Hosted by Compound Long Beach, VoiceWaves Youth Reporters spoke on many issues at the Living in the LBC panel on Oct. 24. Our reporters discussed how their lives have been impacted by the environments they grew up in, the pandemic, and the local schools they’ve attended. They also address what can be done to improve the issues they touch on.
Panel participants, from left to right: VoiceWaves Youth Reporters Nick Eismann, Briana Mendez-Padilla, Ceferino Martirez, and VoiceWaves editor Carlos Omar.
Carlos is a longtime resident of North Long Beach who graduated from CSULB's journalism program in 2019. While there, he held multiple editorial positions at the Daily 49er and served as managing editor for the inaugural edition of DIG en Español. His passion for social change was sparked by growing up in an underinvested portion of the city, and continues to be fueled by the desire to see a day when all people live in healthy communities.
Briana Mendez-Padilla is a Poly Junior who loves to read, write and listen to music. Her favorite book is "Jane Eyre" and she is a huge fan of The Smiths and Morrissey. Her dream is to be a writer and live in a treehouse in London.
Known to his friends as “Kingfish," Ceferino immigrated to the United States in 2014 from the Philippines, part Spanish and part Malayan. Ceferino still dealt with the constant issues of poverty in Long Beach, living through the harsh realities of what he considers to be "two very distinct socio-economical societies." He is a member of the Democratic Socialist of America Long Beach and the West Side Representatives for the Long Beach Youth Committee. He is an advocate for worker-owned cooperatives, trade unionization and an advocate for a Federalization for working class Hispanics
