In Our Own Words...

I have a duty to humanity to teach others about what's happening around them. That's why I am a youth activist. With the help of the ACLU, I am able to learn and be a participant in change. We can’t afford to continue to let years pass as we search for the next Susan B. Anthony or Sojourner Truth. It is not fair to humanity to have abundant great minds who decide to keep quiet. We are all capable of continuing the legacy of social justice activists.

- Brianda, 16

To consider myself an activist is one thing, but to consider myself a feminist is another. As an eighteen-year-old boy, I have taken on the responsibility of making a change in the world we live in.

- Adam, 18

For me, the 2004 trip was about realizing how exactly sexism affects all of us. Throughout the week, I realized sexism is so much more than unequal pay or discrimination. Sexism is my best friend's anorexia. Sexism is the sexual double standard. Sexism is never reading female authors in school. Sexism is being told, since I was little, that a woman's greatest goal is to find a good boyfriend or husband. Sexism is feeling like I should always be pretty, always "look my best." Sexism is believing feminism is a bad thing. Sexism is boys believing they should always be strong and stoic. Sexism is homophobia. Sexism is subtle, impossible, and frustrating. Sexism is the amalgamation of a million stupid cultural standards that hurt everyone.

- Claire, 17

On the juvenile justice summer trip I nearly cried as I watched a mother hold back her own tears while a judge considered whether or not to send her teenage son, who had a mental disability, to a CYA [California Youth Authority] lockdown facility.

- Chris, 17

Before going on the 2005 trip, I thought the juvenile justice system's best interest wasn't reforming the kids, and that the whole system was corrupt and needed to be reconstructed. This trip confirmed that opinion, and it opened my eyes to the bigger picture, which I feel is the root of the problem—economic issues such as poverty, racism, and the struggles between social classes.

- Awndrea, 17