Our Voice, Our Power: Youth Leader Planning Call
The Gathering for Justice believes in the unique strength of intergenerational leadership, harnessing the energy of youth alongside the wisdom of our elders. By investing in skill-building, mentorship and historical education rooted in culture, nonviolence and in the movement, we cultivate the leadership of young people to create programming and respond rapidly to trending social justice issues.
Like most things, we are taking this commitment to the digital world during the COVID-19 pandemic. That’s why we took the cue from our youth organizers to hold Our Voice, Our Power: Building the Framework for the Beloved Community on April 2nd, with young people who are connected to The Gathering. On April 15, 2020, we’ll host another Our Voice, Our Power via Zoom, which will is open to the public. (Click here to add to your calendar.)
The topic of discussion for the past town hall was the resources that young people need, and are prepared to organize for. This includes justice reform that gives young people support rather than incarceration, as well as tackling the disproportionate impact of lack of resources at school.
Our Voice, Our Power also included an introduction to Kingian Nonviolence, the set of principles outlined by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in his famous essay, “A Pilgrimage to Nonviolence”, and further developed into a praxis by his colleague, Bernard Lafayette. By training young people in Kingian nonviolence, we develop stronger and clearer leadership from impacted youth, and that builds a bigger, stronger movement to create policy change at the administrative, municipal, state and federal level. Read more about the Guiding Principles of Kingian Nonviolence on our website.
Because the current public health crisis has touched every aspect of our lives and work, we also shared and discussed the Six Principles of Nonviolence in the Time of COVID-19 created to specifically address the times we are in.
After the training, the youth in attendance used Zoom breakout rooms to discuss how they see these principles popping up in their lives, as well as what resources they need at this time. The breakout sessions were a chance to explore participants’ thoughts, feelings and needs, and the report-backs were inspiring.
Please join us for the second Our Voice, Our Power: Building the Framework for the Beloved Community on April 15th at 7:30pm EST / 4:30pm PST, or forward this to young people, teachers, social workers and others who might benefit.
We believe that youth leaders at every table will result in a stronger movement and advocacy work, because youth who are directly impacted are the ones who have the solutions.
