MATT PORTER: On July 15, 1960, Senator John F. Kennedy formally accepted the nomination of the Democratic Party to run for president. In his acceptance speech, he spoke of the new frontier-- a frontier of unknown opportunities and perils-- and challenged Americans to join him as pioneers in this new era.
JAMIE RICHARDSON: Today, the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation and the Institute of Politics at Harvard University continue to honor those that heed that call with the new frontier words. Join us on this week's episode of JFK35 as we talk with this year's honorees, including some of the organizers of the March for Our Lives movement and the youngest-elected mayor of Stockton, California.
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JAMIE RICHARDSON: Welcome back to the JFK Library Foundation's podcast, JFK35. I'm Jamie Richardson.
MATT PORTER: And I'm Matt Porter. This week, we want to take you back to Los Angeles in the summer of 1960. After a hard-fought primary wins in the campaign for president, Senator John F. Kennedy receives his party's nomination at the 1960 Democratic National Convention. In his acceptance speech on July 15, he spoke of the new frontier-- quote, "The frontier of the 1960s, a frontier of unknown opportunities and perils," end quote.
He places this new frontier in context with the promises of Woodrow Wilson's New Freedom and Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal and counters that the New Frontier isn't just a set of promises, it's a set of challenges. In a speech that would eventually evolve into his famous ask not line from the inaugural address, JFK says that the New Frontier isn't what he's going to give the American people, but what he's going to ask of the American people.
JAMIE RICHARDSON: And what he was asking was that the young at heart, regardless of age, be pioneers on this New Frontier and take up the challenges that face the country and the world as they entered a new decade. With some of those challenges, including combating prejudice, eradicating poverty, and solving the problems of war, he ultimately was asking Americans to help him make the world a better place.
MATT PORTER: And to honor JFK's call to service on the New Frontier, the JFK Library Foundation and the Institute of Politics at Harvard University present the New Frontier Award to recognize Americans under the age of 40 who are changing their communities and the country with their commitment to public service.
JAMIE RICHARDSON: There are two awards that are given out-- one to an elected official whose work in politics has brought significant, tangible results in response to a public challenge. This award is named for Dan Finn, the JFK Library's first director. And if you recognize that name-- Dan Finn-- it's because we just interviewed him in our last podcast.
MATT PORTER: And the second award honors an individual or individuals whose contributions in community service, advocacy, or grassroots activism has had a positive impact on a broad public policy issue or challenge. In February, the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation and the Institute of Politics held a ceremony for the winners of the New Frontier Award. Mayor Michael Tubbs, who, at age 26, became the youngest mayor in Stockton, California's history, won the Finn Award for his innovative efforts to increase college enrollment and graduation rates, alleviate poverty, and reduce violence in the city.
JAMIE RICHARDSON: And the Public Service Award went to the organizers of the March for Our Lives organization for their work to drive support and public advocacy for substantive changes to gun safety laws following the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. Students Edna Chavez, Ryan Deitsch, David Hogg, and Tia Roberts were present to accept the award. But first, we'll hear from Mayor Michael Tubbs, who we connected with on the phone from his office in Stockton, California.
MATT PORTER: We're here with Mayor Michael Tubbs, winner of the New Frontier Award this February that's given out by the JFK Library Foundation. Mayor Tubbs was the youngest person elected as mayor of Stockton, California. He's also one of their youngest-elected city counselors. Mayor Tubbs, tell us what it's been like as the youngest mayor of Stockton, California.
MICHAEL TUBBS: It's been an incredible journey and opportunity. Being born and raised in Stockton, there's a special urgency to the work we're doing. I think being young has given me the flexibility to be bold on several things, whether it's combating violent crime and shootings and homicides, whether it's tackling poverty, or how to-- hey, man, I think being young has given me the courage to be bold and future-thinking about how we address those challenges.
MATT PORTER: Was it intimidating? What made you, at such a young age, decide to run for office, and was that intimidating for you?
MICHAEL TUBBS: Yes. Before I was mayor. I was on city council for four years. And I ran for city council during my senior year in college. Being born and raised in Stockton, and my mom had me as a teenager, and my father is still incarcerated. A lot of the issues facing Stockton were things I had lived, so when I left and went to Stanford, I actually had no intention of coming back.
