The day of the walkout, a rally was held at City Hall Park where student leaders, Transit Workers Union members, labor leaders, professors, and city council members all spoke in support of the students. We then led about 1,000 students on a march across the Brooklyn Bridge to MTA offices in Brooklyn. The walkout and rally were covered by all the major media sources in the city, as well as the Associated Press (reaching as far as Los Angeles), and made the front page of Yahoo! News. NY 1’s half-hour show The Call was dedicated to the MetroCard issue and the walkout.
Six days after UYC’s walkout, the state, city, and the MTA announced a deal to save student MetroCards, which included sharing the burden of the cost among the three entities. Three days after the deal was announced, UYC held a victory press conference where assembly member Richard Brodsky, the Transit Workers Union, and city council members Robert Jackson and Letitia James credited UYC’s campaign and the leadership of students with forcing the student MetroCard deal. As City Council Speaker Christine Quinn and Transportation Committee Chair James Vacca said in a joint statement on June 20: “This victory belongs to the thousands of young people and advocates who spent hours petitioning, rallying, and testifying before the MTA Board to save student MetroCards.” Even the MTA acknowledged that it was organized students who pushed the MTA, city, and state to find a way to save student MetroCards. The MTA’s statement of June 20 read:
“We heard loud and clear at our public hearings, in meetings with student leaders, and in protests around the city that charging students would have a life-changing impact on the ability of New Yorkers to receive a quality education.”
Youth as leaders
During the campaign, students who had been shy about speaking in class ended up emceeing rallies of hundreds of students. I had never talked to the media before, but suddenly I was seeing myself on TV and in the newspaper. Youth who previously hadn’t even known who their City Council representatives were, were meeting with them and speaking out about what we needed. That’s one thing I love about youth organizing – students get to take on all kinds of leadership roles. Personally, I emceed rallies, spoke at press conferences, and met with lots of elected officials as part of this campaign. Many of my peers also took on leadership roles for the first time.
Sometimes people ask me why I do this work. I guess I’d say that youth organizing fits me. I’ve always wanted to make change in the world, and through organizing I do make change. As a Black male, I represent one of the groups most affected by education policies, including this decision to cut student MetroCards. So I feel like I have a big part to play in changing them.
So, yeah, I go to meetings. I go to meetings because in the youth organizing work I do I feel powerful. The youth are in charge: we are deciding what our strategy is, planning campaigns, and making our voices heard. It’s a great feeling, and something I wouldn’t trade. UYC is not done – we have a long way to go to improve our schools. But at least now we can get to school.
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Jorel Moore will graduate from Franklin K. Lane High School in Brooklyn, New York, this June. Jorel got his start in youth organizing through his work with the Future of Tomorrow of the Cypress Hills Local Development Corporation and the Urban Youth Collaborative. When he is not fighting for social justice, Jorel is an avid comic book reader and movie buff and spends time hanging out with his friends. While Jorel is a strong and focused leader, he is known for his comic relief during youth organizing meetings. He looks forward to studying psychology in college.
