On April 30, Youth Leadership Institute (yli), California Parent Teacher Association (CAPTA) and Policy Analysis for California Education (PACE) hosted “Our Future, Our Voice,” the first youth-led gubernatorial forum in California at the Fresno Convention Center. The three-hour long event consisted of a civic engagement fair followed by a forum in which youth and community members posed their most pressing questions to gubernatorial candidates, with Xavier Becerra, Antonia Villaraigosa and Tony Thurmond initially advertised to attend. To the disappointment of participants and organizers alike, two out of three candidates pulled out of the event at the last minute, leaving Thurmond, California State Superintendent of Public Education, as the sole panelist.
“For those candidates to drop out last minute makes us [youth] feel disregarded,” shared yli youth program participant Valeria Sanchez, who expressed that each organization involved spent time planning for this event and that the absence of these two candidates was disappointing.
However, the young people involved did not let this curveball deter them from making the most of the event. During the civic engagement fair, youth leaders conversed with adult allies, shared and gathered resources, decorated polaroids to commemorate the event, and for those old enough, were able to register to vote. During the forum, youth participants were engaged and asked their questions with conviction.
In March, yli began collecting questions from young people across California for the purpose of highlighting youth concerns at this gubernatorial forum. Young people submitted questions regarding affordable housing, healthcare, environmental concerns and more. These questions were reviewed and asked to Candidate Thurmond by CAPTA and yli members, giving insight to Thurmond’s vision when it comes to the concerns of younger generations.
Christian Galvan, another youth member of yli, shared the importance of this opportunity to directly ask Thurmond questions..
“[The forum] gives an outlet to actually have our voices heard. By allowing [youth] to actually speak with candidates and get their voice out there… that’s the most important thing,” Galvan said.
Soreath Hok, a journalist at KVPR, and Carlos Rodriguez, a Sons and Brothers fellow and UCLA alum, co-moderated the forum. When asked why it was important that she participated in this event, Hok shared that she hoped to give youth a voice and use her experience to guide these important conversations.
“This is really their future that we’re talking about. So [youth] are really the people that we should be directing the energy towards,” Hok said.
Throughout the forum, Thurmond shared his vision for bilingual education, enrollment-based funding systems for public schools, a billionaire tax and the abolishment of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). He explained that his priority upon entering office will be to create two million affordable housing units across the state and to reduce industrial pollution in cities like Richmond. Thurmond used his experiences on the Richmond City Council, in the California State Assembly and as Superintendent of Public Education as the basis for his policies and educational advocacy.
“If young people vote, it will change the face of these elections in the state and in this country. [We can get] a governor and a president who will care about young people and make young people a priority,” Thurmond emphasized. “Get involved in your community, get your education, let it carry you wherever you want to go. Let it carry you to fulfill all of your dreams.”