But in my junior year, I was interning in the White House, and at the same time, one of my cousins was murdered in a homicide in Stockton at a house party. And that anger and pain made me think about what role I wanted to play. I think it's one thing to talk about the world and to complain about the world, but I think it's a whole other thing to really put yourself on the mind and to do the work necessary to make the world and your community a better place, so that's what made me get into politics, and that's why I decided to run for city council.
JAMIE RICHARDSON: Mayor Tubbs, President Kennedy had called for some pretty bold ideas all to his president, and you, as mayor, are suggesting what some people think as a pretty bold idea in and of itself, which is the idea of universal basic income. Can you explain what this means and what the goals are for the program?
MICHAEL TUBBS: Yeah, so one of the biggest issues facing not just Stockton, but this nation, is that people are working harder than ever, but they can't afford necessities-- like rent, like utilities, et cetera. So Dr. King-- actually, this idea of a basic income or a guaranteed income is as old as the nation itself. Thomas Paine was talking about this in the late 1700s. Dr. King, in Where Do We Go From Here? Talks about the simplest way to abolish poverty is the most direct. And even folks like Milton Friedman and Richard Nixon also play with the idea.
So essentially, I was able to partner with a group called The Economic Security Project to pilot what a basic income could look like in Stockton, where there's 130 families who will get $500 a month for 18 months. These families are randomly selected from neighborhoods that were at or below the city's median income.
And what I'm excited about is really elevating their stories, because again, most people who are poor in this country work, and those who are poor who don't work, it's because of their children. But there's people working, again, two, three jobs, very dangerous jobs, and can't afford basic things like rent. So I think President Kennedy, in the same spirit of a New Frontier-- probably this this idea of a New Frontier-- has to be an economic floors on the richest nation. In a moral nation, in a just nation, folks would have an economic floor.
JAMIE RICHARDSON: Thank you. How have you tried to explain, if people are concerned about what this means? How do assuage their fears that this is actually a really important and really great program to take care of?
MICHAEL TUBBS: Well, I think for me, we start every conversation with is the status quo working? And for me, I'm very unhappy with the status quo where some folks have enough for five, six, seven houses and some folks are homeless, or some people have billions and some folks have nothing. And also seeing, just in talking to my residents, their biggest issue is poverty, paying rent, and making sure that they can afford the necessities to live.
So I think that background, where 1 in 2 Americans can afford one $500 emergency-- that gives us the confidence, even with people who disagree, because we all agree on the status quo isn't working. So I take that as a premise and say, well, let's try some things that can solve the issue, because the issue is the problem, not possible solutions.
MATT PORTER: Well, and these are bold ideas. Another bold program you've put out is scholarship program for Stockton students. Tell us a little bit about that and why that's been such a priority for you.
MICHAEL TUBBS: Well, I'm the first one in my family to go to college, and I've seen how, just seven years after graduating, the access and the opportunity provided by a scholarship to Stanford has changed my life, my family's life, and my community's life. And I realize I'm just one person, but how do we do that scaled?
Especially when Stockton, California, in the top 100 metro regions, is number 99 in this country for college attainment, with only 17.7% of adults holding a bachelor's degree? And the future of our economic development, et cetera, rests on boosting those numbers up. So that's what made it-- I thought it was a necessity. And also, as a mayor, only have eight years, so at most, I'm very conscious about thinking about what can I do that will outlast my term?
MATT PORTER: This is a time in politics where a lot of people like you-- young faces, new faces-- are coming into the political world at both this local, state, and national level. Harking back to Kennedy when he was also calling for youth to get involved, what do you think, for people like you and other politicians coming in with different perspectives, how that can make a difference in politics as usual as it has been the last 10, 20 years?
MICHAEL TUBBS: Well, I think most people young and old understand that somethings are working, but a lot of things aren't. And folks are tired of gridlock. Folks are tired of talking about it. They want to see some action.
So I think young folks-- new people bring that energy and this resistance. I know we can be better. I know we can try. And I think it's important-- for example, in Stockton, my first vice mayor was 71 years old, who had been in the council for a decade. But I think it's a mixture of that experience with that youth that leads to the best decision; that helps figure out, again, solutions to some of these thorny issues we're facing as a country.
JAMIE RICHARDSON: And why else is it important for young people and other people who may not have been traditionally represented in the halls of Congress or in people's town halls-- like people of color and other national origins and sexualities and genders-- why is that so important for the world today?
