The Round Table: A YVote Podcast

At this week's Round Table, Emmanuel, Hannah, Heba, and Inyoo delve into the realm of civil rights, advocacy and the power of community action with remarkable guest, Elizabeth (Liz) OuYang, a seasoned civil rights attorney whose dedication spans an impressive 37 years. Liz is a force in combating hate crimes, advocating against police brutality, championing immigrant rights, and advocating for voting rights, media accountability, and workplace integration. Her extensive expertise isn’t just confined to the courtroom; Liz shares her wisdom as an educator at both Columbia University and New York University. 

Appointed by President Clinton, Liz served as a special assistant to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights in 2000. Her commitment to fostering change shines through her roles as the founder and supervisor of OCA-NY's Hate Crimes Prevention Art Project, now celebrating its 17th successful year. Additionally, she spearheads the APA VOICE Redistricting Task Force, a pivotal coalition driving Asian American representation in New York State. Our conversation proved to be deeply insightful. We dove into the case of Private Danny Chen, a story that resonates with the essence of justice and community solidarity. Liz led an impassioned campaign for justice following Chen's tragic death, which was fueled by racial maltreatment and hazing in Afghanistan.

Throughout our discussion, we explored the vital role of community activism in such cases, emphasizing why such narrative matters, especially to our youth. Liz enlightened us on the significance of advocacy, highlighting the potency of art and storytelling as instruments for change. We were inspired, informed, and engaged as we navigated the world of civil rights with the incredible Liz OuYang. Thank you for listening!

At this week's Round Table Emmanuel, Emily, and Heba dove into a can't-miss conversation with a true pioneer in media transformation: Steve Rosenbaum, the Founder and Director of The Center for Sustainable Media. The mission of Sustainable Media Center is to act as a catalyst to change media for the better, working with young people to give them agency over the media they consume, create, and share. With a rich background as an author, entrepreneur, and filmmaker, Steve has been at the forefront of catalyzing positive change in media. 

We delve into an array of critical topics impacting our digital world, from the recent groundbreaking lawsuit against Meta, challenging the way social networks impact child safety, to exploring the roots of social media's perilous landscape. Steve brings insights to the table on a myriad of crucial points: the struggles young people face in this digital age, the generational gap in understanding, and the crucial steps needed to bridge that divide. Together, we grapple with the complexities of social media, dissect the actions being taken by lawmakers, and explore tangible solutions for a safer and more responsible media environment. 

Listen in as we unravel the dark path that turned social media into a minefield, uncovering the real struggles of today's youth, and decoding why adults just can't crack the GenZ code. Brace for a showdown as we explore the clash between generations and reveal lawmakers' potential missteps. Oh, and hold tight for the Meta lawsuit bombshell! But fear not—we're not just here to dissect problems; we’re crafting solutions for a safer digital world. Thank you for listening!

At this week's Round Table, Emmanuel, Hannah, and Heba spoke with Esmeralda Simmons, Fellow in the Advanced Leadership Institute at Harvard University and Founder of the Center for Law and Social Justice at Medgar Evers College, a community-based racial justice advocacy center that focuses on legal work and research on civil rights and domestic human rights violations. Ms Simmons is an accomplished lawyer and public servant who has spent decades fighting for human and civil rights on the federal, state, and municipal levels. Recently retired, she advocated for equity in public education, voting, policing and the child welfare system as the Center’s executive director for 34 years. Through the Center, Simmons provided community organizations with legal counsel and research assistance.

In this episode, we explored the work she did PRIOR to founding and directing the Center for Law and Social Justice: Ms. Simmons served as First Deputy Commissioner at the New York State Division of Human Rights, where she developed and led the implementation of policy in support of New Yorkers’ human and civil rights, and as an Assistant Attorney General for the State of New York. In addition, she has served on several major public boards in New York City government, including the NYC Board of Education and the NYC Districting Commission.

Outside of this work, Ms. Simmons also volunteers her skills and currently serves on the board of directors of UPROSE, a climate justice organization; the Council of Elders for African Cultural Heritage; and Little Sun People, an African-centered early childhood education center. In the recent past, served on the Boards of several national organizations: the Applied Research Center (now “Race Forward”); Vallecitos Mountain Retreat Center; the Child Welfare Fund; and, the Poverty and Race Research Action Council (PRRAC). 

