Project Title: Mobilizing Youth Voters to Participate in the Political Process
BASIS Advisor: Raul Rivera Pun
Internship Location: Fairfax County Democratic Committee
Onsite Mentor: Jack Kiraly
This project explores the role of political activism in mobilizing a previously reticent group of people, youth voters, into actively contributing to the democratic process. Furthermore, the project compares youth activist organizations to their adult counterparts, especially in regards to how young citizens organize against the climate crisis. To complete this project, both academic resources and firsthand experience will be utilized to define the elements of successful political activism and then to demonstrate them in action. The question I hope to answer is: What can a small activist group do to expand its outreach? As youth activist groups rise in prominence in the era of social media, this research will seek to better understand this trend.
My Posts
El pueblo unido: some final thoughts
Jun 01, 2020
To all who have followed this long and informative journey, I must unfortunately say that this is the end. And to commemorate this, it felt fitting to recount my first climate strike. In that perhaps I can share some more wisdom regarding the move forward. One day in early December 2019 I overheard a couple […]
Injustice persists
Jun 01, 2020
The recent protests and reemergence of the Black Lives Matter movement as of May 30, 2020 due to the sick murder of George Floyd make this a pivotal time to be an activist. With people sharing content related to anti-racism on Instagram, the question faced as senior year ends is how can the lessons learned […]
The point of no return: what secession from USYCS would look like:
May 30, 2020
The first thing that would be worked on in the case of secession by Virginia Youth Climate Strike (VAYCS) would be drafting a new constitution for the organization, including the new core principles and organizational structure. Relating to that structure, the state team positions of VAYCS (finance director, outreach director, etc) would also change or […]
The great divide: the relationship between VAYCS and USYCS
May 30, 2020
The organization of US Youth Climate Strike (USYCS) has evolved in recent months from fighting for climate justice to a revolutionary anti-capitalist organization, as shown by the changes it has adopted into its constitution. This rift between the goals of USYCS and the VA state chapter are relevant in that being a revolutionary organization would […]
An interesting story from Mississippi
May 30, 2020
Whilst going through forums regarding how to increase voter participation, I came across an article by Mississippi Today. In an interview with 6 prominent Mississippi Democrats, these reporters have learned that the party office does not have the resources or the staff to offer adequate support to its candidates. There is neither […]
Housing justice is climate justice, and a note about egalitarian work culture:
May 30, 2020
There was an interesting discussion with the members of Virginia Youth Climate Strike about how urban planning/policies and housing injustice contributes to the climate crisis. After reading some articles on the site CityLab about how the COVID-19 pandemic will mean a difficult time ahead for public transit in the U.S, I realized […]
Earth Day
May 05, 2020
The day finally arrived: Earth Day was the largest event I have experienced at Virginia Youth Climate Strike in my time there. Since we couldn’t have a normal strike outside, the state team hosted the strike on a Zoom call with 50-60 people. We had different speakers, including former Fairfax County School Board member Ryan […]
A return from an ambiguous void
Apr 25, 2020
Hello, fellow citizens! It has been a bit since my last blog, but do not worry (please don’t, worrying in these times is bad for your health) there are positive developments to share. After three weeks without communication, I have heard back from my on-site mentor. I gave him my youth voter analysis as described […]
Week 1: Kids These Days
Mar 13, 2020
Week 1 was an exciting week because it coinciding with Super Tuesday in which Virginia voted in the contest for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination. In the office I would take reports of the 9 A.M voter turnout numbers we received and transfer them to an Excel sheet. My expectations that the office would be […]
Democracy Inaction (Or How I Learned To Stop Worrying and Love the Political Process)
Mar 02, 2020
Hello fellow participants in the experiment called democracy, My name is Pendaar Pooyan, and I am a senior at BASIS Independent McLean. In my study of the differences between youth activist groups and adult activist organizations, I have joined both the Fairfax County Democratic Committee as an intern and Virginia Youth Climate Strike (VAYCS) as […]