How to Write a Bill | Paradyse Oakley | TEDxCrenshaw
The speaker details how personal experiences of incarceration and abuse fueled her activism, culminating in successfully sponsoring legislation for social-emotional counseling for high school students. She outlines the precise, eight-step process—from forming an idea to securing sponsors—required for students to lobby for legislative change at the state level. Ultimately, she encourages peers to channel their frustrations into action by writing and advocating for bills in their communities.
## Speakers & Context
- Unnamed speaker (Implied youth activist, experienced student).
- Context established by the speaker's personal history involving her father's incarceration beginning in the second semester of sixth grade.
- Describes the emotional and logistical difficulties of prison visits: one involving a one-and-a-half hour wait in hot sun due to damaged birth certificates, and another involving a "50-50 chance" due to high visitor traffic.
- Mentions attending a summer writing workshop where she met a professor writing a novel mirroring her experience.
## Theses & Positions
- Direct personal trauma (incarceration, abuse) can be translated into systemic advocacy and legislative action.
- Students have the inherent right and capacity to drive community change by initiating the process of writing and passing bills.
- The legislative process, while complex, is systematic: *"The change is in your hands."*
- Social emotional counseling is a necessary educational addition because current codes focus only on academics and vocational tracks, neglecting student emotional health.
## Concepts & Definitions
- **Youth in Government:** A high school program giving students the role of legislative officials (e.g., lieutenant governor).
- **Act:** A formal piece of legislation passed by the legislature to amend law; the speaker's successful bill was an *act*.
- **Resolution:** A formal statement or suggestion that can be made but is not binding legislation.
- **Social Emotional Counseling:** A type of counseling service deemed necessary for high school students dealing with varied issues, beyond just incarceration.
- **Educational Code:** The body of laws governing educational standards, currently only covering "academics" and "vocational" tracks.
- **Delegate:** Students participating in the Youth in Government program.
## Mechanisms & Processes
- **Interpreting Trauma:** The speaker initially process missing her father by writing out her feelings.
- **Program Launch:** Launched a student-led advocacy group at her school to support students with incarcerated family members or abuse survivors.
- **Legislative Lobbying:** The process culminates in drafting, researching, sponsoring, and passing bills through the state assembly and senate.
- **Bill Drafting (8 Steps):**
1. **Idea:** The initial concept (e.g., social-emotional counseling).
2. **Research:** Spending three months researching all educational codes to find the gap.
3. **Act Drafting:** Writing the bill as an *act* to amend the code.
4. **Title:** Titling the bill simply as *"an act two and then finish the sentence."*
5. **Preamble:** The opening clause, using language like *"whereas"* and detailing the amendment.
6. **Enacting/Resolving Clause:** Specifying *when* the change should take effect (e.g., "immediately").
7. **Body:** The main text of the bill, broken down into numbered sections.
8. **Sponsors:** Securing endorsements from elected officials to champion the bill.
## Timeline & Sequence
- **Sixth Grade:** First experiences of incarceration separation; writing letters to process feelings.
- **Tenth Grade:** Attends a summer writing workshop and learns about the "Project what?" and POP's pain of the prison system.
- **November (Year Unknown):** Launches her advocacy at her school.
- **Three Months:** Period dedicated to researching educational codes for the bill.
- **Sacramento Visit:** Presenting the bill in the chambers of the Assembly and Senate; the bill passes the House and Senate.
- **Youth in Government 2015-2016:** Experience where the lieutenant governor signed her bill, with the understanding that all bills would go to Governor Jerry Brown.
## Named Entities
- **POP's pain of the prison system:** High school program providing arts expression (pictures, rapping, writing) for students dealing with incarceration or abuse.
- **YMCA:** Organization associated with the program launch.
- **Sacramento:** Location where the bill was presented in the legislative chambers.
- **Gold Assembly / Gold Senate:** Legislative bodies where the bill passed.
- **Lieutenant Governor:** Official who signed the bills from the Youth in Government program.
- **Jerry Brown:** The real governor who would receive the bills signed during the program.
## Numbers & Data
- Grade level when father was incarcerated: **Sixth grade**.
- Duration of initial struggle: **Two years**.
- Prison visit wait time mentioned: **One and a half hours**.
- Grade level for POP's program: **9th through 12th graders**.
- Timeline for bill research: **Three months**.
- Educational cost to implement counseling: **21 cent** per taxpayer.
## Examples & Cases
- **Incarceration visits:** Described two types: waiting for an hour and a half with damaged birth certificates; navigating the "50-50 chance" of seeing loved ones.
- **Sibling emotional expression:** Sister Paris breaking down in tears after an outing on the bus, illustrating the necessity of *expressing* deep feelings.
- **Community change model:** The advocacy success proving the right to social-emotional counseling for high school students.
- **Bylaws Comparison:** Contrast between **Acts** (binding legislation) and **Resolutions** (statements of intent).
## Tools, Tech & Products
- **Camera/Photos:** Used in the POP's program for artistic expression.
- **Writing/Letter:** Used continuously throughout the speaker's life to process and communicate feelings.
- **Bus:** Used for a family outing on Mother's Day/Father's Day to allow physical connection with incarcerated parents.
## References Cited
- **Project what?** (Mentioned in passing regarding the writing workshop).
- **POP's pain of the prison system:** Mentioned as a model/program consulted for ideas.
## Counterarguments & Caveats
- Initial bill scope limitation: Committee members initially suggested the topic was *"a little like too narrow."*
- Need for expansion: The topic was broadened to include *"immigration, it's abuse, is trauma, and all these other things"* to gain support.
## Methodology
- **Personal Testimony:** Using lived experience to establish credibility and urgency for change.
- **Systemic Advocacy:** Adopting the formal process of bill sponsorship and legislative lobbying (Steps 1-8).
- **Data Collection:** Three months of research into existing educational codes to identify the specific gap (lack of SEL funding/structure).
## Conclusions & Recommendations
- The change needed in a community can be achieved by adopting the legislative model: identify the problem, research the code gap, draft the *Act*, and lobby with personal passion.
- Recommendation is explicit: Students should form an interest group of 4-5 friends, research a specific educational code change, and follow the 8-step process.
## Implications & Consequences
- The success of the bill means that systemic recognition of emotional needs (mental health/trauma) is possible within formal educational law.
- The personal act of writing letters or organizing a physical visit can have tangible, legal consequences.
## Verbatim Moments
- *"I would write them out to interpret what I was going through and missing my father."*
- *"He said, 'Project what?' And it's in Oakland."*
- *"We should write a bill to provide social emotional counseling for high school students dealing with any kind of issues."*
- *"We have the right to be informed when your parent is incarcerated. You have the right to have counseling and someone to talk to while you're going through your dad or your mother's incarceration."*
- *"We need this. We need social emotional counseling for high school students, not only for um incarceration."*
- *"It was an act because it was very new. It wasn't a resolution, which would be something that like you just made up off of anything."*
- *"You guys got to vote and make sure you guys read the props."*
- *"The change is in your hands."*
- *"If you see something, all you have to do is write it out."*
- *"I will walk you guys through the process of writing a bill."*