Redwood Voice stands unquestionably and unflinchingly in support with the Black Lives Matter movement and the ongoing protests. We also recognize our team, though small, is a fully white crew and therefore come from positions of privilege. As such, when we show our support, we will make sure to keep ourselves out of the narrative—we’ve all seen white folks, even celebrities and organizations, attending protests and taking selfies for “internet clout” or “bonus points” and the like. Not to mention those who use their privilege to assume that they have a say in the matter, and that they can berate or antagonize these people fighting for their lives. The fact that there are so many White people who rally against and talk down on the movement, believing they have control or a say in it, is itself a demonstration of their privilege.
Just needed to denounce those really quick. Pretending those are not things going on just means that they’re happening unchecked.
For these reasons, this page will be a list of resources in order to connect our community in the fights for Black lives all across our nation. This article will be updated when updates and new information are available, and will be listing organizations, bonds, and fundraisers that you can donate and support in order to support protesters, as well as other means of support if applicable. Also, you can click the images to go the websites/applicable links for the organization.
At this point in time, the Minnesota Freedom Fund is actually recommending that you do not donate to them—they have become positively over-saturated with support, and they are turning people to other means of support, meaning they are still a good hub for information. The fund, which has been used to bail out protesters who are arrested for exercising their first amendment right, is asking people to donate to the family of George Floyd and local organizations that are Black & BIPOC led.
From their Twitter account:
You can support Floyd’s family and the Official George Floyd Memorial Fund at their GoFundMe Page here.
Black Visions Collective is a Minnesota-based aimed at teaching transformative justice principles, dedicated to amplifying Black autonomy and leadership in communities. You can donate to them here, and learn more about them on their website. Their Twitter also provides important updates, including important information regarding protests.
So despite those protests a bunch of privileged, gun-toting white guys did a few weeks ago to protest COVID-19 closures since they felt it breached their rights (Remember those guys? Remember how very little was done and how peaceful and negotiable things were?) claiming their first amendment rights were being infringed on (they weren’t, by the way), it’s actually happening now with a complete turn around of how it’s being handled. That’s right, the first amendment right these people were claiming are being breached is actually happening now (and I don’t know about you, but I’ve not heard them speak up on it.)
In lieu of this, numerous bail funds have been created in most cities where a major protest has taken place. You can find them below:
BAY AREA Anti-Repression Committee Bail Fund: Donate and learn more here.
CHICAGO Community Bond Fund: Donate here, learn more here.
COLORADO Freedom Fund: Donate and learn more here.
FLORIDA Justice Center: Donate here, learn more here.
FORT WAYNE Legal & Medical Fees For Protesters: GoFundMe Page here.
JACKSONVILLE, Florida Community Support Fund: GoFundMe Page here.
LOS ANGELES – Peoples City Council Freedom Fund: This GoFundMe is going towards several resources such as bail funds, but additionally medical bills and transportation costs for protesters, and direct support to Black Lives Matter Los Angeles.
LOUISVILLE Community Bail Fund: Donate and learn more here.
MADISON Uprising #JusticeForGeorgeFloyd: GoFundMe Page here.
MASSACHUSETTS Bail Fund: (Different from Massachusetts Freedom Fund) Donate here, learn more here.
MONTGOMERY Bail Out: Donate here, learn more here.
NASHVILLE Community Bail Fund: Donate here, learn more here.
NORTH CAROLINA Community Bail Fund of Durham: Donate here, learn more here.
PENNSYLVANIA (Dauphin County) Bail Fund: Donate here, learn more here.
PHILADELPHIA Bail Fund: Donate and learn more here.
26 Ways to Support Black Liberation Without Protesting
Below is an article from Beyond The Streets that we thought would be helpful. If you want to lend your support even further than donations and spreading resources, you can follow these to become more active.
Our Daily Bread Ministries announced their need for a new GENERAC Generator in order to keep the the shelter warm and operational during bad storms. More specifically, they announced their need for the generator back on December 18th, 2019, and at the time of writing this have only received $675 of their $9,000 goal.
