Growing up Black in Alabama, I saw firsthand how systemic inequities shaped daily life.
I watched my mother endure hours-long waits in overcrowded clinics, my aunt struggle with unstable housing and law enforcement officers profile and brutalize Black men and women. These were symptoms of a broader system that denied Black and Brown communities access to health care, housing and justice.
One experience in particular solidified my commitment to activism. When I was a teenager, a police officer pulled me over on the day of my high school graduation for what should have been a routine speeding stop. Instead, I was met with suspicion, unnecessary aggression and the fear that my life could be taken over a speed limit misunderstanding.
That moment made it clear to me that justice is not guaranteed for people who look like me. It pushed me to study political science and African American studies at the University of Alabama (UA) so I could fight for systemic change through policy, advocacy and civic engagement.
In March, I stood on the steps of the Alabama Capitol during the Southern Poverty Law Center’s 60th Jubilee celebration in Montgomery to issue a call to action. I urged legislators to involve young people in the policymaking process and challenged my generation to carry the torch civil rights legends had passed down.
That’s why I chose to root myself in service and activism. From leading the revival of UA’s NAACP unit to engaging in historical lynching research at the Summersell Center for the Study of the South, my efforts are grounded in my belief that civic engagement is our most powerful tool. Through the U.S. Department of State’s Gandhi-King Scholarly Exchange Initiative, I traveled to India to study the nonviolent resistance philosophies of Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr. There, I saw how grassroots movements can shape policy and culture.
I’ll work this summer on the ground as a community organizer intern with the SPLC’s Alabama state office, fighting where it’s needed most for justice.
My goal is not just to analyze the issues, but to develop real, lasting solutions to the disparities in criminal justice, voting rights, education and economic mobility that continue to harm marginalized communities. This work isn’t just personal, it’s collective. Because when we fight for justice, we do it for all of us.
I aspire to hold leadership roles in government or civil rights organizations where I can shape and implement racial equity initiatives at the federal or state level. Whether at the Department of Justice, Department of Housing and Urban Development or a civil rights organization, I want to drive systemic change through policy innovation and community-driven solutions that dismantle structural barriers to justice and opportunity.
To my peers: We are the generation that inherited broken systems, but we are also the generation with the power and the responsibility to fix them. We can’t wait for change. We must organize for it, vote for it, advocate for it and live it. Apathy is a luxury we cannot afford. The future of our democracy depends on our willingness to show up, speak out and stay in the fight.
Activism isn’t optional. It is survival. And I’ve made my choice.
What will yours be?
Ja’Kobe Bibbs is a community organizer intern in the SPLC’s Alabama state office.
Image at top: From left: Ja’Kobe Bibbs, a political science major at the University of Alabama, and SPLC Alabama State Office Director Tafeni English-Relf at the steps of the Alabama Capitol during Jubilee 2025. (Credit: Myisa Plancq-Graham)