First #16tovote on the 16th of the year and it lands on MLK Day! How nice. Just when everyone’s minds are on Dr. King’s legacy, here we are promoting expansion of voting rights to youth! It also happened the same day as the Republican presidential candidate debate in South Carolina, which provided some nice evening…
Every year around this time, we hear the same soundbites from Martin Luther King’s poetic but relatively innocuous “I Have a Dream” speech. In some schools, textbooks include King’s more thought-provoking essay “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” but they usually censor the thought-provoking parts. What those in power are most eager to hide from young audiences…
Years before I even was one, I had only ever heard the word “teenager” in a negative context. I got the clear impression that once I turned 13 I’d become mean and rude. Then I actually turned 13 and passed through my teen years, realizing I was not particularly mean or rude, but simply myself….
Just completed the final #16tovote on the 16th of 2011! Had some easy material this time around, such as the recent decision to not allow under-18 girls access to emergency contraception without a prescription despite the FDA giving the greenlight, as well as the, uh, quirks of some of the Republican presidential candidates! The health…
Contents Montgomery Curfew Law Called Off Taking Action on Plan B Lerner Launches New Book on Ageism Testimony on Student Parking in D.C. Time Magazine Names NYRA Pres. as Person of the Year Your Mission – Build NYRA’s War Chest Calendar News NYRA in the News Other News Montgomery Curfew Law Called Off Last month,…
Sky high unemployment. Astronomical government debt. A fragile environment. Rapidly rising college tuition. Our country, and our world, face massive problems, massive problems that according to venture capitalist Andrew Lerner are caused principally by the older generation. The first step to fixing this problem is understanding the severe discrimination young people face. Andrew Lerner’s new…
The Montgomery County Council voted 6-3 to table a proposed curfew law that would have allowed police to arrest anyone younger than 18 for being in public after 11PM. This vote to table the proposal effectively kills it, though it leaves open the possibility that the Council could consider it once again in the future….
The Hazelwood School District near St. Louis, Missouri is known to youth rights activists as the district that stomped on a school paper’s First Amendment rights and led to the Supreme Court’s notorious Hazelwood ruling. But more recently, this district was the site of a youth rights victory. NYRA-St. Louis, headquartered in Hazelwood West Middle…
In this 22nd run of #16tovote on the 16th, we hit a record high number of participants! Terrific! The wonderful usual participants as well as some excited newcomers made this run a huge success. This one focused a lot on the double standard aspect of the voting age issue, particularly how 16-year-olds who work must…
Last week NYRA hired long time NYRA member Bill Bystricky to take on the position of Campaign Director. With the departure of Dave Moss last month, NYRA’s Executive Director Alex Koroknay-Palicz postponed his retirement from NYRA in order to rebuild the staff and ensure a successful, active year for the organization. Bystricky has extensive experience…