MICHAEL TUBBS: Well, I know for me, I truly, truly, truly believe that the folks closest to the problems oftentimes have the best solution. So I think, for all of us, it's important to ensure that if decisions are affecting everyone, that everyone's represented at the table. And I know, for myself, I've lived experience with poverty, lived experience with incarceration, lived experience with being on welfare, lived experience of living in troubled neighborhoods, lived experience with going to college on Pell Grants informs the work I do and gives it a little bit of urgency to help add some nuance to discussions. So I think having a representative table leads to better decision-making.
MATT PORTER: Do you think that with people like you leading the way, that these communities that may have been less-represented in the halls of Congress or statehouses, even city halls-- do you hear from them that they feel like they have more of a voice with people like you and others getting involved and getting into politics?
MICHAEL TUBBS: Yeah, I think having a voice, but also seeing that it's possible for them-- that they can be a part, that they can be part decision-makers themselves. I've heard that from people on city council, absolutely.
JAMIE RICHARDSON: Thanks. And one last thing before we wrap up-- you were a recipient of the New Frontier Award, given out by the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation and the Kennedy School, Institute of Politics. Is there something about President Kennedy's message and legacy from the '60s that resonates with you, or sticks with you as you do your work?
MICHAEL TUBBS: Absolutely. When I think of the '60s, I think it's a time of a lot of transition and turmoil and tension and unrest in our country. We were facing threats abroad. We were facing threats domestically to opportunity and civil rights, and it really took leadership-- and even, at times, the leadership had to be pushed.
But it took leadership to articulate a vision for better, to make bold, courageous decisions and to admit, oh, we've been doing this wrong for 50 years. Folks should have this right, or we should protect these folks as they protest and march, and we might piss off some of our allies in doing it. So I think, absolutely. It's a profile in just leadership and how leadership is important for times of transition to make sure we come out better.
MATT PORTER: That's, I think, no better way to end the conversation. Mayor Tubbs, thank you for talking to us on the phone. Good luck in Stockton and continuing to live out President Kennedy's legacy as young people like you continue to take action and do things for the country and put the work in.
MICHAEL TUBBS: I was going to say, I appreciate that. Thank you so much for having me.
MATT PORTER: Take care, thank you.
JAMIE RICHARDSON: Thank you.
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MATT PORTER: Well, that was a pretty great interview with Mayor Michael Tubbs. Just inspiring to see someone so young doing so much already, Jamie, don't you think?
JAMIE RICHARDSON: It's really impressive. I think when he said that it takes the people who are closest to the problems to have the solutions for them-- I think that's such a really overlooked way of approaching problems. Oftentimes it's top-down, rather than bottom-up, and I really admire that he's doing that.
MATT PORTER: Yeah, and I think what he said was when you have people in the administration that actually look like the people in the communities who haven't been represented as much, really inspires everybody to pitch in and get together. So pretty amazing stuff that he's doing in Stockton, California. And now our next interview took place on the night of the awards ceremony at the Kennedy School at Harvard University, and we'll take you straight to it right now.
JAMIE RICHARDSON: We are here today with the March for Our Lives organizers Edna Chavez, Ryan Deitsch, David Hogg, and Tia Roberts. They just received the John F. Kennedy New Frontier Award for their work to galvanize and support driving public advocacy for substantive changes to gun safety laws following the shooting at the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Parkland, Florida. So we want to welcome you all here. Thank you so much for taking time out of your busy schedules to be here with us today.
TYAH ROBERTS: Thank you.
EDNA CHAVEZ: Thank you.
MATT PORTER: So welcome, guys. The first thing-- this award, the New Frontier Award, is particularly aimed at people who are young and getting into politics and getting active. The organization for the March for Our Lives-- so impressive. How did it happen, and did you ever imagine that it would get as big as it has?
RYAN DEITSCH: So I'll just explain the origin of the March for Our Lives real quick. Essentially, what happened is that after the tragedy that occurred, a lot of the students had gone out to meet with the reporters. So a lot of the students had gone out after the tragedy to speak to reporters, to talk about what had happened, and to talk about what they wanted to see come out of everything. And after a while, those students just bound together and came together all on one living room floor-- about 25 of us-- to organize what we thought was going to be a small demonstration in Washington, D.C.
