – Healing
“Blacks [do] everything. Everything,” Ruby Doris Smith Robinson, declared in awe. And it was true.

VoteThatJawn
Aug 7, 20243 min read


Freedom Summer 60 Years Later: Chapter 2 – Danger
It was June 21, 1964 and James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael “Mickey” Schwerner were setting out for Philadelphia, Mississippi

VoteThatJawn
Aug 7, 20242 min read


Freedom Summer 60 Years Later: Chapter 1 – Orientation
Freedom Summer volunteers had an orientation; here’s yours.

VoteThatJawn
Aug 7, 20245 min read


So, what's really going on?
We woke up to a new world. But no worries, we’ve got this

VoteThatJawn
Jul 31, 20242 min read
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