Press conferences, city council meetings and counting votes. None of these events are something a high school student would be involved in, right? At White Station High School (WSHS), many students like Samuel First (11) and Saviana Wakefield (12) participate in such events through the Memphis Interfaith Coalition for Action and Hope (MICAH) Youth Council. 

MICAH Youth Council is a subsection of MICAH, both of which aim to make systemic changes through community efforts. However, the Youth Council, as opposed to MICAH, is student-led and focuses on amplifying the voices of Memphis youth. MICAH Youth Council is composed of high school students from across Memphis — many of which attend WSHS. 

“The MICAH Youth Council was founded as an organization for Memphis youth to come together and advocate for our rights,” Wakefield said. “Historically, youth are left out of policy making decisions that typically affect us the most. We’re trying to reclaim that power and put our voices inside of the narrative of policy making and reform.”

MICAH Youth Council campaigned at WSHS, leading multiple students to learn about and eventually join the program. First and Wakefield each saw these advertisements and credited them as part of their reasoning for joining the Youth Council. They learned about MICAH Youth Council through friends who were already members. Furthermore, First’s mother was also a member of MICAH.

“Politics have always been discussed in my house so it’s always been something I’ve been interested in,” First said. “Back in middle school, I was very vocal in my opinions, but they were really just dogmatic, ideological, ultimately meaningless and stuff, so I’d just say a lot … and it would mean nothing because I didn’t really know what I was saying … I think I joined because [MICAH Youth Council] is a good way … to be educated … It’s good to be aware and be involved.”

MICAH Youth Council promotes student leadership and allows students to take a number of different leadership roles. Wakefield, for example, is the Recruitment Coordinator. She advertises the council, makes flyers and brings up the council in any sort of political discussion. Additionally, she made the forms used for the mock election ballot. Wakefield was nominated for the position in an election but was the only nominee, so she received the position after a unanimous vote. First, on the other hand, acts as a bridge between MICAH and the Youth Council. 

“I’m one of the youth ambassadors,” First said. “It’s my job to attend general MICAH meetings and such, and also let the Youth Council know what’s going on in the broader MICAH organization.”

After the Memphis Shelby County Schools (MSCS) district received multiple gun threats in September, MICAH Youth Council held a press conference to discuss the gun referendums that were on the recent election ballot. MICAH Youth Council intended to advocate for stricter gun laws and show the danger, especially to Memphis youth, of loose gun control. They also wanted to put pressure on the state legislature to change the laws and policies concerning gun control. News channels and publications like Action News 5, WKNO, WREG Channel 3, the Daily Memphian and more attended the press conference. Memphis City Councilman JB Smiley Jr., who assisted in placing the gun referendums on the ballot, was present at the press conference as well.

“The press conference went well,” First said. “I think that it was really good for publicity … Political education is in a really sorry state and a lot of people are either not registered to vote or just choose not to vote … The press conference got a lot of people to know that this is important and this is going to be on the ballot.”

MICAH Youth Council held a mock election ballot from Oct. 15 to 30 that students from across the MSCS district could vote on. The mock ballot featured the three gun referendums that Memphis voters found on the official ballot. The summarized ballot questions were as follows:

Question one: “Should handgun permits be required in the city of Memphis?” 

Question two: “Should assault rifle sales be banned within city limits?” 

Question three: “Do you support Red Flag Laws allowing judges to grant Extreme Risk Protection Orders, removing guns from those deemed by the court to be dangerous?”

Both the mock and official ballots featured more detailed descriptions of the referendums. These descriptions state what the referendums entail and how each one affects Memphians.

“One of [MICAH Youth Council]’s major missions is gun control reform,” Wakefield said. “We did [the mock gun referendum vote] with the intention of showing Memphis and the state of Tennessee that we, as youth, want to see change with gun laws and we want to put an end to gun violence.”

About 700 students participated in the gun referendum mock vote, voting on questions one, two and three. Respectively, 83.9%, 79.2% and 83.5% of student voters were in favor of the referendums. In the official election, Memphis voters approved the referendums. 563 WSHS students participated in mock votes for the Senate and Presidential elections. The Senate election was between the incumbent Republican Marsha Blackburn and Democrat Gloria Johnson, with 23.3% of students voting for Blackburn and 76.7% for Johnson. The Presidential election was between Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Kamala Harris, with 77.6% of students voting for Harris and 22.4% for Trump. The official national election resulted in victories for Blackburn and Trump. 

“We want stricter gun laws so that we can be safer and so that we can live out our lives and not have it cut short because somebody wanted a gun to have more freedom than I have,” Wakefield said. “I think the results show that, and hopefully our state and city leaders will listen to that and heed that and make the necessary changes.”

The members of MICAH Youth Council have also communicated with two Memphis City Councilmen: Smiley and Dr. Jeff Warren. First was directly involved with building these connections as he was the one to first reach out to them. Both Smiley and Warren have supported MICAH Youth Council’s mission and goals, but MICAH Youth Council does not see them as partners or friends. 

“As an activist organization … [what] we want from relationships with official … politicians is to be recognized and respected, but not to be friends — not to be someone who they know is just another person they’re cool with,” First said. “Essentially, it’s just to be in dialogue with the city council.”

After engaging in council activities, students can learn and develop key life skills while making a difference in their community. They can also find inspiration from their work, further developing their interest in politics. One of these students was Wakefield, who now intends to become a politician or policymaker. 

“Over the course of these few months, [MICAH Youth Council has] taught me how to be an activist, essentially,” Wakefield said. “They have taught me that organization is key to success of anything that I want to do. That’s something that I will take with me on my journey as a politician or policy maker.”

Even at a young age, members of MICAH Youth Council have firsthand experience in the turbulent world of politics. They represent Memphis youth to policymakers and voters, allowing them to make a strong impact, despite not being able to vote or hold political positions themselves. 

“The other members of the Youth Council are so ambitious, and they want to see the same change that I want to see,” Wakefield said. “They’re so … diligent in their work, and that is just really inspiring to me because you don’t see that in a lot of young people today. I think there’s truly something special happening within the Youth Council.”