7 young feminist role models you should know

It’s Back-to-School time — or if you’re out of school, “Holy Shit I’m Old” time! Before we get too ahead in our Tuesday (and thus, the recognition there is no legitimate reason for us to go school supply shopping), let’s take some time to meet some young feminist leaders — here’s to the Class of Being Awesome!

Jazz 

Jazz is a transgender girl advocate who has shared her story with the world since 2007 with a 20/20 Barbara Walters special. Jazz and her family started the Transkids Purple Rainbow Foundation — an organization that offers resources and advice to trans kids and their families. For those of us who have been following Jazz’s activism for some years, it is very exciting to see her starting to branch off into social media on her own — as seen here with her YouTube “Letter to the World.” Jazz inspires us with her eloquence and charisma, but we also are thrilled to see that she’s still comfortable goofing around.

Meet more role models after the break!

Trisha Prabhu

Trisha is 14 years old and will be an 8th grader at Scullen Middle School, Naperville, IL. She is currently a finalist for the 2014 Google Science Fair for which she has created a new method in preventing cyber bullying. Trisha developed a system that alerts adolescent potential cyber bullies to re-think their decision to post harmful messages. After calculating her data, Trisha discovered that her mechanism reduced a willingness to post mean/hurtful content from 71.07% to 4.67%. You’ll find more of her data and analysis below:

Mo’ne Davis

We gave a shout-out to Mo’ne yesterday in our DFCS, but a proper introduction is most certainly due. Mo’ne is currently leading her Little League Philadelphia team in the 2014 World Series, thanks to her incredible performance as pitcher. This past Friday, Mo’ne struck out eight players and only gave two infield hits — which is remarkable for any 13 year baseball player, but especially significant as she is the first girl in the Little League World Series achieve such a win. Take a look a Mo’ne’s interview with ESPN below. Our favorite part? When she says that she isn’t so much a baseball player, but a basketball player.

Hannah Halpem, Amina Iro, Reine Privado, and Asha Gardner of Split This Rock! 

These powerful poets from DC’s Youth Slam organization, Split this Rock, break down the real-life dismay you feel when you realize that Halloween has shifted from silly costumes to polyester in places you never knew you never wanted. What makes this poem so delightful is that Hannah, Amina, Reine, and Asha acknowledge the power and excitement in owning one’s sexuality as they emphasize the importance of choosing such a performance.

  Suzanna Bobadilla believes we should all look up to the young ones.