We were hoping to bus about 90 people, because that's as much as we budgeted at the time, and then we miraculously were able to organize a protest of over 800 marches nationally, over another 100 marches internationally, and create one of the largest youth-led protests in American history, and that is just a wild and crazy thing that has happened in the past year. And we just, frankly, seen a lot come out of it.
We've seen a lot of laws be passed. Over 70 plus state laws have been passed in response to gun violence and gun violence prevention. We've seen a lot of elections be changed over the fact that one candidate would be endorsed by the National Rifle Association and another one wouldn't be. We would see the tides turn, in which now we have several bills on the floor of the House of Representatives, several bills going through the Senate as we speak-- all in response to gun violence.
And that is just something that this group really owes to the work being done at all levels, both from the national group that had organized the march in the beginning, and all the people that we had met along the way, all of the chapter leaders and chapter organizers all across the country that, after their own march, after they had said their piece, they said, what do we do now? And we didn't really have an answer at first, but then we eventually came to reorganize those people into the chapters, and they just truly have been blowing us away and inspiring us on this journey to just keep continuing the fight.
MATT PORTER: You spoke about that at the New Frontier Award ceremony-- about the challenge of facing this really big opponent-- this entrenched National Rifle Association and politicians who were backed by the NRA. What was it like thinking about how US students coming from Parkland and then later joining by with other schools and other students-- how did it feel taking on what seemed like a David versus Goliath almost?
DAVID HOGG: As David, it felt pretty good, because we all know how that story goes. In fact, one of my favorite news stories that I ever heard about me after the shooting-- just narcissistically-- it was after Laura Ingraham had come after me and our friends after going after people like LeBron James and saying, shut up and dribble. You shouldn't be politically active-- which I don't think anybody has the right to say in America given that we have the First Amendment and that everybody has the right to be politically active no matter what their profession is and no matter where they come from.
And after she called me and other students out for essentially not getting into school and painted us as complaining and starting a boycott of her show, one of the ending news stories was that in this story of David versus Goliath, it looks like David has won. And that was after she lost 30 sponsors. And on top of that, when it comes to the NRA, we've already lost our friends. We have nothing else to lose, right?
We're doing this for all the right reasons, and they're doing this for all the wrong ones, because we know that they're funded by gun manufacturers, and we know, after shootings at schools like ours, that gun sales go up significantly and end up, at the end of the day, benefiting the NRA-- quite frankly. Because if you can constantly fear-monger the American people after every school shooting that people are coming to take your guns and make gun sales go up, you are benefiting from that if your organization is funded by gun manufacturers.
If you can constantly continue to fear-monger and drive political divide in America and make gun violence seem like a partisan issue when it's not-- because both Republicans and Democrats and every side of the political spectrum, I would hope believes, that children should not be dying in our schools or in our communities. And taking on Goliath when they had already taken our friends was not that big of a deal, because we had nothing else to lose.
JAMIE RICHARDSON: So have you been surprised by the impact and wave-- both the positive and the negative. You mentioned Laura Ingraham, and there have been other critiques of the program that are coming from-- from my opinion-- very odd places. Have you been surprised by the positive and negatives that you've received?
TYAH ROBERTS: I wouldn't say I was surprised. I definitely-- you know when your parents say, "I'm just disappointed,"? That's exactly how I felt. I knew that there was going to be backlash. I knew that there were going to be people who said, you're amazing, and gave me a pat on the back and said, keep going. You're doing great. And I knew there were going to be people that tried to tear us down every second of every day and devoted all of their energy and their lives to it.
But having that confidence within myself and having a group of my peers who were so willing and ready to support me and to have me support them, and then branching out and having almost a nation of friends, at this point, who are willing to do the same thing and willing to allow me into their lives and to hear their experiences and to be that vulnerable with me is what kept me going.
And so eventually, I just ignored all of the Twitter hate that we would get, or all of the negative comments, or all the articles coming out calling us crisis actors and saying that we manufactured one of the worst things that ever happened in our lives. Having that strong network of people who I knew were fighting for this amazing thing with me-- that we should never have to fight for, but that was thrust into our laps-- is very motivational for me.
MATT PORTER: One of the things I like about your movement is that you made it beyond Parkland. It's a very inclusive movement. You wanted all voices to be heard. Edna, you come from outside of Parkland, so what was that like to join this movement-- essentially a cross-country movement?
