Difference maker Jerome Richardson: ‘We’ve become the first responders'

Jerome Richardson has led student protests and walkouts in Minnesota for years involving thousands of kids. But when he dreams of a future for Minnesota education, he imagines a time when there are no student protests.

“I would imagine a world in which … public school districts would have an opportunity for young people to have a voice to the point where it doesn't get to where students feel they have to walk out,” Jerome said. “It would really be an environment where it works as an ecosystem where students and staff are able to really be transparent and work with one another.” 

Richardson, who graduated from St. Paul’s Highland Park High School last year and is currently a freshman at Temple University, is executive director of Minnesota Teen Activists. He connected with the organization’s founder, Aaliyah Murray, in the fall of 2020, following months of civil unrest in Minneapolis in the wake of George Floyd’s murder by a Minneapolis police officer.

Over the years, he and fellow student leaders have used the online platform to educate, organize and rally around legislative and community issues that affect students. That includes protesting police killings, advocating for tougher gun laws and rallying to condemn the way school administrators have handled certain incidents.

Richardson is proud of the way he and other Minnesota Teen Activists members have been able to organize and educate without paid staff or other resources. They currently have more than 44,000 followers.

“We’ve become the first responders when young people are dealing with things in their schools … to the extent that young people feel as if they should reach out to us before their administration sometimes, before their parents sometimes, before their elected officials sometimes or even the police.” 

Richardson is proud of his organization’s work, though it has often been difficult.

There have been times the leadership team has made mistakes they’ve had to apologize for or learn from. He knows the students he works with worry about retaliation or getting in trouble. Sometimes he or his mom worry about safety. And sometimes he finds the volume and urgency of interacting with fellow students overwhelming.  

“While I’m doing finals or while I’m doing school work, my peers are like depending on Minnesota Teen Activists … the responsibility has been out of bounds. I never would’ve imagined that when someone’s dealing with something in Chaska, that we would be the first to be reached out to and they would want and demand us, and if we don’t get to it fast enough, they’ll tag us,” Richardson said. “My mom sometimes doesn’t want me to go out and do these things because it’s dangerous…but if we can’t do it, who’s going to do it?”

Still, Richardson said he sees the work as necessary. 

“This is not something that students are complaining about. They’re not walking out because  they want to defy or they want to skip class or they don’t want to be in school. They’re walking out because they’re really being affected by these things.”

This story is part of a series produced with support from the Education Writers Association Reporting Fellowship program.

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