Aqilah David

Aqilah David is a Stoneleigh Youth Advocacy Fellow at Juvenile Law Center. She joined Juveniles for Justice (now called Advocates for Youth Justice) back in 2018 after being incarcerated for 11 months. She learned that she could use her experience and voice to change the system and bring awareness to many hardships that youth face when in the juvenile justice system. She is proud of her advocacy to pass the credit transfer bill in Pennsylvania, establish the local youth ombudsman office and make legislators hear youth voices. She is currently working with with the economic justice team and national Debt Free Justice campaign, which seeks to end fines and fees for young people and their families. 

One thing Aqilah wants people to know is that young people take on the burden of being in the juvenile legal and family surveillance systems. Too much responsibility is put on young people to navigate hardships without proper support. Aqilah overcame these broken systems and is devoted to changing them for the better.