EDNA CHAVEZ: Never in a million years would I have thought or would my mother think that I was going to blow up type of thing. I honestly just thought that it was just going to be-- OK, a quick 1, 2, that's it, and people were just going to really remember, or just even pay attention. And that's just because I come from South Central Los Angeles, California. That's a low-income community. It's near Compton.
And so I always tell my mom, who would have thought that a young Latina who comes from an undocumented family was going to be this face? You get me? Like, this person that's going to represent not only communities of color, but also the day-to-day gun violence that we always face, and issues beyond that, and amplify the message that there has been activists and community work that has been going on for decades?
And so when I got involved, it was just like, OK, I'm in this space. Now what do I do? What's next? What am I doing? And so it was me asking myself all these questions, because I felt like I just didn't belong, because I was never in that space before.
I was never put in a position-- I was never put in a position where I had to speak about these issues in such a large platform and such a-- basically international platform. Because even in Guatemala, my family was calling me like, oh, my God. I saw you. What are you doing out there?
And so seeing that my family was seeing that and seeing the joy in my mother's eyes-- it was just like, I'm really doing this. I always said that I wanted to leave my mark here in this world, or at least in people's lives, and now that I have, it's just-- it's a blessing. I am so blessed and honored to have been able to have all these kind of opportunities and been able to meet all these people and share not only my stories, but stories of people that I have personally lost, whether it be my brother Ricardo, or my father's story and his deportation. And so I feel like March For Our Lives has really given me that space for me to create my own platform the way I want it, and it's just a blessing.
JAMIE RICHARDSON: Thank you. So we're here. You just received the New Frontier Award, which is named for a speech that JFK gave as he was nominated to become president talking about the new challenges and new threats and opportunities facing the country as it entered into the '60s. And I think with what we're seeing with you all is the New Frontier.
We have this new frontier. We have this idea that we're going to make something and be pioneers on that new frontier. And he was really calling to people who were young at heart, either by age or just in personality, and I think you all represent that so well. And so what do you think-- what's the importance of getting young folks like yourselves, or younger or slightly older than you active in politics and organization movement?
DAVID HOGG: I think it's important because we face a new frontier in America today. We face a war that's not overseas. It's in our streets. It's between everyday people and everyday Americans.
It's a war that involves guns and partisanship as well. It's a war where politicians and political leaders in America today continue to pit everyday Americans against each other. It's either-- you're no longer defined as an American. You're defined as a Democrat or a Republican.
What we need in America is less of that partisan divide, with the realization that we are never going to agree on everything, but that's the beautiful thing about democracy. That's the good thing about having a representative democracy where we can run and elect people that represent us, our ideologies, and look like us.
And the thing about being young and creating that new frontier is that we all agree, as our generation-- the generation that has lived through active shooter drills, the generation that has continued the centuries of generational trauma in many communities where children have to run to school for fear of gun violence-- we agree that this is not a partisan issue, even if we can't agree on the solutions to it in the first place.
Even if you can't agree on what new gun laws should be implemented, even if you don't think there are any, there's no way that you can say that this is not an issue that our generation faces. And that's what gives us hope, is because if we can take down the National Rifle Association and the people that they're funding on both sides of the political aisle-- if we can take them down and stop propagandizing these arguments and militarizing them just to sell more guns, we can actually start having a conversation not as Democrats or Republicans, but as Americans-- a new frontier.
And a new world that we get to define ourselves, because we realize that even if the current generation that's in power does not care about us, we care about us, and we going to not let that happen to the generation that follows, because I am not going to let my child-- we are not going to let our children-- live through school shooter drills. We're not going to let our children have to walk over blood on their way to school on sidewalks that doesn't even get covered up or washed off because the police don't care about that community.
We are going to challenge the optics and division that we face in America as the young people, to bring us together and not further divide and conquer us just for the profit of corporate America. So that we can come together to attack the sources of evil. And even though the people that are perpetrating it may be very bad-- the gun manufacturers that continuously benefit off of scaring the American public about new gun laws benefit off of this issue continuing-- we realize that only getting Democrats elected to this issue will not solve it. Only getting Republicans elected to this issue will not solve it.
