A session presented in partnership with the 1619 National Celebration of Black Women San Diego
MY VOICE,
MY LEGACY
Your voice is not an accident. Your story is not a footnote. It is the headline.
Presented by Ms. Jacquelyn Clark
DESIGNED FOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS · 30 MINUTES
Stand Up If…
"That feeling of being unseen or unheard is not new. Let's start there."
This session is presented in partnership with
1619 National Celebration of
Black Women
Honoring the achievements, resilience, creativity, and contributions of Black women — connecting history to the present through participation and leadership.
Achievements
Resilience
Creativity
Contributions
1619
In 1619, the first recorded Africans were brought to this land against their will.
They did not choose the journey.
They did not choose the system.
Some remembered freedom. Some would grow up never knowing anything else.
406 Years Later
Not Just Survival. Contribution. Leadership.
From those beginnings came educators, inventors, artists, and leaders.
1619 National Celebration of Black Women honors resilience — and the power of contribution.
Every generation built on the one before it.
History doesn't ask you
to feel guilty.
It asks you to be aware.
Awareness gives you the ability to choose.
What choices do you have now that they didn't?
Participation was once limited. What does it look like today?
Ms. Jacquelyn Clark
Civic Advocate · Speaker · Community Leader
My Voice,
My Story.
In and out of foster care since kindergarten — with her last placement as a freshman in high school — Jacquelyn learned early that your circumstances don't define your voice. How you use it does.
Drawing from lived experience and civic engagement, she endeavors to tell her story to young people — especially those who feel overlooked — so they can find clarity, purpose, and the courage to participate.
Grounded in civic engagement & community advocacy
Lived experience with resilience & self-determination
Passionate about using your voice and leadership development
Committed to integrity in every room and every story
Rooted in the legacy of Black excellence
"Participation led to opportunity. It can for you too."
I didn't need to become
someone else.
I needed to become clearer.
Before
"Being guarded felt powerful. But it protected me — and also limited who could hear me."
After
"I started by just sitting in the room. Leadership starts not with volume, but with clarity."
Clarity.
Purpose.
Engagement.
Clarity
State the issue clearly. No fluff. No vagueness. Just the truth.
Purpose
Explain why it matters to you, your community, and your future.
Engagement
Offer a specific action or solution. Leave them with a next step.
"Being loud isn't power. Being clear is."
The Clarity
Challenge
Take a vague complaint and make it powerful using the framework.
The Vague Complaint
"The lunch food is bad."
Too vague. No power. No direction.
Your Turn.
Build Your Statement.
"What is one issue in your school or community that matters to you?" Use the framework to build your 60-second statement.
You are not
underdeveloped.
You may be under-recognized.
Some students are easier to coach because they already know how to show their potential.
If you haven't been picked yet — that doesn't mean you don't have it.
Refinement is available to everyone.
Participation is power.
Say It With Me.
I say:
Start small.
You say:
START SMALL.
I say:
Speak clearly.
You say:
SPEAK CLEARLY.
I say:
Stay steady.
You say:
STAY STEADY.
Tap each row to illuminate the response.
"Four hundred and six years later — you are not powerless. You are not average. You are under-recognized."
Start small.
Speak clearly.
Stay steady.
Leadership does not belong to the loudest person.
It belongs to the one who participates.
You don't have to be perfect. You just have to practice.
Jacquelyn Clark
"Participation led to opportunity. It can for you too."
Learn more
www.theceakinstitute.com ↗