It is dire that all youth get involved and combat the government’s infringement upon our bodies and our rights!

Sade is a member of the International Youth Leadership Council.

My name is Sade Powell. I am a freshman at The George Washington University. I’ve been working with the Young Women of Color HIV/AIDs Coalition (YWCHAC) for the past four years- an organization in NYC that helps foster the development of young women of color ages 13-24 in advocacy training while providing us with skills to be effective sexual health peer-educators to youth- on combating the increasing rates of HIV infection in youth ages 13-24. Throughout my time with them, I’ve had the wonderful opportunity to cohort with other organizations and programs along overlapping issues like: the sexualization of girls in the media, food injustice in communities of low-income, and education equity. In the past couple of years I, not only learned about sexually transmitted diseases as it pertains to young women of color, but also the socio-economic and socio-political factors that tie in as well. This is also perhaps the greatest motivation that impels me to continue to grow as an advocate and peer-educator.

We, as people of color, are disproportionally underrepresented and we lack a sufficient understanding of what we need and what we have a right to because if we knew what we should have then we wouldn’t settle for less. For that reason, I can’t stress enough why it is dire that all youth get involved and combat the government’s infringement upon our bodies and our rights!