Getting Americans and everyday people from every community in every zip code, no matter where they come from or what they look like, getting elected to office and caring about their own community and not their special interests is what will solve this problem, because we realize that we have to attack the sources of evil, and not the people perpetrating it to create this new frontier in America. Which is kind of ironic given the fact that the speech that the award is named after was given at the DNC in 1960-- because that was a pretty partisan speech, to be quite frank.
But what Kennedy instilled, a lot of the time, was even though that there were mistakes made through his presidency for sure-- just like with every presidency-- the one thing that he always kept at heart was the most important thing that we don't see today anymore, and that's that we are not pitted against each other as Republicans and Democrats. We should be pitted against one thing, and that's the source of evil and suffering in America, no matter who is affected or where they are affected in the first place.
MATT PORTER: Thank you very much. Really quickly-- you guys are already on quite a path, but really quickly, where do you guys hope to go, just individually, from here? What are you hoping to do in the next year?
DAVID HOGG: I hope, in the next two years, that our generation turns out to vote in record numbers-- not for just Democrats or Republicans, but for everyday Americans that actually represent them and not special interests, that care about them and the gun violence and economic change and the lack of economic justice that we face, the fact that there are thousands of students-- millions of students-- that go to college and have to be homeless as they go to college because they can't afford it, but they continue to fight for that better future.
The thing that we should be fighting for right now in America, the thing that we need our congressmen to be fighting for, is the same thing we are fighting for. And it's so that there is no more concrete for roses to come up through. It's so that young people don't have to be homeless just to fight for a better future because they can't afford to go to college. It's so that we can minimize the barriers of entry to making a better life for your family no matter where you come from, because we realize that if we truly want equality in this country, it's not going to be coming from the top.
It is going to be coming from the grassroots level and the people that are not equal right now, to make sure that everybody has that opportunity and there are no more roses that emerge from the concrete that is suffering and oppression in this country, because we are going to take a jackhammer to that oppression with our vote in 2020. And that's why I hope, and we hope, that we get these voter turnout to 71% in 2020.
MATT PORTER: And the rest of you, what are you hoping?
TYAH ROBERTS: Definitely, as far as activism goes, I am always searching for more ways to share my platform. Definitely, in the beginning, I felt the way that a lot of people feel now, which was that I didn't have a voice. Even to the point where I saw my classmates doing it and I was still like, I don't know if I can speak like that. I don't know if I can activate like that. I don't know if I can be that voice.
And then quickly realizing that anyone can be that voice if they just open their mouth and speak-- knowing that within myself, and then that really pushes me to make sure that everybody in every community has an opportunity to really hone their craft on advocacy and on being mobile in their communities and being mobile in every community is so important. So I think within the next year, within the rest of my life doing activism, every day, I will make an effort-- make that effort-- to bring somebody else into the light that was given to me, and every day, give up my seat at the table so that someone else can share their story.
RYAN DEITSCH: I mean, I just, frankly, want to see a space that I am able to enter and leave when necessary; that I, along with many of the other great leaders across the nation that we have had the pleasure of meeting, are capable enough of creating a system in which youth leadership is something that can be renewed. It's something that doesn't have to start and end with one grade level or one group, that they can have younger people rise up and take the ranks.
I hope that in the future, as I help [INAUDIBLE] education, as I help to get the degrees that I need to succeed in my own personal life, that there is still that ability that we can speak out on these issues, that the organizations that we have created and the paths that we have forged do not end with us. That I hope that after all this-- because even in the beginning, something that I had always viewed this as is that we are all, in some way, shape, or form, vessels for this issue.
Whenever we speak out in an interview, or whether we are speaking out on a panel or in a community discussion, we are representatives for this issue. And I hope that the representation just doesn't end with us, that we are able to bring in new and fresh faces to this idea. I have been in rooms where people from ages 8 to 80 have responded to gun violence-- that this issue is not something that just affects high school seniors. This is not just an issue that affects grad students. This is an issue that affects every man, woman, and child in this nation. And that I hope, in the near future, that we are actually able to craft that system in which students actually feel the power before they feel powerless.
EDNA CHAVEZ: I just want to live my life, honestly. That's just me. I just want to be able to live, be able to continue to work, and just be able to try and see my dad again. That's probably one of the biggest things that I'm pushing really hard for. And yeah, that's it.
