Educator and youth activist, Soraya Latiff, shares six lessons from her work in youth activism and the Public Achievement program. She weaves stories from her life, her ancestry with the experiences of working with middle school and high school youth in Colorado, U.S.A to list lessons we must all be applying to our own lives. "Our very agency to act is what keeps us all accountable to actualize and enact liberty and justice for all" Latiff says " Our agency is transformative, and it is love."
Soraya (she, her) is an immigrant from Trinidad and Tobago. She is the first in her family to graduate from college and attend graduate school where she studies Public Administration, Policy, and Law while co-leading Public Achievement and managing communications at CU Engage. For four years, she has guided youth to address injustices in their schools and communities. She has co-taught community organizing and education as a tool for social change to university students and k-12 students. Her work is guided by her ancestors' lived experiences and her own, by actualizing equity and justice in a world that human hands have built barriers to separate us further, and by choosing to practice revolutionary love. She is the creator of Empathy Grown, selling handmade jewelry paired with writing inspired by her intersectional identities and this pandemic and racial justice movement. You can follow her and her work on Instagram @sorayalatiff, @cupublicachievement, and @empathygrown. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx