What did we do?
MAP students traveled to California's capital to speak with legislators on 5 issues, ideas for potential policies, and the state of state legislation in the current political climate. We also gained knowledge and experience on gun violence what we can do to advance reform.
Legislative Visits
We met with 8 state assemblymembers and senators: Bob Wieckowski (Senate District 10), Mark Stone (Assembly District 29), Marc Berman (Assembly DIstrict 24), Evan Low (Assembly District 28), Kansen Chu (Assembly District 25), Jim Beall (Senate District 15), Ash Kalra (Assembly District 27), and Anna Caballero (Assembly District 30). In these meetings, we discussed the state of the issues of Human Trafficking, Immigration, Criminal Justice Reform, Animal Rights, and Gun Violence.We advocated for the Congressmember's support for specific state legislation (see Project pages) on Human Trafficking, Criminal Justice Reform, and Environmental Justice. Then, we discussed ideas for potential policies that would have a greater chance of passing in order to support immigrants' rights to healthcare and to regulate access to guns to mitigate harm in our country. We learned a lot about how we can work towards legislative change in certain areas and social change in others, and how we can reach out to representatives beyond our districts. Most importantly, we gained insight into what is already being done on the issue of gun violence and how we as students can help in the efforts to advance gun policy. We thank the offices of our assemblymembers and senators for their time and wonderful insight and guidance.
Committee Hearings
We attended a senate committee hearing on Sexual Harassment on college campuses.
Catholic Youth Advocacy Network
We went to the Catholic Youth Advocacy Network's annual conference about advocacy and social change through the efforts of Catholic schools. Over 70 students from schools across California attended and participated in the workshops and activities. MAP students conducted "Tech in Advocacy" and "Art in Advocacy" workshops, and delivered a keynote regarding Civic Education and Youth Political Participation. MAPx also created an activity for attendees to write their goals and put them on a poster, collectively sharing in working towards a common goal of education and policy advancement.
Our Goals
- To learn more about social policy and what it means to be a youth advocate for justice
- To understand how legislation has been affected and how we can speak out amidst the recent changes to our political system
- To learn more about the issues we are tackling this year from experienced leaders, especially gun violence
- To brainstorm new ideas for social justice projects based on exposure to new information
- To advocate to our Senators and Assemblymembers about bills to reform Human Trafficking, the Criminal Justice System, current Immigration laws, and the state of gun policy