(applause)
(shouts from audience)
- In my 19 years on this planet,
I've come to believe
that true transformation
comes from understanding.
Understanding community,
understanding power,
and understanding oneself.
When I was one years old,
my dad was arrested
for major drug charges,
and sentenced to ten years in prison.
This would eventually grow
to a 13 year sentence.
Looking for a way to cope,
my mother began abusing drugs and alcohol.
My mother's addiction grew,
and I was eventually placed
in permanent foster care.
I occasionally visited my dad,
and I saw my mom once or
twice every few years,
but my parents remained
in the shadows of my life,
unable to serve as the
support system that I needed.
Without their support,
I fell off-track academically
and failed the tenth grade.
I couldn't find the motivation I wanted,
I couldn't find the support that I needed,
and for a while,
I struggled to find my identity.
During this time, I met Zeke Cohen,
the Executive Director of
the Baltimore Intersection,
and a 2008 Teach for America alum.
(applause)
Mr. Cohen illustrated
what leadership looks like.
He showed me that leaders listen,
that leaders welcome critique,
and that leaders build relationships
through honesty and love.
He didn't just verbalize these values,
he actually lived them.
With The Intersection,
I learned about race, class,
equity, gender, justice,
and why it matters.
We discussed the impact
that racist housing policies,
redlining, and the war on drugs
had on the black community.
We talked about policies and projects,
intentionally created to
disempower black people.
And we asked our elected officials
hard questions about existing policies
that perpetuate these conditions.
I learned that the
trauma I had experienced,
and the trauma being experienced
by others in my community,
was not about our individual failure.
But a systemic failure
rooted in racial injustice.
(applause)
With this realization,
I came to the understanding
that I had a role to play.
With my peers at The Intersection,
I had the opportunity to work on
the Maryland Firearm Safety Act of 2013.
(applause)
This was important to me,
because of the role that gun
violence played in my life,
and in the lives of
too many of my friends.
The Firearm Safety Act is a law
that banned assault rifles,
and lowered the legal magazine capacity
for gun owners in the state of Maryland.
We took a chance,
we organized,
and we won.
(applause)
With the skills that I
learned at The Intersection,
I was able to become
the first in my family to go to college.
(applause)
But not only that,
this year I became the first freshman
in Goucher College's history
to be elected president
of the Student Government Association.
(applause)
Not to humble brag,
but it took Mr. Cohen
until his senior year
to become SGA president.
I've spoken at the United
States Department of Education
in Mumbai, India and at the White House.
(applause)
I've told my story of personal
and community transformation,
and I found my passion.
I've learned from my work
with The Intersection
that organized people and
organized money is power.
(applause)
This is a powerful room
of leaders, of teachers,
and of transformative change makers.
But with this power,
comes responsibility.
It means challenging the norm,
asking that hard question,
and truly getting to know
the children and families that you serve.
(applause)
Our collective leadership
will bring change.
I know it.
That's the power that
sits in this room today.
My name is Dawnya Johnson,
I am an alum with the
Baltimore Intersection,
a freshman at Goucher College,
and a future 2019 Teach for America--
(applause)
And a future 2019 Teach for America,
Baltimore--
(applause)
Corps Member.
Thank you!
(applause)