The GoFundMe fundraiser has only received a total of 3 donations. The most recent was 21 days ago, the second most recent 4 months ago, and the third from 5 months ago (the last 2 donations being the same person). The fundraiser has clearly not gained the traction it needs. The GoFundMe page was organized by Rachel Justice, who made the following post to describe the fundraiser:
Want to join me in making a difference? I’m raising money to benefit Our Daily Bread Ministries, and any donation will help make an impact. Thanks in advance for your contribution to this cause that means so much to me.
We are raising funds for a GENERAC generator to power our building when the power is out. As you know, we have serious storms here in Crescent City, CA. When the power is out, it is difficult to continue to feed and house people, and impossible to keep them warm. Our building gets cold, fast. We have many people depending on us for truly life saving services especially in our horrific storms. Feeding and sheltering the masses by candlelight is inefficient and dangerous.
We are working with Randy at High Voltage Electric who will do the installation on this machine that can power our entire 7,000 square foot building. The cost for the generator and installation will be around 8,500-9,000.
More information about Our Daily Bread Ministries: Feed the body, soul and spirit with free 1.) hot meals and emergency food for the hungry[,] 2.) clothing and bedding and life recovery drug, alcohol and spiritual counseling 3 ) clothing, bedding (blankets, sleeping bags and tents) and hygiene products
Rachel Justice; text has been lightly edited to correct typos and can be compared to the original post on the fundraiser.
The image provided in the GoFundMe post of the GENERAC Generator.
Additionally, if you are unaware of the services of Our Daily Bread Ministries provides and how it operates, there exists an Ancient video depicting an inside look of the shelter. (I say ancient, despite it being a little over a year old, likely because it is one of my very early works and it’s interesting to see it compared to my newer works.)
“KFUG takes an inside look at Our Daily Bread Ministries, a homeless shelter with much to offer for people facing homelessness that often goes overlooked.” An incredibly early work by Persephone Rose (yours truly.)
This article, before being posted, was first premiered as information written by Persephone Rose for the KFUG Community Radio production News Now. You can listen to this story and many others on the latest airing of News Now. You can listen to News Now every other Wednesday at 5:00pm on 101.1 FM and streaming online at kfugradio.org!
The 2nd Street Art Gallery & Gift Shop needs your help in order to keep going!
Redwood Voice has been closely following and reporting on the fundraiser on our co-production with KFUG Community Radio (an easy task considering we are the same crew) and the Wild Rivers Outpost, News Now: a radio news-broadcast every other Wednesday at 5pm.
The gallery created a GoFundMe page on April 28th, organized by Dawn Sibille Phillips, which can be found here. The description for the fundraiser is as follows:
Please help us save our 2nd Street Art Gallery and Gift Shop!
First, I would like to say the California Redwoods Art Association (2nd Street Gallery and Gift Shop) has had a lot of support throughout the years. I would like to thank each and every one of you that has been a part of growing this Non-Profit organization.
For those of you that don’t know anything about our organization, members volunteer to host the gallery and gift shop. They schedule guests coming into the classes being taught in the gallery classroom. As volunteers to the public, our hosts are vital assets to our business to the appropriate function with the Non-Profit. Our hosting volunteer positions are very special, involving interactions, not just with visitors, but being at the front desk answering phones from people interested in classes, sales or memberships to the gallery, as well as greeting guests as they come in from all over the world. Our organization is run daily by volunteers, including our officers and board members.
With all that said, we are uncertain when we will be back open for business due to the pandemic with Covid-19 (Coronavirus). All of our events being cancelled and the Gallery being closed is affecting our fate of serving the community with art. We are trying our best to come up with money to ensure our circumstances by opening up the books and collecting any money that’s owed. As a Non-Profit Organization, we are reaching out to the community to fulfill the funds necessary to survive for another two months or necessary time to resume regular hours of service at the 2nd Street Gallery and Gift Shop. We would greatly appreciate any amount donated to help us during these unprecedented times. Thank you in advance for any type of donation. We will be posting updates as soon as things change or we can resume business.
