Barbara Lee Joins YA!’s Honorary Advisory Council

Posted: May 21, 2018

And TNT Leaders Meet Michelle Obama

Breana, Dymond, Barbara Lee & Michelle Obama in Oakland
Breana and Dymond with Barbara Lee & Michelle Obama in Oakland

We are thrilled to announce that the East Bay’s great congressional representative Barbara Lee is joining Youth ALIVE!’s Honorary Advisory Council. For twenty years in Congress, and long before that, Barbara Lee has been an advocate for equality, for peace, for Oakland and for communities of color. She has long been a good friend to Youth ALIVE!, and now she is officially part of the Youth ALIVE! family.

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Rep. Lee and TNT youth leaders at her March roundtable in East Oakland

“I am proud to officially join Youth ALIVE!, a nationally recognized, effective, grassroots organization that has worked for decades to make sure that young people lead the way out of our gun violence epidemic,” she said recently. “In our district, no one should have to grow up around violence, but if they do, I am grateful to have Youth ALIVE! here providing support and healing to help them break the cycle.”

In March, Rep. Lee invited Teens on Target youth leaders to join her for a private (no media) roundtable discussion on gun violence at the East Oakland Youth Development Center. Lee and her staff listened and took copious notes. Later in the month, she invited two TNT youth leaders to meet Michelle Obama, after a talk by the former First Lady, in Oakland. They were pretty thrilled. “Michelle Obama is the nicest person ever,” said Breana, “just like how she is on TV is exactly how she is in person. When the people were rushing us she was basically telling them to ‘calm down, we’re talking!'”