My name is Kim and I am originally from Dorchester. After attending Boston Latin School from the 7th-12th grade, I received a scholarship to attend Bowdoin College, a small liberal arts college in Maine. Here at Bowdoin, I am a Classics major with a Teaching minor. Upon completion of grad school, I hope to become a Latin teacher and assist in the education reform of the Boston Public School system.

Having grown up in Boston, I was already familiar with many of the organizations highlighted in this website. Even on the sites of organizations I had never heard of, I frequently recognized friends and acquaintances in the groups’ photos and videos. With that said, an insight I took away from this project is just how small my city is. This is valuable as it offers an advantage to reforming Boston Public Schools, for many of the people involved in these changes have many mutual friends, providing opportunity for strong coalitions to form. As evinced by the Youth AfforabiliT Coalition as well as the Youth Jobs Coalition, the intimate environment of Boston has already been realized by many young people working for social justice.

It was particularly interesting to read about all of the positive changes these youth groups have made which I myself benefited from while growing up in Boston, from the increased funding for high school summer jobs to the extended hours and days on the Youth Pass. The videos were especially inspiring for me, because they showed just how hard and how long these kids have been working to help other kids like me.

I also was amazed at the power of youth organizations. I did not know much about the achievements of these groups, in fact I once questioned how much power they had. But it is clear that change and success from youth is very possible, it just comes from much time and effort. The youth pass in particular proved this to me—I can recall hearing about the campaign starting up in 2007 when I was 12 years-old and began taking the train halfway across the city to get to school. I remember how absurd I considered the ideas those kids had, that we should be able to use our passes after 5pm or on the weekends. I truly thought they were crazy to believe they could ask for something like that. But they were persistent— and after 8 years of dedication, they finally got what they asked for, and I couldn’t be any more impressed.

For this reason, I think the one of the greatest lessons I took away from creating this website was realizing the power of grassroots organizations. The youth activist organizations showed me that the key to social change lies within local leadership and participation, as well as a perseverant attitude.

I also enjoyed learning about the civic knowledge gap and its correlation to the achievement gap. Prior to this project, I had never even heard the term “civic knowledge/engagement gap,” which is quite disconcerting. The articles underlined the gravity of such a gap and I wonder why it is not more often discussed. It is absolutely an issue I hope to be involved in when I myself am a teacher.

The benefits of youth activism was also an intriguing subject. When choosing a topic for my website, I was encouraged by my professor to discuss youth activism in Boston, but I was unsure how to frame it under the umbrella topic of Urban Education. The peer-reviewed articles allowed me to understand just how beneficial participation in advocacy campaigns can be for adolescents. After reading them, I was able to draw my own conclusions as to how the skills developed from participation serve as an alternative form of education available in cities. These articles also convinced me of the importance of youth activism in Boston, for in a school system where high-stakes testing is so important, civics lessons tend to be pushed out. And even if civics classes are offered, one wonders just how effective and engaging they are for students. I believe that civic knowledge is best learned outside of school in youth organizations, in which young people can take part in “real-world” project and feel more motivated and involved.

Lastly, creating this website was a relief for me because as stated earlier this semester, Urban Education made me feel pretty bummed about the state of urban public schools in our country. Researching about all of these grassroots organizations led by youth, for youth, however, has made me realize that my generation is fighting back against these injustices. Change is quite possible, it just takes a lot of work, and I myself am excited to have a hand in improving the city that raised me. Conducting the research necessary for creating this website showed me just how many organizations in this city are calling my name.

Contact: [email protected] // @kgubbz