– Dawn Sibille Philips
At the moment of writing this, the gallery has managed to raise $1,525 of their $4,000 goal. The most recent donation was 11 days ago. Updates have been given on the page expressing thanks, it is vital that the fundraiser does not lose traction. In a post on April 30th, only 2 days after the start of the fundraiser, a post announced April’s rent is covered and that the rest would be going to May’s rent when it is received.
Over the coming weeks, though, there have been additional ways you can support the gallery!
Fran Uecker, owner of Firefly Soy Candles, is donating half of all proceeds from her soy wax melts to the gallery, as the gallery explains in the post below! So when you try supporting a local business, you could be supporting TWO simultaneously! (You can find Firefly Soy Candles here.)
Original Facebook post from the 2nd Street Art Gallery, posted May 8th, 2020.
This article, before being posted, was first premiered as information written by Persephone Rose for the KFUG Community Radio production News Now. You can listen to this story and many others on the latest airing of News Now. You can listen to News Now every other Wednesday at 5:00pm on 101.1 FM and streaming online at kfugradio.org!
Memorial Day weekend has come and gone. If it’s shown us anything, it’s that we must prioritize and support the businesses following genuine safety measures. To those businesses who are pursuing this route who have not yet been informed, we hope this information finds you well! (If you somehow missed out on what transpired this weekend, it is succinctly summarized in this Facebook post by KFUG Station Manager Paul Critz.)
If you are a business looking to re-open, the information on how to begin the process has been released. By following these steps, you’ll be up for consideration in opening back up—so long as you follow these precautions.
First, where can you find this information? On Del Norte County’s official website (co.del-norte.ca.us/), the Public Health section of the website has a tab dedicated to all local information on COVID-19 (as you would probably expect). It has recently added a Roadmap to Recovery. It describes each of the 4 Stages of the state order’s 4 Stage plan in simple detail and how that applies to our personal lives, especially business owners who are hoping to re-open. Currently, we are entering Stage 2, which describes the following: “Gradually reopening retail (curbside only), manufacturing, and logistics. Later, relax retail restrictions, adapt and reopen schools, child care, offices and limited hospitality, and personal services.” The extended plan and the important details behind exists as a 7 page PDF file to this section of the website, created on May 15th, 2020. You can view and download the PDF by clicking here.
It opens describing the county’s plan as being that which takes into account orders from the state and needs to be fulfilled.
In order for a business to begin re-opening, it must do all of the following:
Perform a detailed risk assessment and implement a site-specific protection plan.
Train employees on how to limit the spread of COVID-19, including how to screen for symptoms and stay home if they have them.
Implement individual control measures and screenings.
Implement disinfecting protocols.
Implement physical distancing guidelines.
After these 5 tasks have been completed, businesses must then submit a COVID-19 Operations Plan to Del Norte County Public Health in order to reopen. (You can find the form here.)
It is necessary for this form to be completed in order to be considered eligible for reopening. The Economic Resiliency Branch of the EOC is available to assist businesses in completing their COVID-19 Operations Plan. Completed plans may be submitted for approval electronically to: DNR2R@co.del-norte.ca.us or mailed to: Del Norte County Public Health 400 L Street Crescent City, CA 95531.
When the correct sector is open and a business has submitted a COVID-19 Operations Plan to Public Health for review and approval, that business is “Ready to Reopen.” They may self-certify their location and reopen with pending approval of the COVID-19 operations plan. They should print the Self-Certification Window Placard (the link can be found on this same webpage) and place it in a window or where it can be easily viewed by the public.
Any and all other information about the reopening process can be found on this page of the website.
