Mayor Marilyn Ezzy Ashcraft visited Love Elementary School recently to be interviewed for the Little Minds, Big Talks podcast. The podcast is hosted and managed by students in teacher Ryan Brazil’s fourth grade elementary school class at Love Elementary.

On the podcast, hosts Alisa and Daniel discussed several topics with Mayor Ashcraft including the role kids have in making their community and world a better place for all people. Ashcraft mentioned how much she was inspired by young people in the aftermath of the death of George Floyd in 2020. She said she was particularly inspired by the many peaceful protests that young people organized during this time.

“The students organized, and they marched to City Hall,” said Ashcraft. “I have never seen before, or since, a protest that large, but it was all so peaceful, and they took turns speaking. And what came out of it was the Alameda police reform subcommittees that were groups of citizens from across the island. We reached out to people of color especially to be involved and to look at ways that policing could be done better. One of the things that came out of that was successful was called the CARE (Community Assessment Response & Engagement) Team.”

The Alameda CARE team, which consists of mental health and Emergency Medical Service professionals, are first to the scene when people are experiencing a mental health crisis, instead of police officers. The CARE Team has been lauded by different regional emergency organizations.

The hosts also asked Mayor Ashcraft for advice to children who want to make a difference in their community.
“Everyone can make a difference,” said Ashcraft. “A lot of little things add up to something big. There is a beach cleanup. It’s great to participate in those.”

To listen to the entire podcast, search for the Little Minds, Big Talks podcast on any platform that hosts podcasts.