By Sydney Williams
Skyline High School senior, Jessica Ramos has been sending seismic shockwaves throughout her Oakland community, leading the stand against police brutality and education inequality. At seventeen, she is the elected Student Director of Oakland Unified School District, a member of All City Council and a rising racial justice activist. Jessica brings together diverse communities to celebrate life and effect positive change that Oakland wants to see.
Student activist, Jessica Ramos. Photo by Agitate Photography
How do you create space to have your voice heard in this unprecedented time?
I have always been passionate about being active in my community and have connections to organizations who share my passion. I focused my recent activism on the idea of creating conversations. But even still, this has been a unique time. With the stay-at-home order, technology allows us to stay connected through online forums, in the Bay Area and around the world. We need to be having conversations that we sometimes don’t want to have, talk to people who disagree with us. Having these vulnerable conversations is the best way to break down misconceptions and grow perspective on racial and social justice issues.
Some need clarity on the relationship between systematic oppression and protest. How would you explain the relationship between the peaceful march you led on June 10th and police brutality?
There is totally a misconception that protest = violence, but this is just not true. Peaceful protest is sometimes overshadowed by violent riots, but they truly are very different. The peaceful march we led was a celebration of life. While we have technology to connect online, many of us felt the need to gather in person. In my psychology classes, I learned that people cannot fully grieve online/virtually. With the extreme violence that people of color have been experiencing for hundreds of years, we needed to create a sense of togetherness. People brought candles, masked up, let their tears out and hearts open. We needed to show our local government what this community does when we are hurt. We come together.
Peaceful protest in Oakland on June 10, 2020. Photo by Jessica Ramos
You organized the march to Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf’s house on June 10, 2020. Tell us about this experience.
I had organized High School meet-ups in the past, but this was my first time organizing something for the larger community and of this magnitude. It was actually my best friend, Dwayne Davis and I who first came up with the idea to lead the march to Mayor Libby Schaaf’s house. We were sitting in the car listening to the radio when we heard news of LA activists marching to their Mayor’s house, which we fact-checked on Twitter and verified. It was then that we thought to ourselves, “we are doing this” here in Oakland. In the weeks leading up to the march, I was in close contact with the community, spreading the word and informing business owners in the Fruitvale district of our upcoming event.
On June 10th, over 1,000 people gathered to march for the youth and against police brutality. To see young voices expressing their passion alongside their greater community, was inspiring. It was a very special occasion because we also got to share the news that OUSD’s campaign to remove police from schools had passed its first reading. Mayor Libby Shaaf, herself had said that the peaceful candle-lit protest, commemorating the lives of those lost to police brutality was both beautiful and moving.
What inspired your passion and activism in education?
My passion was originally sparked by an experience I had in 7th grade. I had attended Oakland public school my whole life, until my mom had to leave town for a month. During this time, I went to school in San Ramon where I lived with family. I noticed a huge difference between Oakland and San Ramon schools right away. The quality of education was seriously different. I thought to myself, there must be a way to get involved and make education more equal. I had also had a friend recently pass away and that further motivated me to make a change in my community. I feel that everyone should have the educational resources that they need to excel, regardless of where they live.
Since then, I would say that it is my classmates that inspire me everyday. Oakland students, especially, have a sort of camaraderie that stems from our shared challenges. They keep me pushing forward.
Squad photo by Jessica Ramos
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.