This article, before being posted, was first premiered as information written by Persephone Rose for the KFUG Community Radio production News Now. You can listen to this story and many others on the latest airing of News Now. You can listen to News Now every other Wednesday at 5:00pm on 101.1 FM and streaming online at kfugradio.org!
Since the Del Norte Unified School District has placed schools under closure amidst these days of distancing from COVID-19, some of you may be a bit confused to see school buses still quite active throughout the mornings. While these buses aren’t being used to pick up students, they’re still being used to help them in these confusing times.
Thursday morning, March 19th, I had the interesting experience of tagging along with Crescent City Bureau Chief Jessica Cejnar for a school bus ride along in the midst of their recently established meal delivery program. You can find her incredibly well-written article about the experience here!
We rode Bus 22, driven by Reese Trimm. Starting only last week after the closure of schools, the buses have been used to deliver meals to youth all across Del Norte County. They include breakfast and lunch, but sometimes they provide even more food: case in point, the Monday after the following weekend (the one coming up) is a Professional Development day, which would mean the buses will not be running its meal delivery route. So, they encouraged each and every parent and student on Thursday to bring a bag or backpack the next day, so that they could provide double the amount of meals to make up for Monday’s absence. This program is determined to not let children go without food!
On the first day, Reese Trimm, who keeps track of how many kids are receiving food, said that her route delivered meals to 162 kids; the next day, 111; the day after, 146; and, on our ride along, in the span of roughly 2 hours from just one bus, Bus 22’s team delivered meals to 186 kids, totaling at 372 meals.
Paige Swan, Crescent Elk Middle School’s principal, also joined us for this ride with the specific goal to hand out ungraded enrichment worksheets to students from Kindergarten to 8th Grade. These would help keep students occupied in an educational manner so that the closure of schools did not impact their progress too heavily. Paige Swan also informed us that the following week, similar worksheets would be created for high school and preschool students.
As this process goes on, changes are being made further and further to encourage the use of this program and assist in making it more accessible. DNUSD Transportation Director Derrick Campbell spoke to us about an app called “Here Comes the Bus” that would allow parents to track the progress of the buses on their routes, in order to ensure added safety and convenience. Update: the district has established their code for the app! If you’re interested in using it, download the app and input 86992 to track buses in real time!
Below, you can find the video to this ride along:
This experience is just one example of how our community has banded together in this time of worry and panic, in our distancing and closures amidst COVID-19. We are hoping this is only the beginning of many projects documenting these kinds of events. If you have any information or would like us to highlight other organizations taking actions like these to help in these times, please comment below and we’ll follow up with you!
Redwood Voice’s Avi Critz wrote an article on the Supervisor Candidates Forum from February 19th, 2020, for the Wild Rivers Outpost. The article is as follows:
A photo from the candidate’s forum. Photo Credit: Jessica Cejnar.
This past Wednesday, the candidates for Del Norte County Board of Supervisors met at the Firehouse on Washington for a community forum. The candidates participating in the forum included Lori Cowan, John Pritchett, Bob Berkowitz, Kevin Hendrick, James Ramsey, Darrin Short, and Valerie Starkey.
The forum was arranged and held by the Del Norte Association of Realtors and moderated by Debbie Olson. In preparation for this forum, candidates were given a list of 23 questions that they prepared answers for. These questions revolved around property rights, home ownership, and community issues surrounding housing.
The forum began with 3-minute opening statements from all the candidates, in which they addressed their hope for this discussion and their qualifications to run for Del Norte County Board of Supervisors.
Many candidates also mentioned the key issues that they would address in their answers. They were then randomly given 2 questions from the list of 23 questions that were provided earlier. Each candidate also answered a write-in question that was asked by the people in attendance.
Although each question was different in its topic, many of the same subjects arose from the candidates’ answers. Every candidate mentioned the growing homeless population in Del Norte County, as well as economic growth in every district.
Many candidates pointed to tourism being the biggest economic draw for Del Norte, and suggested that tourism be better promoted in our county.
