We the People, Chapter 250
STATE OF THE YOUTH
On July 16, 2026, our young people stood in a full room and told the truth about growing up in this city, in these schools, in this moment — and a room full of adults sat still long enough to listen.
Embedded Files
Two hundred fifty years ago, a group of people signed their names to a promise: government of the people, by the people, for the people. That promise has never been fully fulfilled. It gets written one generation at a time, line by line.
On July 16, 2026, our young people took that charge and ran with it. They organized a full room and spoke their truth: what it's like to grow up in this city, in these schools, in this moment. Every year, the adults in the room — teachers, funders, neighbors, parents — sit and actually listen.
The Panel
Already Leading, Not "Leaders of Tomorrow"
Already Leading, Not "Leaders of Tomorrow"
This year's panel — Haley Taylor Schlitz, Aaliyah Demry, Brother Ra, Khya Carlisle, and Charlie St. Dennis — shared their unique gifts with the room. They pushed back on the idea that young people are the leaders of tomorrow, reminding everyone they're already leading today: organizing campaigns, shaping policy, running businesses, holding their schools accountable.
Charlie St. Dennis made that real with a story from Highland Park Senior High. When Operation Metro Surge hit our communities in full force, students didn't wait for adults to fix it. The Black Student Union and Union Latina partnered with staff to run food drives, help classmates understand their rights, and make sure the school felt like a place people could still show up to.
The Launch
The Student Feedback Field Guide
The Student Feedback Field Guide
In the middle of it all, we launched something we'd been building toward for months: the Student Feedback Field Guide. This isn't a report that sits on a shelf. It's a tool, built by and for young people, to make sure the people making decisions about their schools are actually hearing from the people those decisions land on.
In 2020, John Lewis asked us to answer the highest calling of our hearts. On July 16th, freedom rang in that room, and a group of young people answered it.
Not with a speech, but with a room full of people willing to sit still long enough to listen.
This is what Good Trouble is built on. Young people telling the truth, and a community willing to hear it. Two hundred fifty years in, the work of "we the people" is still being written — and this year, we watched the next chapter of it get drafted by our young people.
We choose to believe in we the people. We humbly ask that you join us.
Page updated
Report abuse