Jackson teens ‘Take the Lead’ and the mic, confronting mayoral hopefuls about youth issues

Javion Shed is nervous about his first time as a moderator. The Murrah High School senior looks the part, dressed in a blue suit with a Murrah pin on his lapel. As he takes to the stage, 11 Jackson mayoral candidates look to him expectantly as they wait for the questions to begin. 

On Thursday, teenagers from high schools across Jackson Public School District gathered in the Forest Hill Auditorium for the “Teens Take the Lead” Mayoral Candidate Forum. The forum was Shed’s idea, something born out of a desire to get his peers more civically engaged.

“We’re the age group that oftentimes, we don’t vote, or sometimes we say, ‘My one vote doesn’t matter, or I’m just the 1%,’ but it does matter,” Shed said. “Voting is an essential power that you have as an individual living right here in our capital city, and your vote can impact so much more than what you think.”  

Shed coordinated with the school district to host the event, but much of the credit is due to his perseverance. He said he emailed, called and texted with most of the candidates.

“Far too often we don’t get the chance or we don’t have the space to voice our opinions or to say, ‘OK. I want to ask the candidate this question,’” Shed said. “Eighteen is the group where students don’t particularly vote in the municipal elections, because we feel like what they say doesn’t concern me. My vote doesn’t count. I don’t have a voice. It’s not going to impact me, and the truth is it will impact you later and greater down the road.”

Shed prepared his questions based on what his peers were most concerned about: the failing water system, youth crime and changing the narrative that JPS schools are unsafe or of poor quality.

“It gave students a fresh perspective on all candidates, and they got to kind of tune in, ask their own set of questions, and they got to get a different perspective and a different outlook on the Jackson mayoral race,” Shed said.

When student representatives from schools around the city had their chance to ask questions, most were centered around justice and gun violence. Others touched on mental health, infrastructure and creating community spaces for teenagers. 

“What are some thoughts and ideas you have to improve school funding, so we have better environments for our scholars?” one Murrah student asked independent candidate Rodney DePriest.

The contractor and businessman respond with an answer about reducing crime and improving infrastructure, saying, “Without that, we will not have the jobs we need to grow a tax base. We wouldn’t have the job we need for the young people in this room to be able to have an internship, to find out the value of work and the dignity that comes with it.”

JPS Superintendent Errick L. Greene said he’s proud of Shed and his JPS scholars for taking the lead on becoming more engaged with voting and the elections. 

“It wasn’t something that was on our radar, or something that we were intending to do, but when the idea came to me, I jumped on it and said, absolutely. It’s something that I’d support,” Greene said. 

Malaya Tyler, who attends JPS-Tougaloo Early College, said this forum gave her an opportunity to hear from candidates as she makes her decision of who to cast a ballot for in her first election. 

“As a person who is voting on April 1st, it was a great opportunity for me to see each candidate and see their plans and hear what they had to bring to the city,” Tyler said.

She said she was concerned about infrastructure and higher education, as she’s on the cusp of heading to college. 

“Internships are a big thing for me and different job opportunities, just trying to see where I want to go with my future, so I feel like that was a big part for me,” she said.

But one student said he felt some of the candidates didn’t directly respond to the questions.

“I just feel as if you are a potential mayor of the city of Jackson, if you can’t give a straight answer then it’s kind of like hard for me to understand your clear vision for the future for me and for students in Jackson Public Schools and people who plan to stay in Jackson,” said Charles Travis, a student at Callaway High School and Jackson Middle College. 

Travis voted for the first time last year in the presidential elections, but he said that local elections matter just as much.

“My peers should understand a bigger picture of all elections,” Travis said. “It can affect you directly or indirectly. They should think about their family members, their fellow peers in the classroom and their future as citizens in the United States.”

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