WRITE YOUR HERO
Quick facts:
We'll start accepting submissions on Sept. 18 at noon Central Time. Entries close at midnight Central on Dec.14.
Write a story about your civic hero, 600-1000 words long. The hero can be living or deceased, someone you know well or have never met. Show the connections between your hero and the problems they’ve tried to solve. Describe the greater good they've created. Email the story to info@kidizenship.com or post it on Medium.com and email a link. Include your name and age in the submission.
Our judges are civic all-stars: 2020 presidential candidate, Andrew Yang; Harvard professor and historian, Jill Lepore; former Congresswoman (R-NY) Susan Molinari; actor and producer of the documentary "John Lewis: Good Trouble," Erika Alexander.
To be eligible to win, you must be between the ages of 8-18. Contests will be judged in two age categories: 8-12 and 13-18. 1st prize in each contest & category: $1000 | 2nd: $750 | 3rd: $500.
WRITE YOUR HERO
When cases of COVID-19 first appeared in the Navajo nation, Ethel Branch knew she had to act.
Years earlier, Branch had been Attorney General of the Navajo Nation, and she understood that the virus would spread quickly through the Navajo and Hopi reservations. Many residents have limited access to fresh food and health care. Some homes don't have electricity or running water. So Branch quit her job at a law firm, and started A GoFundMe campaign that raised $5 million to provide food, clean water, and other necessary supplies to families and elderly residents of the reservations.
It wasn’t Ethel Branch’s job to do this. No one asked her to step in. But Ethel Branch did an important thing: she saw a community that needed help and figured out a way to provide it.
We call people like Ethel Branch “civic heroes” because they make a sacrifice or do something extraordinary to make life better for other people. Sometimes when we think of heroes we think of Black Panther or Captain Marvel, superhumans with secret powers. But all around us, every day, there are real people performing selfless acts of courage and generosity—no capes or superpowers required.
In the United States, we have a long tradition of honoring civic heroes because their contributions to society make this country stronger.
Former civil rights leader and U.S. Representative John Lewis, who was beaten and jailed for standing against racism in the Jim Crow South, said civic heroes are people who refuse to stay silent when confronting injustice.
Lewis said, “When you see something that is not right, that is not fair, not just, you have to speak up. You have to say something; you have to do something." Lewis encouraged everyone to raise their voices for justice: “Never, ever be afraid to make some noise and get in good trouble, necessary trouble.”
Former First Lady Michelle Obama says that the core characteristics of a civic hero are “dignity and decency...helping others means more than just getting ahead yourself.”
The late Senator John McCain--a Navy pilot who was captured and tortured during the Vietnam War--said, “Nothing in life is more liberating than to fight for a cause larger than yourself, something that encompasses you but is not defined by your existence alone.”
Civic heroes can be public servants like John Lewis, Michelle Obama, and John McCain, or they can be everyday people who contribute themselves to a greater cause.
They can also be kids. After the tragic shooting of 17 students at the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida, students organized the #NeverAgain movement to eliminate gun violence. They weren’t old enough to vote, but they became leading voices in the national debate on gun control.
If you look for them, you will see acts of civic heroism everywhere. The story of America has been written by people who recognized problems or injustice in their neighborhoods or cities or country or world and said, “This needs to change. I can make it better.” Now we want you to write your civic hero’s story. It can be the story of someone you know or the story of someone you have never met, alive or deceased. Who has made change in your world? Who has shown you the potential of our democracy?
Tell your civic hero’s story in 600 to 1000 words. We want to know why these people are your heroes. What problem did they see? How did they make it better? What greater good did they create? What do they inspire you to do in your own community?