News reporters from several local news stations showed up to cover the story. I’m glad there was a lot of media covering this story because this lawsuit will be a major step in making sure all of California’s students have access to an equitable and quality education. Community organizers along with some parents and students voiced their concerns and personal experiences. They expressed frustrations over having to put up with this school system that doesn’t provide efficient and sufficient funding for its students. I think more students should have spoke. Our voices should be heard because we’re the victims of this crime. I also noticed that there were only a few people of color that showed up to support the filing of this case. Which I think is wrong because it is us low-income, immigrant people of color that this broken system is affecting the most.

California’s school system now ranks 44^th in spending per student. But this lawsuit is not about asking for more money, it is about keeping the state in check and making sure they spend their budget wisely. Decades of working with legislators to fix our school systems have not gotten us anywhere. It seems that the only way to get the state to ensure proper funding is by suing them yet again and also showing them examples of people’s lives they affected. By this statement of having people and media and communities come together to file the lawsuit shows the state we mean real business.

]]> http://www.youthtogether.net/peace/2010/07/08/rest-in-peace-oscar-grant/feed/ 8 http://www.youthtogether.net/peace/2010/07/08/rest-in-peace-oscar-grant/ http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/youthtogether/~3/y3htU3OAkAQ/ http://www.youthtogether.net/peace/2010/05/12/rights-of-passage-building-future-leaders-end-of-the-year-celebration/#comments Wed, 12 May 2010 18:00:57 +0000 nickjames http://www.youthtogether.net/peace/?p=736

You are cordially invited to,

Rights of Passage: Building Future Leaders
An end of the year celebration honoring Youth Together’s graduating seniors.

Friday, May 21
6:00 – 9:00 pm
Humanist Hall, 390 27th Street (between Telegraph and Broadway),
Oakland, CA 94612
Wheel-chair accessible from 411 28th Street (back side of building)
www.humanisthall.org

Youth Together will be honoring and celebrating the organizing work and academic excellence of our graduating seniors.  Rights of Passage is a fundraiser.  No one will be turned away but given the hard economic reality, we encourage donations to help fund our work.  Your donations will be immediately rewarded after you experience the accomplishments our student organizers have accumulated this past year.

Furthermore, we are excited about presenting our 2nd Annual Richard Aoki Award to one student organizer.  We’d like to thank the Richard Aoki Foundation for continuing to support Youth Together.

If you have any questions, please contact Layidua Salazar, Youth Together’s Operations Coordinator, at 510-645-9209 ext. 301, or at lsalazar@youthtogether.net.

YOUTH TOGETHER ADVOCATING FOR REINVESTMENT IN ETHNIC STUDIES AND ALTERNATIVE EDUCATION AT 9th ANNUAL ETHNIC STUDIES CONFERENCE AT UC BERKELEY APRIL 28th, 2010

Berkeley, Wednesday April 28, 2010 – Over six hundred high school students from throughout the Bay Area will attend Eastbay nonprofit Youth Together’s 9th Annual Ethnic Studies Conference at UC Berkeley.  The theme, “Reclaiming Our Past, Fighting for Our Futures,” is a call for students to find strength in their histories as a tool to motivate them towards higher education.  Students will participate in presentations and performances centered on race, culture health, media literacy, student organizing and art activism.  With workshops from local educators, organizations, students, and artists, this year’s Ethnic Studies conference will continue Youth Together legacy in providing alternative education and spaces for youth to become active in social justice organizing.

The Ethnic Studies Conference has served over 6,500 students in its nine year history, making it a premier educational event for Bay Area high school students.  For many students in attendance, this will mark their first time visiting a college campus.  In a time where budget cuts have decreased the number of students of color on college campuses across the state of California, this conference marks an opportunity for youth to not only picture themselves attending college but also succeeding in higher education as they witness accomplished presenters and community leaders of their cultural background.  “Even though California is hurting financially to fund education, we and the community continue to find alternative ways to provide comprehensive education and motivation for our youth to succeed and grow,” says executive director Prishni Murillo.

For more information about this event contact Youth Together’s Director of Special Projects Nick James (510) 504 4877, or email him at njames@youthtogether.net

• AIM-West
• All Power to the People Archive
• Asian Health Services Youth Program
• AYPAL
• Casa Che
• Castlemont Teens On Target
• Espino Coalition
• Land and Life
• Mujeres Unidas Y Activas
• San Leandro High Social Justice Academy
• The Black Hour Radio Show
• Youth Speaks
• Youth Together

Conference Schedule

8:00-9:00am Registration & Breakfast
9:00-10:00am Opening Ceremony
10:10-11:30am Session 1 Workshops
11:40am-12:30pm Lunch, Music and Art
12:40-2:00pm Session 2 Workshops
2:10-3:00pm Closing Ceremony

Youth Together Stands in Solidarity with the Statewide Mobilization In Defense of  Public Education

Youth Together is committed to addressing the root causes of education inequities that lead youth of color into prison, dead-end jobs, and poverty.  Public education has been the hope and tool that thousands of families have used to break the chains of poverty and the cycles of violence that exist in our communities.

