As a Montclair High senior, Alissa wants to leave highschool knowing that her younger cousins will be safe. She doesn’t want to worry if the next lockdown is real. Prompted by her mother to get past tears over the Parkland shooting and to act, Alissa prepared a speech for the National Walkout on March 14th. She spoke of her impatience with the slow pace of gun reform legislation. She called on her fellow students to join the movement of young and old, rich and poor. “By unifying ourselves, we, the people, become an unstoppable force. That is what makes a country strong! That is what makes a nation!”
Activism runs deep in Alissa’s veins. She is the first vice president of the Youth Council of the Montclair Branch NAACP, a S.O.F.I.A member, and one of the leaders of The Million Man March in Montclair. Alissa credits her grandmother, her “pillar,” for her activism and for encouraging her to engage with the world. She is grateful to those who saw leadership qualities in her and pushed her to do better, in particular Ms. Malloy, a MHS registrar. “She called me a frog. I was hopping from this place to the next. My lily pad that I need to be on was in the middle and I used to always jump over it. She says I finally saw the lily pad and now I just need to leap for it.” Alissa turns 18 in April, is registered to vote, and looks forward to November. “Congress better watch out because – guess what – our voices WILL be heard.”