Soapbox Challenge
February 24, 2025 Written by Hilary Douwes
The topics at a recent public speaking event at the University of Delaware were serious: homelessness, gender inequality, racism and discrimination, political division and relationships and the dangers of social media. The impassioned speakers used data to explain the issues and included a specific idea about how to help. While they presented their speeches like educated voters, none of the speakers were old enough to cast a ballot, much less drive a car.
The speakers were six of nearly 100 students from New Castle County middle and high schools who participated in the Delaware version of Project Soapbox, an event sponsored by the national nonprofit organization MIKVA Challenge. Hosted by UD’s Department of Political Science and International Relations, Project Soapbox gives students an opportunity to speak out about issues that impact them and their communities, and to build the confidence to continue talking about them.
Students first gave their speeches to small groups, and the six finalists were selected to present to the entire group and to U.S. Rep. Sarah McBride.
David Redlawsk, department chair and James R. Soles Professor of Political Science, was instrumental in bringing Project Soapbox to UD. This is the third year the event has been held on campus.
“I am so impressed by the confidence these students have developed at such young ages to speak on issues that are often highly personal,” said Redlawsk. “These young people think deeply about their concerns and express ideas that need to be listened to.”
Liya Alford, a sophomore in the Christiana Honors Academy at Christiana High School, had the audience recite the Pledge of Allegiance before talking about how disconnected she feels from the phrase “with liberty and justice for all” because of the way Black history is taught in schools.
“I'm a young Black woman and I’m disturbed that my story, my ancestors’ story, when taught, is boiled down to simply that we were taken and we were slaves,” she said. “We hear nothing positive. I learned about two things, slavery and Martin Luther King.”
Alford called on schools to teach more than a “watered-down version” Black history and to include topics like critical race theory and generational trauma in curriculum so “children will stop falling victim to racism at the hands of white children or even uneducated people of color.”
Khloe Torrance, a seventh grader at the Cab Calloway School for the Arts, addressed the need for affordable housing in a powerful speech about her own experience being homeless.
“Imagine waking up every day not knowing where you're going, asking for help only to be met with embarrassment, blame, bully and judgment just because you don't have a place to stay,” she said.
“So where do we go from here? We advocate for affordable housing. We advocate to give people what they need so they're not on the street. Give homeless people what everyone wants, a chance to be seen, and treat them how you would want to be treated. I want you to care about homelessness as if you were homeless yourself.”
McBride was “amazed” by the students, telling them “I would never have the courage to do what each and every one of you have done today.” She told the rapt audience her career in politics began in seventh grade, the same age of many of the students, and urged them to keep speaking up.
“You are the leaders of today,” McBride said. “Your voices matter today and in so many ways, your voices matter in a unique way that none of the adults in your life in this country can match. Your voices carry the power of history, and just as we have seen throughout the history of the past, it is always young people who drive the change and the progress of today.”
“Every time I attend a Soapbox event, I leave with hope for the future,” Redlawsk said.
