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Gulliver Prep Senior Olivia Martin-Johnson is Gulliver’s Silver Knight nominee for Speech.
Martin-Johnson’s Silver Knight project is called Feminism Explained, a monthly newsletter that’s been in existence for almost two years.
“Its purpose is to debunk the myth that feminism is a radical ideology,” she says.
She says she was motivated by a comment made by a ninth grader.
“A student stated that feminism was not needed, because men and women were already equal,” she says. “It kind of stunned me, I assumed the education I had on gender inequality was the same education my peers had.”
She was used to being around women who could do it all.
“I was able to see I wasn’t exposed to gender inequality growing up, when I went to school in the real world is when I realized I had been raised differently,” she says. “I wasn’t exposed to the stereotypical gender norms.”
The newsletter was started to help others learn more about feminism and expose readers to the harsh realities of what’s happening in today’s politicized world.
“The reality is, there are obstacles women face,” she says. “We are half the population. It’s easier to ridicule a woman in the world. We haven’t been given a fair chance to succeed.”
Martin-Johnson explains how COVID affected women on a larger scale than it affected men, showing that gender inequality is relevant today.
The publication is resonating with readers. They went from having 39 subscribers the first month to just under 4,000 to date. The volunteer staff grew from three to now 12 young women. The writers are high school and college students from all over the United States and one from Dubai.
“The majority are in Miami,” she says. “Some go to Palmer Trinity, and some go to Ransom Everglades.”
The organization expanded, now producing newsletters, fundraising for women’s event and organizing events, including webinar panels.
“We were present and included in the proclamation ceremony at the International Women’s Day Miami-Dade County Event last year,” she says.
Last summer, she met with someone in the State Department just before they were going to meet with the United States Alliance for Women.
Martin-Johnson was in Washington D.C. for the American Politics Academy at Georgetown University, a two-week summer program. She went to a second summer program at Brown University right after – this one on Feminist Anthropology.
She attended the Public Policy Program at the National Student Leaders Conference program at American University the previous summer, going into her junior year.
Martin-Johnson interned at the Miami-Dade County Commission for Women. There she helped write policy legislation for county commissioners. She’s also spoken at county commission meetings about legislation for the Commission on the Status of Women.
She’s been a Senior Policy Fellow for School Board member Luisa Sanchez.
At Gulliver, she was president of the National Honor Society, the Editor-in-chief for the literary magazine “Threads,” a member of Model United Nations, a member of the National Business Honor Society, the National English Honor Society, Co-President of the National Japanese Honor Society, a member of Quill and Scroll, Rho Kappa, Cum Laude Society, and a member of the Academic Honor Council.
Olivia is still undecided on which college to attend, however she plans on majoring in Political Science and double minoring in economics and history.
She plays the piano and is in the top six percent of high school pianists in the country.
Aside from her publication, Martin-Johnson co-founded a podcast funded by the United Nations, Voices in Miami, which she co-hosts with Palmetto High School student.
Linda Rodriguez Bernfeld
