At this week's Round Table, Ava, Kenisha, and Madeline spoke with Eric Forteza Romero and Michelle Mairena, two of the many co-founders of Rhizome. Rhizome empowers student-led communities, places college students on paths to lifelong leadership, and shapes a healthier future for local communities and for the country. Eric and Michelle are inspiring ambassadors for the organization–and for civic work more broadly. Both are immigrants now excelling at Ivy League colleges (Harvard and Stanford respectively) and embody the best of what it means to be an American, regardless of citizenship status. Rhizome is truly a collective enterprise–there are 90 cofounders from all across the country, who came together through social media in the summer of 2021 in their shared desire to create a youth led space to give young people agency and to drive social change. 80% of Rhizome participants are low income youth of color–a manifestation of the organizers’ commitment to finding and engaging students who haven’t had time or space to get involved in community organizing. Being TRULY youth-led enables Rhizome to flourish because the organization understands what it takes to foster youth participation and investment, and to get to the grassroots of what people care about. If you give students a platform, they KNOW what they need and what issues they want to focus on. While Eric and Michelle believe that schools SHOULD take responsibility for providing civic education, and that civic knowledge should be incorporated into what we consider essential knowledge, they’re not holding their breath waiting for that to happen; they’re taking action in under-resourced communities all around the country. Eric and Michelle underscored the importance of communicating that democracy is alive and evolving and that youth can participate in it. We firmly agree and we encourage any college students who are listening and interested to apply for the PAID Rhizome Organizing Fellowship. Applications are open through the end of Oct–check out Rhizome’s website to apply. And if you admire Rhizome’s mission and vision as we do, you can donate here. Thank you for listening!
