By Danielle Douz

Excerpt:

ATLANTA — Achieving equity in the U.S. starts with giving young people of color a level playing field, Rep. Lucy McBath says.

McBath, a Democrat, is trying to create a cultural shift in how Washington policymakers view young people of color, she said at an event in Atlanta on Tuesday. She began grassroots organizing against gun violence after her son was fatally shot in 2012, and in 2018 won a bid to represent Georgia’s 6th district.

Although activism and marches are important tools for change, she said, it’s not enough: “You have to have champions on the inside that can create the legislation and the policy that has to be voted on, and that’s how you expedite the change.”

McBath spoke on a panel before more than 100 local and regional leaders who work to connect young people to educational and employment opportunities. The event was the first in a series organized by the Washington, D.C.-based Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP) to celebrate its 50th anniversary. It also marked a step forward in their work with local partners to help young people who are neither working nor in school — an issue that is particularly pronounced in the South.

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