Since its inception in September, the Future Leaders program at Potomac Shores Middle School has successfully given students the mentoring to prepare for the next level of their academic careers. Earlier today, Manassas Mayor Michelle Davis-Younger visited the school and spoke to the students about life since becoming the city’s first Black female mayor in 2020.

Davis-Younger fielded questions from the students upon her visit, discussing everything from winning the election to balancing public and personal life, noting that she continues her work in Human Resources and public office. She touted the programs that have started under her tenure, including the ‘My Mayor Looks Like Me!’ program in which young women visit city hall on Saturdays to meet with her, including sitting on the dais and even holding her gavel. “It’s something that I take great joy in, showing them it can be done, and it’s important to be that example for future generations,” said Davis-Younger to the students.

She talked about understanding that as a Black woman, “I have to walk a fine line, because there’s a perception that Black people project things differently, and we are being watched more closely, but I’ve learned how to get it done.”

Afterwards, the students treated her to a tour of the school, showcasing the spectacular artwork that was created by several Black artists who attend, including one of civil rights leaders Malcolm X and Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. playing basketball together. The vivid imagery of the Black representation was symbolic of the school’s commitment to celebrate diversity, all the way to the HBCU wall, showing the different institutions of higher learning.

“It’s important to me that we opened up the city to people who look like me,” she said, “because before, when I was growing up [in Manassas] there weren’t people like me in higher positions of leadership.”

She brought up how she was the first woman of color to hold a seat on the city council in 2018, and despite only being in position for two years, she elevated to become mayor. “I had no experience, and all I heard was in my household was to go vote. By winning, what it did was it showed people you could come from having a background where you didn’t hear about holding those positions, and here I stand before you today as mayor,” she said, encouraging the students to register to vote when they turn 18.

She reflected on what it meant to hold the position in spite of the challenges that her parents faced due to segregation. “A mile away from where my mother once scrubbed floors, is city hall where her daughter now occupies the highest seat in the city.”

“When I was talking to my Future Leaders this morning, I told them eagles don’t scrap with chickens,” she said. “You are an eagle, you fly above the negativity and never lower yourself to be hateful, but soar and rise above. Everything that comes along in life is a lesson or a blessing, and sometimes both.”

Principal Joseph Murgo, Jr. talked about having the Future Leaders program and what it means to the students. “The Marshall brothers [Marlon and Mark] have been phenomenal and instrumental to the school in helping the students find who they are, and I appreciate the Mayor coming out and sharing her story with the kids. I believe this will inspire them to be anything they want to be.”