My experience in school has been hard because I have been told that I would never amount to anything. I’m organizing with the Philadelphia Student Union (PSU) to prove to those people who have counted me out that I am somebody and my opinion matters. I come from University City High School, which is an Empowerment School. Empowerment Schools are the district’s “lowest performing” schools on standardized tests. So the message that I get is that I am a troublemaker, that I am low class, or that by the time I get to 12th grade I will drop out.

When I first started high school, I didn’t have any school pride.  After I joined Philadelphia Student Union (PSU), I started standing up for my school.  I want to make Sayre the best it can be and a place where every student wants to come to high school.

On Monday, January 15th, the amazing young leaders at the Philadelphia Student Union held a "Call to Witness and Action" to celebrate Martin Luther King Jr.'s Birthday. The event called for an end to all forms of school violence. The messaging that the students developed for the event aimed to broaden our understanding of violence. The students explained that structural violence, produced by underfunding our public schools, leads to all sorts of negative outcomes, from high drop out rates, to low levels of college access, and a school-to-prison pipeline. In order to develop this deep understanding of violence, which even college students struggle to develop, PSU members came together for hours to probe the system in which their schools exist, developing a deeper analysis of the situation. Amazing, right?

On Monday, Philadelphia Student Union celebrated Martin Luther King's vision with a spirited rally outside the School District, a 600-person march down Broad Street, and a powerful service at Arch Street Methodist Church. Led by the young leaders of PSU, the event called for peace, justice and an end to all forms of violence. It was co-sponsored by 19 other organizations and attended by students, parents, teachers, and community members from every section of the city--as well as State Representative Vanessa Brown, Democratic candidate for Governor Joe Hoeffel, candidate for State Representative Will Mega, and Philadelphia District Attorney Seth Williams. There were so many inspiring speeches, songs and other moments--what made the biggest impression on you?