The audience questions brought up topics like developing a 24-hour homeless shelter and how the board can collaborate with community organizations to implement such a shelter. The candidates then gave their closing arguments and expressed their excitement for the coming election.
The primary election for California is on March 3. Polls will be open from 7a.m. to 8 p.m. For more information about polling places, visit the Del Norte County Elections Office website.
As those who follow our social media accounts may know (namely our Facebook, Instagram, & YouTube channel, all linked in case you’ve been missing out), the start of a new year brought about the start of a new Redwood Voice!
The first month and a half of this experience has had its ups and downs as any organization would, but so far we have seen it as overwhelmingly positive. Alongside a resounding reception from the community excited for Redwood Voice to be jumping back into the fray of journalism and media activism, we’ve properly introduced our current team on our YouTube channel in a short miniseries, began a regularly occurring series dedicated to archiving the Del Norte Unified School District Board Meetings in the wake of difficulty attending them and complaints that the information does not easily reach those who miss the meetings, and our typical event filming in which we broadcast amazing occurrences in our community, like this year’s Women’s March. This is further paired with the gathering of news for KFUG Community Radio’s bi-weekly (every two weeks in this case, just to be clear!) newscast, which is comprised of the Redwood Voice team. We also have numerous projects being planned behind the scenes that include further connecting Redwood Voice to our audience and dipping into new forms of media we’ve not previously explored.
Redwood Voice member Persephone Corvid Rose in their team member video thumbnail. Photo credit: Brayden Hatch. Video Link Here.
Redwood Voice member Avi Critz in his team member video thumbnail. Photo credit: Persephone Corvid Rose. Video Link Here.
Redwood Voice member Brayden Hatch in his team member video thumbnail. Photo credit: Persephone Corvid Rose. Video Link Here.
Of course, these new and exciting changes will all come with time. There are still items on the table being considered and issues being resolved. As you may have noticed, for instance, the rate that videos are edited has shown slight limitations. Though we are able to produce videos we are proud of that demonstrate events and stories in full, some have shown a tendency to be late, a problem due to the fact there is only one current video editor who must thoroughly edit every video. That same video editor attends these events, films them, interviews people if necessary, compiles all the useful footage, troubleshoots any issues that may have come up during filming, edits the video, looks up any necessary information to proof-check what’s going on and provide correct info, spreads it, connects it to the people involved, and starts the next one. Then they manage all the social media accounts and write articles, like the one you’re reading now. And of course, with one member being a full time college student and another working a second job, roles are continuously being configured and chosen.
This has lead to a clear solution we are hoping to soon explore, but with which we won’t share much more information until our plan is perfectly streamlined: expanding the Redwood Voice team. Although we will not be sharing more until we know more about our situation in utmost certainty, if you or somebody you know is interested in journalism and media, namely youth in the community, please reach out! (One of the improvements coming soon to our website will be configuring the sign-up sheet for joining Redwood Voice.)
In the meantime, we will be continuing to clean up Redwood Voice. Our website, for example, has taken a bit of polishing just to get where it is now, and will continue to require some work. Most work thus far has had to do with conflicted coding on the website that has made links malfunction and strange glitches occur, such as crediting authors incorrectly. Additionally, we’ve been removing outdated information, which still requires work. For example, if you look on our radio tab shortly after this article comes out, you will see advertisements for radio shows that haven’t existed in quite a long time. You may also notice the cover photo of our website pictures people who are no longer members of Redwood Voice with an older logo. So, we have some work to do! Credited authors, our tagging system, and the format of many articles will be configured to provide a more enjoyable experience to our audience. All the same, we wish to add more content here! This means that even though we will be continuing to repair and clean up the website, we will soon be posting articles and linking videos in the coming days!
We are incredibly thankful for the support of the community and are excited to be continually growing!