Ms. Simmons has also served as counsel or co-counsel on numerous major federal Voting Rights Act cases and election law cases and has secured victories before the United States Supreme Court. She is a member of the Metropolitan Black Bar and American Bar Associations, Ile Ase, Inc., and the New York Voting Rights Consortium. Esmeralda Simmons is certainly an irreplaceable member of many communities including, now, of ours. Thank you for listening!

At this week's Round Table, Emily, Erina, and Hannah spoke with Alison Ritz, an AP Government and History teacher in the Bronx. She has taught in the New York City Department of Education for over two decades, striving to connect the present to the past while centering civic engagement for high-school students. 

As a former teenage activist, she approaches AP US Government and Politics, Participation in Government, and Economics from the lens of youth empowerment. Ms Ritz also has the honor of working with seniors to support the college-application process and postsecondary transition and serves as Faculty Advisor for the Riley's Way Bronx Council.

We conversed at length about what students would LIKE to know about their teachers but are frequently afraid to ask. We also discussed the joys and challenges of being in the teaching profession, which varies depending on the state you live in. Furthermore, we discussed how Ms Ritz’ own experiences got her into teaching and how exactly teaching keeps her inspired and motivated. Thank you for listening!

At this week’s Round Table, Emily, Emmanuel, and Heba spoke with Joel Berman, a retired primary care physician who lives in Concord, NH and is a longtime volunteer from The Compassionate Listening Project–something we could all benefit from doing more of these days, which made us excited to engage in this conversation! The Compassionate Listening Project works to empower individuals and communities to transform conflict and create cultures of peace and healing. It accomplishes this through workshops, facilitator training, listening journeys, and partnerships with humanitarian, social justice, and peace-building groups.Compassionate Listening offerings cultivate practices that hold courageous and generative space to bring people together across differences.

We discussed complex and timely questions like “What does it mean to truly create safe & courageous space and what are the best ways to do so and to unleash creativity?” We dove into the power of storytelling as well as the importance of peer support in working to rewire our brains away from tribalism, which is incredibly hard! We acknowledged the intense practice it takes to master it, the degree to which we will sometimes fail--and learn from failing, and the need to be compassionate with ourselves when we do. We also discussed the value of having a compassionate listening practice group to do this work with regularly-a laboratory within which to take risks and receive honest feedback. Joel founded and has been part of one for over a decade!

At a time of such deep divisiveness in Israel-Gaza–and such deep divisiveness in thinking and talking about the issues globally–we were inspired to hear about Joel's four Compassionate Listening Journeys to Israel and Palestine between 2015 and 2019, as well as his Journey to Alabama in January 2020. During these trips, he recorded and transcribed more than 40 listening sessions that form the basis for public presentations designed to humanize the “other” and help local audiences recognize our common humanity and shared values of people across geo-political divides. We sure need approaches like this right now and are grateful to Joel and the Compassionate Learning Project for their valuable work.

f you’re interested in hearing more from Joel Berman and the work he is very passionate about, read some of his articles here: A Third Way to Think About Israel and Palestine, Journey to Alabama with The Compassionate Listening Project  

Thank you for listening!

At this week’s Round Table, Amelia, Dorina, Emily and Hannah spoke with Rachel Janfaza, an amazing journalist covering youth political culture. Rachel founded 'The Up and Up,' a newsletter focused on Gen Z’s political zeitgeist and  how young Americans are organizing, mobilizing, and participating in civic life and politics – or, how and why they’re not. She is also a freelancer, with impressive bylines in the New York Times, Teen Vogue, Cosmopolitan, Elle, and Glamour. Previously, Rachel was an associate writer on the CNN Politics team covering young voters, campaigns, and breaking news. Recent stories have been about Gen Z politicians' fashion and style, the Montana climate activists, and efforts to stifle on campus/college student voting. 

In our engaging discussion, we dove deeply into topics, such as the uptick in youth voter turnout rates over the past 3 major election cycles as well as the ways that local politics often affect young people's lives more than anything on the national level. In addition, we conversed about young people running for office, the role of social media in youth organizing, and youth voter registration. 

Throughout this episode, we were very inspired by the ways in which Rachel amplifies youth voices around political and civic issues. This inspires us in our ongoing efforts to empower youth to create large-scale change. Thank you for listening!

