Young Writers Contest Entry Deadline has p

• High School – High School – Black Lives Matter is an activist movement that originated in the African American community in July 2013, when George Zimmerman was acquitted in the killing of Trayvon Martin, an unarmed black teenager who was shot during a struggle in a gated Florida community. The movement has been rooted in the deaths of black people killed by law enforcement officers and issues of racial profiling, police brutality and racial inequity in the US criminal justice system. It has been said that Black Lives Matters has changed the public debate over civil rights and has grown into a campaign to fight systemic injustices for African Americans and other minorities. What are your points of view about the Black Lives Matters movement? Discuss your position in support of or in opposition to the movement. • Middle School – In 2013, the city council in Takoma Park Maryland voted to decrease the voting age to 16 and allow teens to vote in city elections. According to the Washington Post, this was the first city in the United States to allow this right. In January 2015, the city council in Hyattsville Maryland voted to allow 16 and 17 year olds to vote in city elections. The debate about lowering the voting age continues and many states allow teens to vote. Do you think 16 and 17-year old youth should be allowed to vote? Discuss and give your views.

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