Jackson Free Press

Voting rights acts, education and politics aren't the normal topics of conversation for many teenagers, but they're part of 16-year-old Donovan Barner's everyday conversation.

Barner, an active, opinionated, passionate advocate for change, is one of many outspoken young activists in the Jackson area.

A rising Murrah High School senior, Barner has powerful goals for his future. Because of his interest in politics, he aspires to become a criminal-justice lawyer and eventually own his own law firm, which would specialize in litigation.

"I started off apathetic about politics until my grandmother (Ada Allen, showed me) that I can change things with my opinion," Barner says. Through his involvement in various causes, particularly education, Barner has taken Allen's advice and made his opinion known throughout the community. He has attended and spoken at school-board meetings, talked with students and teachers about hot-button issues within the school system, and founded a group dedicated to educational advancement.

The group, Teach Citizens, Not Students, promotes teaching students life lessons, financial skills and further education about life beyond high school.

One of Barner's major inspirations in life is comedian and activist Bill Cosby. "His humor, his views on life and family, his positivity and his activism are very similar to mine," Barner says. "He's not afraid of getting behind the mic and sharing his opinion, like me."

Barner is a part of various groups including the American Civil Liberties Union of Mississippi, Southern Poverty Law Center and Better Schools, Better Jobs. In addition, Barner advocates to keep the Voting Rights Act in place. He spoke at 2014's Parent-Teacher Association Conference in Austin, Texas, about voter rights and education improvement. This past week, Barner participated in the Freedom Summer Youth Congress in conjunction with the 50th anniversary of Freedom Summer in Jackson.

Outside of his activism, Barner is a member of the Murrah High school concert choir and the speech and debate team, where he participates in Lincoln-Douglas debates, impromptu speaking, congressional debates and extemporaneous speaking.

As an outlet, Barner enjoys channeling his creative energy into making music. He creates instrumentals and writes lyrics for different beats. Barner also plays the piano and drums.

He mentors his two younger brothers, Jeremy, 15, and Raphael, 14. "My younger brother Raphael is always right under me," he says. Barner contributes a major part of his success to his parents, Donovan and Tiffany Barner. He hopes to attend Grinnell College in Grinnell, Iowa, in fall 2015. Until then, Barner plans to continue his activism on an even greater scale in and around Jackson.