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 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

Community Healing Event and Candlelight Vigil at Richmond High School

What: Community Healing Event
When: Tuesday, November 3, 2009, 3:30 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.
Where: Richmond High School (back Football Field), 1250 23rd Street, Richmond, CA
Who: Students, Teachers, Community Leaders, and Public Officials

RICHMOND, Calif., Hundreds of residents, youth, and community leaders are expected to attend tomorrow’s “Healing Event and Candlelight Vigil” that’s being organized by Youth Together, students, and teachers at Richmond High School.

The horrific October 24th gang rape of the 15-year-old student that has outraged the nation has also called into action students and teachers at the school.

“We’re helping our students create a safe space for them to express their feelings,” said biology teacher Lorna McClellan. “Many of our students have been impacted by the way their school has been portrayed and by how they’ve been portrayed by the media.”

Tomorrow’s event includes music, dance, the spoken word by youth poets, and will end with a candlelight vigil to show support for the rape victim and healing for the community.

“This is about Richmond, San Pablo and the community coming together,” said Norma Bautista, a Richmond High Senior. “We don’t support walking by and doing nothing. We don’t support violence. We want the nation to know we’re good people.”

Speakers include students, teachers, parents, Youth Together as well as the School Superintendent, School Board Members, County Supervisor John Gioia, and Richmond Mayor Gayle McLaughlin.

Family members of the rape victim are expected to speak prior to the candlelight vigil.

Donations for the Richmond High School rape victim may be sent to: Richmond High Jane Doe, account number 041-30-1188, Mechanics Bank, 3170 Hilltop Mall Road, Richmond, CA 94806.

For more information contact:
Nadeen Elshorafa – Youth Together, Cell 310-951-5465
Terrance Cheung – Chief of Staff, Cell 415-990-2087

Youth Together would like to invite members and allies to our End of the Year BBQ. The BBQ is Potluck style so if you can contribute something it would greatly be appreciated.

When: Tuesday, June 16th
Time: 1-5pm
Where: Wildcat Canyon/ Alvarado Park

Hope to see you there!

Directions

Once at the park, follow the Youth Together signs to the Camp Alvarado Site

From I-80 going east, take the Solano/Amador exit and turn left on Amador. Turn right on McBryde and follow it to Park Avenue, which leads into the park.

From I-80 going west, take the McBryde exit and turn left onto McBryde. Follow McBryde to Park Ave, which leads into the park.

Public Transportation: Take the 72 on San Pablo Ave and get off on McBryde and walk up McBryde to the Park. We will shuttle at 1pm only on the corner of McBryde and San Pablo Ave.

For more information about Wildcat Canyon/Alvarado Park visit: http://www.ebparks.org/parks/wildcat