California’s children and youth of color are being forced to carry the greater burden of the state’s economic problems

California ranks 47th in education in per-pupil spending in K-12 education.
•    The defunding of public education in California is putting the state’s future in jeopardy by denying the knowledge and skills required for viable economic option for today’s youth, tomorrow’s workers.
•    Inequitable distribution of resources across the state has led to substandard education in working class, communities of color. With more budget cuts, this inequity will continue grow.

Higher education fees have been raised by 32%.
•    The increase in tuition is creating an unjust burden on families seeking a better future and job opportunities.
•    Students of Color are already a minority in the University of California system. Higher fees means that fewer students of color will afford to access a UC education.

Youth Together believes that Quality Education is a Basic Human Right that determines individual and community well-being.  We will participate in teach-ins and mobilizations in the SF East Bat that seek the preservation of this right.

U.S. Department of Education Briefing on Turnarounds
Co-sponsored by Bay Area AEJ members: Coleman Advocates for Children & Youth, Youth Together, and Californians for Justice

Turning Around the Nation’s Lowest Performing Schools

U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan has made an unprecedented $3.5 billion dollar investment in turning around the nation’s bottom 5 percent of lowest performing schools over the next five years.  California is eligible for about $602 million to turn around its lowest performing schools.

The Department of Education recognizes that community engagement and involvement is a critical component in driving turnarounds for a successful effort.  Please join us for a visit from U.S. Department of Education.  We’ll listen to Director of Community Outreach Alberto Retana to learn about Title I SIG (School Improvement Grant) funds, the four intervention models for turning schools around, and discuss ways to drive reform locally.

When:    Monday, March 8, 2010 | 10:00 AM to 12:00 PM

Where:   San Francisco Public Library – Main Branch – Latino Heritage Room
100 Larkin Street
San Francisco, CA 94102
(BART – Civic Center)

Please RSVP to Kimi Lee, AEJ Coordinator:  kimi@movementstrategy.org or call 510-444-0640 x 319.

YOUTH TOGETHER SCREENING DOCUMENTARY CHRONICLING THE “GREENSBORO MASSACRE” TRUTH AND RECONCILIATION COMMISSION, FEBRUARY 18TH IN OAKLAND

When:  Thursday, February 18th, 2010 6:00-9:30 (Movie Starts at 7:00pm)
Where: First Congregational Church of Oakland, 2501 Harrison Street, Oakland, CA 94612

Dear Friends and Supporters,

Youth Together is proud to announce Shawn Ginwright as a panelist following the film screening of Greensboro: Closer to the Truth.  The author, professor, activist, and founder of Oakland based non-profit, Leadership Excellence, will be on hand to discuss his methods of healing and restorative justice with urban youth.  Come join us to view a moving documentary as well as hear and dialogue with amazing community activists restoring hope and justice in our communities.

ABOUT SHAWN GINWRIGHT

Shawn Ginwright is a leading national expert on African American youth, youth activism, and youth development. He is an Associate Professor of Education in the Africana Studies Department and Senior Research Associate for the Cesar Chavez Institute for Public Policy at San Francisco State University. In 1989, Dr. Ginwright founded Leadership Excellence Inc. an innovative youth development agency located in Oakland, California that trains African American youth to address pressing social and community problems. In 2002 he also created the Research Collaborative on Youth Activism, a network of scholars activist who study, advocate and support youth organizing efforts around the country. He is also the co-founder of the Institute for Radical Healing, a newly formed institute dedicated to pioneering research and wellness practices that build the capacity of individuals and communities of color to sustain social change efforts.

In 1999, he received his Ph.D. from the University of California Berkeley. His research examines the ways in which youth in urban communities navigate through the constraints of poverty and struggle to create equality and justice in their schools and communities.

He is the author of “Black in School- Afrocentric Reform, Black Youth and the Promise of Hip-Hop Culture” and co-editor of” Beyond Resistance!: Youth Resistance and Community Change: New Democratic Possibilities for Practice and Policy for America’s Youth” and “Black Youth Rising, Activism and Radical Healing in Urban America”.

He has published extensively on issues related to urban youth in journals such as Social Problems, Social Justice, Urban Review, and New Directions in Youth Development. He is a highly sought speaker to national and international audiences.

Please save the date. We hope you will join us for this important event. To learn more about the project and our objectives and to get more details about our event, feel free to contact Director of Special Projects, Nick James at 510-645-9209 or njames@youthtogether.net.

