Meet Jazmin Cazares, First Lady Dr. Jill Biden’s 18-year-old State of the Union guest
A Q&A with Jazmin Cazares, who's 9-year-old sister Jackie was killed in the tragic 2022 mass shooting at the Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas.
Last night, Jazmin Cazares — who's 9-year-old sister Jackie was killed in the tragic 2022 mass shooting at the Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas — attended the State of the Union with First Lady Dr. Jill Biden, a signal of President Joe Biden’s prioritization of gun safety (as president, Biden established the first-ever office of gun violence prevention).
Since losing her sister, Jazmin’s been outspoken about the need to end gun violence — working with gun violence prevention and voter engagement organizations like March For Our Lives, March Fourth, Change the Ref, Voto Latino, and Newtown Action Alliance. She also started the organization ‘Jackie’s Loving Hands’ in her sister’s memory. After graduating high school last year, Jazmin started at the junior college in Uvalde, which she’s on track to graduate from this spring. She plans to pursuit psychology, she said.
Today, I had the opportunity to chat with Jazmin. Here’s some of what she had to say, edited lightly for clarity and brevity.
What was it like to be at the State of the Union?
Jazmin: “I have so many words I can use to describe it. I would say it was a little overwhelming, but it was very bittersweet as well.
You've been very outspoken about the need for gun safety and gun violence prevention. Could you tell me about the work you do in this space?
“I mainly focus on gun violence prevention and firearm safety. I think it varies among gun violence prevention activists of what they really like to hone in on. But I want to say firearm safety is probably our biggest, just because my dad's a gun owner. I was raised around guns. But I was also raised, how to be responsible and safe. So I want to say that's the biggest one. On top of just firearm safety in general, it's also just school safety.”
You also started an organization in your sister’s honor, called Jackie’s Loving Hands. Can you tell me a little bit about the organization?
“Jackie’s Loving Hands is a nonprofit that we started in honor of Jackie, and the main goal is to raise funds for veterinary scholarships, since Jackie wanted to become a veterinarian when she grew up. But any other funds goes toward The Humane Society.”
This wasn't the first time you were honored by the First Lady. What does this acknowledgement from the administration mean to you?
“I'm so glad that Jackie's name is being remembered, that Uvalde’s not being forgotten, and just everyone that’s been lost to gun violence in general. But like I said, again, it's very bittersweet because I would rather Dr. Jill not even know who I was.”
What message are you hoping Americans take away from you being there?
“One that I say so much is realize that we're not trying to take your guns… Another one is just to not forget what happened in Uvalde.”
On March 16, Jazmin is hosting an event titled, ‘Jackie’s Canine Carnival,’ in Uvalde, in honor of her sister. “It’s going to be very dog focused,” she said. “We're going to have lots of vendors, carnival games, competitions.” She’s hoping to raise most of the funds for Jackie’s Loving Hands’ scholarship at the carnival.
In other SOTU news… the creator experience
The White House invited a group of social media creators to the White House for a behind-the-scenes look at the State of the Union, and briefed dozens ahead of Thursday’s prime time address. As WIRED’s Makena Kelly wrote: “The administration is hoping to tap that large digital audience to reach voters who may not tune in to Thursday’s speech.”
📲 Asked about last night’s creator event, Jacob Simon, a creator who shares good news stories about the climate and environment on a daily basis, texted:
“Us creators were invited to learn, meet each other, and share our perspective from the event to our audiences. Really, we were there to learn and absorb as much as we can, distill our thoughts, and convey them to our audience through our point of view. All of us creators do this job for a reason, and for myself, it’s to make a positive difference in the world. I think the WH recognizes that and wants to provide resources to make our jobs easier and recognize the work we do to improve our country and the world.”
“We talked about what role creators can play in putting pressure on for change, storytelling, navigating complicated issues, propelling the causes important to us, and much more!”
According to Simon, creators from a range of subjects including, “everything from space to lifestyle, family to finance, and climate to comedy” attended the event. The Second Gentleman and First Lady met face-to face with the creators, Simon said, and he saw the President from afar. Given his focus on climate, while at the White House, Simon chatted with Assistant to the President and National Climate Advisor Ali Zaidi about the role creators can play in promoting a conversation about climate and sharing the president’s work on the issue thus far.
Asked if he felt the president appropriately addressed the topic of the climate in his address, Simon said:
“I think any scientist and climate activist would agree with me that we are not doing enough to address the climate crisis, and I want a lot more. That said, we have more progress and forward momentum than ever before. The president directly mentioned climate and real advancements that have been made several times for the world to see. I personally wish more time was spent on climate in the speech, but hearing him talk about it on the national and global stage is important.”
Youth vote in the news
TikTok users bombard House offices over bill that could ban the app, Olivia Beavers and Rebecca Kern for Politico, 3/7
Worried about the viability of a TikTok ban, thanks to a bipartisan bill that would force the Chinese-owned ByteDance to sell TikTok or risk it being barred from US app stores, TikTok directed users to contact their elected officials with an in-app pop up that seemingly auto-populated a user’s member of Congress based on their location. Chaos followed, when TikTokers flooded House phone lines with calls Thursday.
“Multiple House GOP staffers say they are being bombarded with calls — mostly from people they believe are teenagers — who are concerned that the bill would shut down the popular video app entirely. While the legislation does not call for an outright ban, that hasn’t stopped TikTok officials from peddling that claim to rally its users,” Beavers and Kern write.
According to Beavers and Kern, one House GOP staffer said: “It’s so so bad. Our phones have not stopped ringing. They’re teenagers and old people saying they spend their whole day on the app and we can't take it away.”
How Nex Benedict’s Classmates Are Working to Make Their School Safer for LGBTQ Kids, Foretsa Latifi for Teen Vogue, 3/7
In the wake of the death of Nex Benedict, who died after reportedly being beaten by three girl classmates at an Oklahoma high school, “LGBTQ+ Oklahomans and fellow Owasso High School students are mourning the loss of Nex and, through protest and action, fighting for change,” Latifi writes.
“On Feb. 26, students staged a walk-out and protest in response to what they consider to be a culture of bullying at their school. Braylin, 20, a former Owasso High School student who graduated in 2022, attended the protest and streamed it live on TikTok,” Latifi writes.
“The vibe was pretty peaceful on one side and the other side was pretty chaotic,” Braylin told Teen Vogue. “But [being involved in the protest] meant a lot to me because it was my community, my school. I never thought it would happen at my school.”
Op-ed: Want to reach Gen. Z? Prioritize Young Voices, Pratika Katiyar for Nieman Reports, 3/5
In a crowded information ecosystem, student journalists have a unique proximity to young people and perspective that few in the traditional media hold, Katiyar writes, which will be crucial this election cycle.
“Student journalists have been covering their campus communities and filling the local vacuum for years. Recently, they have been at the forefront of covering protests on their campuses and tensions within their administrations, and currently comprise nearly 10% of statehouse reporters across the country,” Katiyar writes.
A few weeks ago, I chatted with Katiyar who’s a writer, free speech activist, and student at Northeastern University. She included a quote from our conversation: “When you’re talking about how an issue impacts young people, it’s really important to make sure you’re actually including young people in the storytelling.”
“The proximity of student journalists to large groups of young voters, coupled with the ability to strategically use social media, positions student journalists as key to crafting compelling stories on issues young people care about,” Katiyar writes.