I mean, back in December, I just launched my first project, which is a back-to-school giveaway that I'll be doing in Guatemala. And what my dream-- well, what mainly my mother's dream that I'm trying to make come true-- is give out 300 to 400 backpacks full of school supplies, along with scholarships and paid uniforms, for about three different schools around our little pueblo back in Guatemala. And so that's just something that-- I want my little seed to grow into a rose, just like the mayor said. It's a rose that's coming out of the concrete, and so I just hope my rose blossoms as the year passes by.
JAMIE RICHARDSON: Thank you all so much. And on the note of getting people involved, if there's a website or social media handles people should be looking out for, do you want to share that information with our listeners?
DAVID HOGG: Just look for March For Our Lives on Twitter. It's the first thing that comes up. I promise you.
JAMIE RICHARDSON: All right, seems easy enough to find. Thank you.
[LAUGHTER]
MATT PORTER: Thank you, guys. Thank you very much.
ALL: Thank you, .
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JAMIE RICHARDSON: And we like to end episodes, every so often, with President Kennedy's own words, so I'll leave you here with an excerpt from JFK's "New Frontier" speech.
MATT PORTER: It's a pretty good speech if you haven't heard it before. JFK is making-- President Kennedy's making the speech in the Democratic National Convention. One of the things I liked a lot about the speech, Jamie, is just how hopeful it is-- not just for the future, but how President Kennedy's really trying to have it be something that everybody can get up and make their own contribution to this New Frontier.
JAMIE RICHARDSON: Yeah, so it's really interesting. Since he wasn't necessarily guaranteed the win at the convention at this point-- conventions of today, I think, they're pretty much a done deal. You know who's going to get the win before these three nights of spectacle happen. And here, he's trying to rally everybody who may not have wanted to vote for him or may not have seen him as a qualified candidate because of his age or religion, or what have you. So he's really trying to draw people into the fold and say that I really-- I need your help. I can't do this alone.
MATT PORTER: Right. I think one of the parts that really struck me about this speech-- which, by the way, when you enter the museum, it's one of the first things you see-- when he's talking about what he says is leadership, not salesmanship. I think, a lot of times in campaigns, it's all about selling yourself. It's all about pitching yourself to the country.
But he brings up this idea of leadership, which, when he says it, I think about-- it's not just about being a good campaigner or being charismatic. It's about being willing to circle the wagons, and also bring in people to the fold who wouldn't necessarily agree with you, who aren't the people who are initially going to all vote for you. But when the time comes, when the election is over, it's time for everybody to pitch in, stand up, and contribute.
But then we know that it inspired thousands of people to go into public service, and there are many people these days who are retiring from public service who often say that it was President Kennedy's words, both at the convention and, of course, at the inauguration, that really inspired them to become, again, part of that New Frontier-- this idea that we can all make a difference by contributing.
JAMIE RICHARDSON: And on that note, why don't we hear from JFK himself at the convention?
JOHN F. KENNEDY: But I believe that the times require imagination and courage and perseverance. I'm asking each of you to be pioneers towards that New Frontier. My call is to the young at heart, regardless of age; to the stallion spirit, regardless of party; to all who respond to the scriptural call, be strong and of good courage. Be not afraid, neither be dismayed, for courage, not complacency, is on me today.
Leadership, not salesmanship. And the only valid test of leadership is the ability to lead and lead vigorously. There may be those who wish to hear more-- more promises to this group or that, more harsh rhetoric about the men in the Kremlin as a substitute for policy, more assurances of a golden future where taxes are always low and the subsidies are always high. But my promises are in the platform that you have adopted. Our end will not be won by rhetoric, and we can have faith in the future only if we have faith in ourselves.
MATT PORTER: If you liked that clip, you can watch the full speech on our JFK35 web page. We hope that you have enjoyed this week's episode. Thank you for listening to our podcast-- of course, JFK35 . We hope you'll continue to visit our podcast page at JFKLibrary.org/JFK35. If you have questions or story ideas, email us at JFK35pod@JFKLFoundation.org, or tweet at us @JFKLibrary using the hashtag #JFK35. You can also follow us on Facebook and Instagram.
JAMIE RICHARDSON: And if you liked what you heard today, please consider subscribing to our podcast wherever you get your podcasts, or leaving us a review. Or, even better yet, tell someone you know to listen. We'll see you again in two weeks for our next episode of JFK35. Thanks for listening, and have a great week.
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