Soon after George Floyd was killed in May 2020, Sara Boddie was inspired to find ways to work with others to facilitate social change. After viewing a social media post about the Black Swan Academy in Washington DC, Sara began attending meetings where she learned about organizing communities and bringing about change. Black Swan Academy empowers Black youth through civic leadership engagement and giving young people the tools they need to become active social catalysts in their communities. They engage their members by helping them find their own voice and hone their community organizing skills.

Sara also became involved with writing statements for city council meetings and became comfortable as she learned to help facilitate meetings. She soon became aware that the voices she was hearing in the city weren’t being heard in Oakton High School.

Sara became highly motivated to apply what she was learning in Washington DC to interested students at school, so she founded a social justice club called “Be the Change” to create an environment for Oakton students to talk about topical issues of interest and inspire them to become community leaders and activists. To further share what she had learned, she invited a speaker from the Black Swan Academy, Okechukwa Ukah, to teach club members about oppression and grassroots organizing.

The club began hosting regular meetings. In time, the students became interested in discussing a variety of issues including the prison industry complex, LGBTQ rights, and climate change. They also organized a food drive and collected clothing for the needy.

Sara attended a local protest in Vienna, close to her home and marched on Maple Avenue. She used her ability to clearly articulate her beliefs and values in a speech she delivered to 200 people that day. She spoke about the stereotyping of young Black children and what she and her brothers experienced as African Americans, knowing that she doesn’t want these things to happen to her own children in the future.

Sara and her club members are also becoming more interested in exploring racism within existing institutions like school systems and the health care field. Sara wants to bring more awareness to these kinds of biased behaviors and the way they adversely affect communities all over the country.

Sara plans to continue to advocate for social justice, equity for all, and answers that might someday lead to solving these serious issues for our society. When asked what will happen to the Be the Change club when she graduates, she said that the meetings will continue with active discussions that engage even the younger students, and they will continue the valuable work she started.