At this week's Round Table, Amelia, Emily, Emmanuel, Hannah, and Heba spoke amongst themselves about the implications of applying to college in the first year after the Supreme Court’s reversal of Affirmative Action. While students like us are the MOST impacted by this decision, our voices are rarely included in public dialogue about affirmative action. The conversation was cathartic–all of us shared our  initial reaction to seeing the Supreme Court’s decision when it was released over the summer. Many of us struggled with the polar divides in response to it, given that while some people celebrated, claiming that racism had ended, many of us struggled, worrying about the adverse impact it would have on us as minority students as well as the impact it would have on diversity on college campuses.

The ruling reversing affirmative action took away something that was so relevant and important to students of color, which was giving us a chance to write our college essays about something that truly defines us that is NOT our race. Since the essay is one of the only places in which we can really express the importance of our identity, many of us now feel we need to use the essay to explain how our identity makes us good candidates for the schools of our choice rather than write more expansively.

We also spoke about why we feel legacy admissions are extremely toxic, in that it perpetuates a continuous cycle in which people who happen to be a part of a generational line of people of privilege are given advantages regardless of how hard they work, which is at odds with efforts we all should be making to close the widening wealth gap in this country. 

On the upside, we discussed how this has inspired us to help others and create large-scale change. If you want to have a voice in the decisions that are made, you have to vote if you are old enough to do so–and if you are NOT old enough to vote, you need to educate yourself to be ready when you are. Your right to vote is critical no matter what your political opinions may be. Your voice needs to be heard because if you don’t use it, not only are you being negatively impacted, but others are as well. There are no off years because there are always various elections going on in the state, locally or federally. Whether it is a school board election or the presidential election, your vote makes a difference and can make or break the future of our country. Thank you for listening!

At this week’s Round Table, Emmanuel, Hannah, and Inyoo spoke with Mitul Gouni, a junior at Allen High School in Texas, an involved member of his community, and author of the book One Flag: A Nonpartisan Guide to American Politics. A student in his school’s International Baccalaureate program, Mitul is intensely curious and dedicated to deepening his knowledge of history in particular. Outside of school, Mitul serves as an organizer for Toys for Texans, a regional nonprofit that collects and donates toys to underprivileged children in Texas. He has interned with both Republican and Democratic Representatives through the U.S. Congress, listening to lectures from notable politicians, such as Senator Rounds and Speaker Pelosi. 

Through our conversation, we dove into the Gen Z voting bloc that has an exceedingly high amount of potential, honing in on our shared concern that many young voters consistently skip Election Day. Why is that? What role do and can organizations like YVote & Next Generation Politics play in mobilizing young voters? We also discussed the fact that test scores are dropping across America, yet our leaders don’t seem to be focused on counteracting this alarming trend effectively and expansively.  

We concluded our conversation with exploration of the qualities we’d like to see from a political leader. We agreed that 1) A political leader should have the courage to compromise, without the fear of criticism and 2) A political leader should emphasize that having youth engaged in civics is important in today's world. Political leaders should modify education policies and start championing civics education because it all starts with youth. Thank you for listening!

At this week’s Round Table, Hannah, Heba, and Maya spoke with Becky Wang, the CEO and CoFounder of Rabble.io, a social discovery platform for people to find purpose-driven events and actions that bring life back to communities and neighborhoods. For brand partners, they provide a way to sponsor and support people-focused sustainability programs led by the organizers of these live events in order to foster community building. Rabble is technology that operates at the intersection of social media and live events. 

Before creating this platform, Becky built the growth and sales functions for several seed & Series A companies; led transformation projects at Crossbeat New York, a digital design consultancy; and served as Head of Data Strategy at Droga5 and Senior Vice President & Global Head of Insights & Analytics at Saatchi & Saatchi. She is the author of Creativity & Data Marketing and has been featured at SXSW, the Financial Times, CBS, Co.Create/Fast Company on the future of media and impact of BigTech on culture & politics. Becky is also a proud Board Member of NALANDA, a Buddhist LGBTQIA+ organization supporting incarcerated queer youth. 

In our conversation, Becky talked us through what Rabble is as well as what drove her to start Rabble. We discussed food security at length as it’s been  the focus of Rabble’s first activations and is a powerful way to bring together conservationists, justice advocates, and climate activists. We also engaged in fascinating exploration of what matters to various audiences in terms of perks, rewards, and incentives. Thank you for listening!