Click to Watch Trailer

About Greensboro: Closer to the Truth

On November 3, 1979, in the absence of a dissuasive police presence, a caravan of white supremacists confronted demonstrators preparing for a “Death to the Klan” rally planned in a black community in Greensboro, NC by the Communist Worker Party. The Klansmen and Nazi Party members emerged from the cars, unloaded an arsenal of guns and began firing on protesters. Five people were killed in what became known as the Greensboro Massacre.

Greensboro: Closer to the Truth documents the first Truth and Reconciliation Commission ever convened in the United States, which was organized 25 years later in Greensboro to help the community come to terms with this violent history that continues to play a role in the lives of those affected by it. In screenings hosted just outside of Greensboro, North Carolina, viewers expressed shock at their own ignorance of the 1979 “Greensboro Massacre” and its aftermath that transpired only a few miles from where they live. The character-driven film has thus proven effective at engaging audiences in a difficult history that puts a human face to the drama that unfolded in 1979 and invests them in the process of investigating truth and seeking new forms of justice.

See you on February 18th!

Sincerely,

Youth Together Staff & Students

Click here to view whole article as well see other youth wins throughout the country

Youth Together was named in two of the top youth activism victories of 2009!  We’d like to thank the youth who have taken the lead and instituted change and social justice in our communities.

Richmond, Calif. Students Learn From Tragedy

The horrific news of a 16-year-old girl who was allegedly gang-raped outside of her homecoming dance at Richmond High School in Northern California shocked millions. What made it even worse were reports that the attack was witnessed by over a dozen people who, over the course of two hours, allegedly took photos and joined the attack, but failed to intervene or call police.

In the weeks that followed, Richmond High students faced intense media scrutiny. The students, most of whom are working class and of color, were called “animals” and “monsters” by several outraged media observers.

Students acted quickly. With the help of campus-based organizations like Youth Together, a Bay Area education reform organization, hundreds of dedicated students and teachers mobilized candlelight vigils and financial support funds to help the victim recover.

“Some people think Richmond doesn’t care, but would we all be out here if nobody cared?” said one student leader at a school rally held shortly after the attack.

Students and activists are also developing gender violence trainings to be added into the school’s permanent curriculum. By the end of the training, organizers hope that students will examine how they perpetuate violence in their own lives, know how to respond to a bystander and become certified anti-violence trainers.

Video:

Richmond High Responds to Homecoming Rape

Students Win Higher Education Standards

Tracking. It’s a term used to describe the ugly practice in American public education of placing students in different academic settings based on ability. Score low on a standardized high school entrance test and a student might be given only remedial and non-rigorous classes, which ultimately can limit their college choices. Californians for Justice (CFJ), a grassroots statewide youth organizing non-profit working for educational and racial justice in public schools, has been fighting for all students’ rights to the A-G course sequence required for admittance at California State and University of California system colleges and universities.

In June 2009, CFJ scored a major victory in Oakland, Calif. when the Oakland Unified School District (OUSD) joined San Jose, Los Angeles and San Diego districts in making A-G courses the standard curriculum for all students.

“An A-G curriculum will allow more Oakland students to be eligible for university,” says CFJ Communication Director Paul Tran. “It will lessen student tracking, which is often based on racial and ethnic stereotyping, and follows the will of Oakland parents and students who stated in many surveys that they were interested in attending college.” Students played a lead role in achieving the new standards, which take effect in the fall of 2012.

According to CJF Executive Director Jeremy Lahoud, the “A-G for All” campaign involved student leaders from CFJ, Youth in Focus, Asian Immigrant Women Advocates (AIWA), Youth Together, and other youth organizations who worked with OUSD’s Meaningful Student Engagement initiative and Education Trust-West to conduct action research on the issue of college access and readiness. Student leaders presented their findings and demands to the OUSD school board prior the board’s vote on the A-G resolution.

In one crucial confrontation, Oakland High School senior Cecilia Lopez made her demands known when a skeptical retired teacher and school board meeting regular said A-G would fail. “We are an economically challenged urban community,” Lopez said. “If you’re saying that the classes are going to be too hard, that means you don’t believe. We’re not asking for more counselors, we’re asking for a counseling system. If we have A-G, it’s not whether we can do it or not, it’s whether the adults are willing to support us.” The school board agreed with Lopez and A-G passed. Now CFJ hopes to bring Fresno and other school districts in California on board.

Lahoud believes the A-G campaign victory in Oakland will build momentum for a statewide and national movement that demands that all students, especially low-income students of color, receive an education that fully prepares them for college, careers and civic participation. “All students deserve the right to chose their path after high school and deserve the curriculum, qualified teachers, supports and resources to get there,” says Lahoud. “CFJ is part of a new national alliance, the Alliance for Educational Justice, that demands college and career preparation for all students, regardless of race, income or immigration status, and will be part of launching a national campaign in 2010 to ensure that this demand is part of the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act.”

