The importance of civic education
Sophie Gala, a University of Pennsylvania history major who plans to become a public school educator, argued that civic education remains one of the most important ways to strengthen democratic participation, giving youth the knowledge of their own power to effect change.
“One thing that I think seems especially powerful to me is connecting the everyday lives and experiences and communities that young people are interacting with into the larger historical significance,” she said.
Gala said she has been inspired by local activist Debbie Wei, who has spent years fighting to protect Chinatown, starting from organizing against the Vine Street Expressway, which separated Chinatown, to the recent unsuccessful proposal for a 76ers basketball stadium.
One of her graduate education courses included a curriculum developed by Wei through which “students understood that social movements and these large looming historical events were actually made up of individuals with individual goals, motivations, beliefs and actions that kind of came together to organize.”
Izzard agreed that it’s important to help youth understand the power of their vote, but said it’s particularly powerful when it comes from those close to them.
“Especially now with the Voting Rights Act being gutted, it is more important than ever to make sure that you know the importance of voting, that everybody does, especially from a young age,” she said. “Since we are the future and because we are going into our own future, where we will be the adults and we will have to deal with our own problems more and more.”
The evening included performances by Malaya Ulan, who served as the 2024-2025 Youth Poet Laureate of Philadelphia, and Equinox, an instrumental quartet of four students at the Philadelphia High School for Creative and Performing Arts.