Java with Jamie: Triston Ezidore makes history
He's a political science major who already made history as Los Angeles's youngest elected leader. In this week's Java with Jamie, I sit down with Culver City School Board member, 20-year-old Triston Ezidore.
Village Well Books and Coffee in Culver City is across from city hall.
At just 20 years of age, Triston Ezidore has somehow mastered confidence in his decision-making -- especially when it comes to his coffee order.
He is the youngest elected official in Los Angeles County history at 19 years old, and the first Black male, to serve on the Culver City Unified School Board.
Is it still amazing to you that you're a school board member at 19?
"Yeah. Yeah, yeah. I'm often reminded when I have to run from class to board meetings to committee meetings," said Ezidore. "But yes, it is very exciting."
Let's talk about juggling all of that.
"Time management, I think, is key. I look at some of my colleagues and the people who've done this work before me and they've done it while juggling full-time jobs and are raising families," said Ezidore. "So I just think that, you know, where there's a will, there's a way."
Ezidore is currently a student at the University of Southern California.
"I study political science," said Ezidore. "I see myself finishing my four-year term. And I think after that I'm not sure where after that. But right now I'm only focused on kind of the work that we can do in this four years to change Culver City Unified."
He's already making changes. The board unanimously approved Ezidore's Black Student Achievement Plan Resolution.
"Really important first steps when it comes to addressing our education inequities. We just are rolling out our Black Student Achievement Plan. I think this month we're going to have the full 12-point plan to roll out and then implement in the '23/'24 school year. So I'm very excited about that," said Ezidore. "We're already doing a lot of good stuff.
"It's about time. You know, we look at our neighboring districts and we see that that's a best practice. And I don't know why we hadn't done it yet before in the city of Culver City and Culver City Unified. But the time is now," said Ezidore.
Ezidore says he ran for office after witnessing the brutal 2020 murder of George Floyd in Minnesota, where he lived as a child before relocating to Las Vegas and eventually Los Angeles.
Running for a school board is not usually at the top of a 19-year-old's list. What propelled you to want to do that?
"There was a lot that needed to be done, and I think that when we look at the United States of America as a whole, our democracy is under attack, and that attack is happening at our school boards, and I think that we needed champions who were willing to talk about the issues, to talk about racial and social justice and what that means for our education institutions. And I thought that if that's the voice that we need in the district, and I think that I can offer that, then it was my job to run," said Ezidore.
Getting almost 6,000 votes and winning a seat on the board meant not only better representation for himself, but for his eighth-grade brother, Aiden.
It's important to have someone like you representing, not just because you're young, but you are a person of color.
"I take it super seriously. A hundred percent. I take it super seriously, especially the part about being a Black man in education," said Ezidore. "We know that men in education and, and even Black men in education, is extremely scarce. So I think it's important that we show up for all students, but with an emphasis on showing up for our little Black boys who are looking for representation."
In his spare time, Ezidore likes to cook, and enjoys tacos and sushi. He likes to dance -- but wouldn't show us his moves on camera. So while he's very confident in some areas, he's still a 20-year-old at heart.
