Class of 2020 Spotlight: Kawika Smith

2UrbanGirls would like to introduce you to Kawika Smith, a Class of 2020 graduate, from Verbum Dei High School.

Kawika is a gifted young man who will be attending Morehouse College this fall majoring in sociology. Kawika is also a community advocate having joined his areas neighborhood council at the age of 16.

What prompted you to join your areas neighborhood council?

Important conversations were being held and the voice of the youth wasn’t at the table being represented by a youth. I saw the neighborhood council as one of the most effective ways to get the community engaged civically.

What other ways have you given back to the community?

Ever since I was about 10 years old I was involved in the fight for homecare workers, making sure they received a livable wage and adequate benefits. It grew into me being involved with other organizations fighting to end child poverty with the Children’s Defense Fund; creating more affordable housing with Imagine LA; and a myriad of social justice issues with Community Coalition. Everyday afterschool, I walk to Community Coalition where I and other South LA advocate for educational equity within the LAUSD public school system. I have also been involved in giving back to the community through pushing for the CROWN act, a law that bans hair discrimination in the workplace and school.

What are your career aspirations?

My career aspirations is to stay engaged in the activist world through community organizing and even become a state senator. I will further the demand in the allocation of resources to those who are forced to be silent at the table and kept out of the conversation. I strongly believe that my generation is the generation to shake things up and move humanity in the right direction. Gone are the days where youth have something valuable to say but are told to ‘stay in a child’s place’. All in all, I will devote my career to pushing for equity, equality got us here, equity will move us further.

This young man is going places and is an asset to Morehouse College who has produced other well known Los Angeles community leaders like 8th District Councilman Marqueece Harris-Dawson, Alex Johnson, and Kevin A. Ross, to name a few.

Do you know of an outstanding 2020 graduate that 2UrbanGirls should spotlight? Send us an email to hello@2urbangirls.com.