S4 E4: Zai and Nichole — Student Activism and the Fight for Public Education

This week we have some very important guests, Izaiyah (Zai) Ares Riveiro and Nichole Nina Lopez, a couple of student activists located in Orlando Florida! Zahra met these two awesome humans at a school board meeting in their city, following the school board’s decision to cancel an afterschool Drag event, hosted through the Gender Sexuality Alliance, GSA, (in the episode you’ll hear Zahra refer to it as the “Gay-Straight Alliance”, an outdated name used when she was in high school).

Zai and Nichole talk to us a bit about their experiences throughout their high school experience. Plus, they share with us more of what is currently going on in the schoolboard, and in the state of Florida at large. Zai and Nichole talk to us a bit about Moms for Liberty, and their influence on this issue. We finish up by hearing a bit about their hopes and dreams for the next chapter in their lives.

In this episode, we also discuss the influence Christian values have on our current education system, Zahra and Hien discuss this and Moms for Liberty more in the post interview. This is such an important episode because you can learn about how students are impacted by the current climate in Florida, through their own words, as well as get some insight on their actual needs and worries.

About Zai: Zai, a 18 year old activist from Orlando, Florida has been protesting since the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests. They are the president of their high school’s (Dr. Phillips High School) Gender Sexuality Alliance.

http://instagram.com/Bye._.Zai

About Nichole: Hi I’m Nichole and I'm an activist in ocps. I spend my days with my friends and my community who have become my family just spreading peace and love and turning this world into a place of acceptance. 

My Instagram is http://instagram.com/xx_gr1m_ho3_xx and you can always reach to me for support or a friend.

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