Being one of the many participants in the E3 Program in Del Norte County from the Del Norte Workforce Center, I dedicated my time to completing this program not just one time, but two times around, and both times I was able to turn them both into success stories for the E3 Program. I made a strong candidate for this opportunity to travel out to Aspen, Colorado for the Opportunity Youth Forum, due to the fact that I brought my own dedication to my workplace and proved that I do stand as an employee with the rest of my team members at Wild Rivers Community Foundation/Building Healthy Communities. I was able to get invited from my previous supervisor Imelda Ramirez who is the program manager for E3, and I was thrilled and honored to be invited to this Opportunity Youth Forum. I had one week to prepare for this travel, and I found myself with thoughts that it was very little time to prepare mentally and physically because I am a full-time student at College of the Redwoods. I managed to arrange my schooling/homework and all the other details with work to properly make myself available for the week of the forum.
Later that day in which I got invited, I found out who else I would be attending with. I thought to myself, there was no other group I would rather go with to this Opportunity Youth Forum, because we all hold a powerful movement within our community to be shown and tell our stories amongst many other leaders around the world. I found out that our group will be taking some leaders in our adjacent tribal lands, a youth organizer for True North Organizing, a Youth Coordinator, our Del Norte Workforce Center E3 Program Manager, and of course my boss Michelle Carrillo the Executive Director for Building Healthy Communities at Wild Rivers Community Foundation. Later on into the week of the forum, I found out that there were other community members attending the forum from our community as well, which brought me to think of what a powerful and changing opportunity our community has with making a voice for all of us back home. The whole invitation brought excitement and more passion to continue the work we do for our progressing community.
As Sunday approached and I was officially loading my bags into my car it began to hit me; I was about to travel on a plane over to some high elevated mountains in Colorado. It was a scary feeling and I was not able to sleep comfortably that Sunday night prior to catching my plane the following morning at 6:00am. Imelda Ramirez was traveling alongside with me and given the fact we are both related as cousins I can say it made the whole worrisomeness of the plane ride become easier to handle because we had each other for support and encouragement that we would make it through and touch ground in Aspen, Colorado safe and sound. We arrived at the airport two hours as recommended prior to boarding our plane, and we were able to meet up with one of our group participants from Weitchpec, CA, which is further south of Crescent City, in our adjacent tribal lands. We all greeted and wished each other a safe flight and walked through the security check, normal and with hopes of nothing turning into an unwanted disaster.
Enjoying the activities and winter weather.
Monday, around 1:00pm, we touched ground in Aspen, although we were very nervously flying above Aspen for over 30 minutes awaiting landing; there had been a slight complication with landing due to the visibility for the plane road track. We had seemed to arrive just when a small storm was beginning to make its way. I fainted in those 30 minutes that we were flying above Aspen. The elevation was incredibly high–over 8,000 ft.–and I got extremely dizzy, lightheaded, and nervous from the information the pilot was giving the entire group of people aboard the plane. With the thought of blessings that my mother had given me the following day, it was just enough to bring me back to my senses of “everything is going to be alright”. And it was.
Arriving on the grounds at the Aspen Institute in Colorado, it was all a great deal of luxurious treatment that I found myself being treated to. They impressed me with all the outstanding care they showed. From grabbing my luggage to offering me all the amenities that for one, I would think the millionaires there in Aspen would be the only ones to be treated this way. On the contrary, it was myself being honored with this hospitality. As we stepped into the main lobby building at the Aspen Institute we were guided to the lunch area where we were served buffet style with assorted freshly made meals by the institute chefs. We grabbed and ate some delicious lunch then headed to our hotel to unload and get ready for our dinner and new participant orientation.
The orientation involved all the participants to gather together and welcome this year’s 2018 Opportunity Youth Forum. We were all greeted as we entered and joined in again on the dinner buffet they had set up for everyone that night. It was all super exquisite food and fine dining that us folks do not get treated with back home in Crescent City. It was fancy, and I felt the high class treatment throughout the night. The first few 15 minutes were for mingling and networking with different partners and organizations. For myself, it all felt really intimidating because of the fact that I only represent myself as a youth involved in a program.
