“This is about more than just the budget”: Meril Mousoom’s Fight for Justice

“Imagine the pain, the agony, of being left behind. Of being told that your arts education, your summer youth employment, will be left behind. Of being told that we don’t matter,” senior Meril Mousoom said in an online testimony during a city council conference this May. Of the 1.1 million students in New York City public schools, Mousoom was only one of a handful of students testifying in front of the New York City Panel for Education Policy (PEP). These students called for a cut in the New York Police Department (NYPD)’s budget so that the money could be shifted toward funding for schools. Despite the testimony being conducted online, the message of Mousoom’s speech resonated through the screen.

Mousoom’s introduction to the world of activism began at seven years old: “Since I was seven, I [have] read the news every single day, and in middle school, I joined my school newsletter,” she described. From there, Mousoom joined programs such as Center Against Asian American Violence and Girls for Gender Equity, which helped to solidify the foundation of her activism career. Mousoom uses the knowledge she gained from these programs to increase her outreach: “I've actually been trying to shift myself to helping other people [for resources] such as accessing political education,” she explained.

Mousoom has also taken part in a multitude of activism groups in high school. Aside from testifying in front of policy-makers, Mousoom is also a member of several coalitions, such as NYC Fight for Our Lives, which protests for the working class and those affected by COVID-19, and PoliFem, which encourages young women to run for office.

Though Mousoom is a vocal advocate for several causes, she feels most frustrated lately by the massive cuts in school funding. The reason why Mousoom chose to focus specifically on school budget cuts traces back to her middle school days. “My middle school didn’t have much funding, so many electives such as art classes were being cut. I feel like the same thing happening then is happening now,” she explained.

However, disparities in the educational budget has been a recurring problem for decades, starting way before Mousoom’s experience in middle school. When the city council recently passed a bill that cut nearly one billion dollars from its education budget, Mousoom was reminded of the Foundation Aid freeze in 2009. As the main source of state school funding, Foundation Aid was created after a 2006 court case that accused the state of violating children’s rights by failing to provide them with basic education. To remedy the problem, Foundation Aid was created to increase school funding. Following the 2008 Great Recession, it was put on pause. “We still need that money,” Mousoom said. “Access to basic education was impaired way before the pandemic, and now the city wants to cut another one billion dollars.”

In opposition to the bill that passed, Mousoom helped produce an online play called “Youth Resist the Budget,” which criticized the city council’s decision. “Surprisingly, a couple hundred people came, and so did two members of [the] city council,” she said. “It was really amazing.”

Mousoom’s proudest accomplishment, however, was her testimony in front of the PEP. Her speech caught the attention of several city council members, including Vanessa Gibson and Daniel Dromm. “They told me they thought my speech was really powerful. Even Carlina Rivera, another city council member, followed me on Twitter,” she said. “Later, I found out that the three city council members actually voted against the budget, meaning they supported defunding the police.”

Mousoom cites her English teacher Emilio Nieves as a largely influential figure. “His class is the reason I’m able to write speeches. We looked over speeches and analyzed why they were successful,” she said. For Mousoom, writing speeches is an art form, and she focuses on using emotions rather than statistics to center her experiences. Mousoom uses techniques such as ethos, pathos, and logos, which are often used in speech writing to emotionally sway audiences.

Other figures of inspiration include youth activists Greta Thunberg, a Swedish environmental activist, and Irsa Hirsi, an American environmental activist.

Though giving speeches is an integral part of activism, Mousoom finds organizing rallies and protesting to be far more gratifying experiences because she has been able to do them in-person as opposed to virtually. “When you protest, you’re doing a lot of planning and hands-on stuff. When you’re testifying, you’re doing the same thing but in a more sanctioned way,” she said.

Mousoom has attended many rallies and speeches in the past, but her first experience helping organize a rally was this year in June, working jointly with the coalition Dignity in Schools. Taking place in front of education chancellor Richard Carranza’s house and at the exact same time as a PEP meeting, the rally advocated for police-free schools. There, its members, including Mousoom, testified live. The rally ended up being successful, and the panel voted to transfer school safety from the hands of the NYPD to the Department of Education.

The rally’s success was due to the collective effort and preparation of Mousoom and the members of Dignity in Schools. Organizing a rally includes checking off some important prerequisites such as establishing mutual aid, which is an organization theory based on exchanging food and water with fellow protestors, and ensuring that there is press to record and showcase protests to a wider audience. The latter is especially important because effective protests often include a list of speakers who write impactful speeches and make crucial points that can politically educate a large audience. “Everyone has different goals, and they eventually come together. Some people do mutual aid, but I help by being the chant leader,” Mousoom said.

After helping organize several other rallies, Mousoom acknowledges that the biggest hurdle in getting involved with activism is learning where to get started. “When I do find people to testify, I not only ha[ve] to educate them on what’s going on, but I also ha[ve] to help them find their own voice. It’s really hard because they needed a lot of guidance,” she explained. Additionally, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, concerns over safety have prevented many students from participating in protests.

In the long run, Mousoom hopes that more young people will become involved in activism, especially by going to rallies. For those who don’t feel ready to become outspoken, “go to a protest, talk to the MCs, [and] talk to the organizer,” Mousoom advised. Seeking guidance is a good way to start. “You should always ask for help. If you're unsure, [there are] always people who are willing to give you political education,” Mousoom emphasized.

One of the most important aspects of activism is staying informed, and Mousoom points out that popular news sources often leave out urgent information. The New York Times, for example, has not written about governor Andrew Cuomo’s aim to cut New York’s education budget by 20 percent. Mousoom receives most of her information from fellow organizers, virtual workshops, hearings about NYC’s budgets, teach-ins, and Twitter, which is a good way to access local politicians.

According to Mousoom, during these uncertain times, it’s imperative that students make their voices heard. Even small contributions such as staying well-informed can make a difference. There are many students who are still in quarantine, and this may make activism seem impossible, but social media and virtual resources are more powerful now than they have ever been. With corruption running rampant among our state and federal governments, young voices are needed everywhere. As Mousoom said in her PEP testimony, “This is about more than just the budget. This is about justice. This is about our future.”