With California students mobilized from Sacramento to Long Beach, it seems likely that CFJ’s efforts will only blossom further.

Click Cover or Link to Download

We have complied our first ever mixtape! Themed after our slogan, “Peace, Unity & Justice,” we picked songs that have inspired us as organizers and activists.  Two tracks even feature Youth Together employees, Academic Coordinator/Singer Siaira Shawn and Director of Special Projects/Music Producer Nick James.  Click the covers or link to download and if you would like to give a donation for the mixtape, you can here.

Songs presented in this mixtape represent our views regarding love, healing, liberation, perseverance, and living peacefully.  This mixtape follows a story of reclamation; a reclamation of our culture, freedom, histories, minds, bodies, identity, spirituality, and aspirations.  This reclaiming of these values is evident in songs such as “Sorrow Tears and Blood,” a Fela Kuti cover by R&B singer, Bilal, “Too Many” by Siaira Shawn, “Soldier” by Erykah Badu, and “We The People Who Are Darker Than Blue” by Curtis Mayfield.  Songs such as “Stimela (The Coal Train)” by Hugh Masekela that speaks of perseverance from Apartheid and Stevie Wonder’s, “Visions,” exemplifies hope in the face of adversity.  We hope these songs bring strength and insight as it has for us.  We will continue to provide music as a way to further the mission of peace, unity and justice.

Thank You,

Youth Together

Siaira Shawn – Too Many

Tracklist

1.  Hugh Masekela – Stimela
2.  K’naan – Let’s Start
3.  Akon Feat. Kardinal Offishall – Mama Africa Remix
4.  Bob Marley – Them Belly Full (But We Hungry)
5.  Bilal – Sorrow Tears And Blood
6.  Curtis Mayfield – We Can Do Everything But Get Along (Live Skit)
7.  Curtis Mayfield – We the People Who are Darker than Blue (Live)
8.  Erykah Badu – Soldier
9.  Nneka Feat. Jay Electronica – Walking
10.  Mos Def Feat. Talib Kweli – History
11.  De La Soul – Stakes Is High
12.  Lauryn Hill – Rebel
13.  Miriam Makeba – Mas Que Nada
14.  Siaira Shawn – Too Many
15.  Crown City Rockers – Culture (Nick James Remix)
16.  Stevie Wonder – Visions
17. Outkast – Liberation

Dear Youth Together Friends and Supporters,

Youth Together would like to invite you to join us for a very special event, taking place on Thursday, February 18, 2010 at 6:00pm at The First Congregational Church of Oakland (2501 Harrison Street, Oakland, CA). Oakland is one of only 6 communities across the country that are participating in an innovative national dialogue project using the film Greensboro: Closer to the Truth to support reconciliation and justice efforts, and Youth Together has been selected to host the film locally. The Bay Area has a long history of confronting injustices despite it being been plagued by violence, police brutality, community tensions and poverty.  We believe that education and dialogue, informed by the history and lessons of Greensboro, can be critical to helping the Bay Area address these issues.  Our goal is to prompt community members to work together to heal and seek justice. We are taking the film Greensboro: Closer to the Truth to Oakland high schools for young people to learn and discuss. On February 18th we are providing a space for local social justice leaders and up to 600 community members to engage in dialogue that we hope will pave the way for long-term collaborations and problem-solving in our community.

Please save the date. We hope you will join us for this important event. To learn more about the project and our objectives and to get more details about our event, feel free to contact Director of Special Projects, Nick James at 510-645-9209 x310 or njames@youthtogether.net.

About Greensboro: Closer to the Truth

On November 3, 1979, in the absence of a dissuasive police presence, a caravan of white supremacists confronted demonstrators preparing for a “Death to the Klan” rally planned in a black community in Greensboro, NC by the Communist Worker Party. The Klansmen and Nazi Party members emerged from the cars, unloaded an arsenal of guns and began firing on protesters. Five people were killed in what became known as the Greensboro Massacre.

The film documents the first Truth and Reconciliation Commission ever convened in the United States, which was organized 25 years later in Greensboro to help the community come to terms with this violent history that continues to play a role in the lives of those affected by it. In screenings hosted just outside of Greensboro, North Carolina, viewers expressed shock at their own ignorance of the 1979 “Greensboro Massacre” and its aftermath that transpired only a few miles from where they live. The character-driven film has thus proven effective at engaging audiences in a difficult history that puts a human face to the drama that unfolded in 1979 and invests them in the process of investigating truth and seeking new forms of justice.

See you on February 18th!

Sincerely,

Youth Together Staff & Students