Roseville Youth Human Rights Essay Winner Learns About the Fear of Genocide

“Here in Minnesota, genocide seems so far away and inconceivable,” read Parkview eighth-grader Gabriel Cederberg during the Roseville City Council’s Monday meeting.

“In reality, genocide isn’t that far away from us. There are thousands of Karen people in our community who have experienced the constant fear of genocide.”

Cederberg took first place in the Roseville Human Rights Commission’s annual essay contest, his essay being selected from almost 280 entries from sixth, seventh and eighth grade students at Parkview and Roseville Area Middle School.

Cederberg wrote about Roseville’s Karen refugees, researching their persecution in their home country of Myanmar and describing friendships he forged with immigrants on Roseville soccer pitches. Three Karen teammates came to the council meeting on Monday to listen to Cederberg’s speech.

Cederberg, along with two other Roseville eight-graders, Noah Clark Zander and Audrey Wilson, was honored at Monday’s Roseville City Council meeting.

Cederberg, Zander and Wilson’s essays are attached to this story, as are the essays of the three students who received honorable mentions, Sam O’Donnell-Hoff, Sophia Rossini and Maren Youngquist.