He's a 'different kind of teenager.'
On the first day of 2023, Jaylen Smith will be sworn in as mayor of the town of Earle, Arkansas. Smith’s swearing-in will mark a historic first: At the ripe old age of 18, Smith won’t just add to the small number of teenage mayors elected across the U.S.; he will also be the youngest Black mayor in the country’s history.
Earle, a majority-Black city outside of Memphis, has just under 2,000 people and no grocery store. Smith, who beat his opponent 235 votes to 183 in a campaign he started while still in high school, has promised to focus on transportation, public safety, and opening a grocery store in the city. His much older opponent, Nemi Matthews Sr.
To find out what it’s like to seek out such a position at such a young age, Slate spoke with Smith earlier in December. This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.: Earle is a town surrounded by a lot of farmland—cotton and beans. And Earle is more of a family town, where we come together and provide for families that are short [on cash] and don’t have anything on Christmas.It started in sixth or seventh grade.
Early on my senior year, I told my godmom I wanted to run for mayor. She said go for it. And I went for it, even though some people thought I shouldn’t. They thought I should run for city council first. But I continued to pursue what God wanted me to do.It all started in high school with the Student Government Association. We were so passionate about advocating for students to get better opportunities.
I’m a different type of 18-year-old. When I was in high school, I started wearing suits to school, because I knew if I wanted to get somewhere, I had to dress like I wanted to go somewhere.They weren’t surprised. They said, “We need somebody young. We think you should go for it.” We’d had older people in office for so long. The people wanted a young guy to bring more ideas to the table. Young people really want to see more jobs, public safety, a grocery store, and new housing.
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