Participants of the forum enjoy evening performances.
As the night progressed we had the honor of hearing a speech from Yelena Nemoy, one of the Aspen Institute Community Solution partners, and welcomed some live featured performances by Cleo Parker Robinson Dance, featuring a selection from “Dry Each Other’s Tears in the Stillness of the Night,” and “On the Edge…Reaching to a Higher Ground.” The performances were incredible, accompanying our delicious dinner and fancy wine beverages being served. The idea I got from the performances was to gain a reflection of two people working together in order to show support for each other and create sympathy for the strength it takes to be involved within a larger spectrum of work that we all do as a community. It was heartwarming to see such a great art performance between two partners. The night progressed with chills from all corners in the building. The people gathered within the building were all there for the same purpose and dedication to continue the good work around the world for our Opportunity Youth, and for myself I felt a great deal of inspiration throughout my entire time in Aspen.
On Tuesday morning we had a busy start, trying to adjust to the time difference, and getting to the institute on time for the opening presentation. We came along with everyone else to the Doerr-Hosier Center where we all gathered for breakfast each morning. Poetry by Bianca Mikahn was our serenade to our lovely breakfast, followed by Melody Barnes, the Chair of the Aspen Institute Forum for Community Solutions, and the new president and CEO of the Aspen Institute, Dan Porterfield. They opened up the morning with their speeches about guidance on the transformative power of collaboration to drive change, thoughts, and the importance of self-care in leadership. We were told to enjoy the sessions and that each and every one of them looked forward to collaborating ideas and sharing networking information amongst us all. My first session was at 10:00am, called “Adapting Entrepreneurship Curricula to Support the Needs of Opportunity Youth”. This was one of my favorite sessions, due to the fact that there were more interactions happening within a group, and we all had a chance to give out ideas, make something, and reflect on our own efforts as a group. These practices are very important, in my opinion, when you are trying to work with a team of multiple people, because the interactions have to bring out great solutions. Practicing these types of workshops teaches skills to become a better entrepreneur.
My second session was “What Counts When Reengaging Youth”. This session included talking about the different areas and data consumptions that are gathered within communities and how we can use this data collection to figure out which areas need to be worked on the most to reengage youth.
My third session for the day was “Making Youth Reconnection Work through Movement, Dance, Meditation, and Love”. This session was a very powerful gathering, and quite intimidating because of the fact that all the main leaders were in this room, including the CEO and President of the Aspen Institute and the rest of the leaders for the forum. They were all warm and welcoming. We started off with an icebreaker activity on partnering up with someone for a quick interview that we would later present to the whole group. Everyone seemed to be very important and CEOs of businesses within their community, and corporations as well. Their little biographies that we got were inspiring, and we later moved on to explaining the success some corporations like BestBuy have accomplished, putting over hundreds of thousands of dollars towards educating youth in the computer tech pathway and giving out applause to a great opportunity for our youth.
A beautiful view from the window.
As our day ended that Tuesday, the weather got incredibly cold, but it also felt wonderful to be able to experience the Colorado wind and be surrounded by high mountains and Aspen trees in every direction in sight. It was a privileged experience that I will not forget. On Wednesday morning, we were brought to our same routine as Tuesday, although this day we were immersed into the first snow fall of the season in Colorado, which was breathtaking. The snowflakes were massive, perfectly frozen flakes falling from the sky. Our Del Norte group was able to get a table by the windows off to the left of the Doerr-Hosier Center, and we were able to take glances back and forth. Within 30 minutes, the surrounding areas outside were a perfect fluffy color white. It was a site to remember, especially with the ginormous property that the Aspen Institute has, everything was artistically designed to suit a millionaire’s taste in views.
Participants of the forum engaged in Shawn Ginwright’s presentation.
The morning opening session was given by Steve Patrick, of the Aspen Institute Forum for Community Solutions. He made a speech about the importance of sharing the healing-centered engagement framework with the Opportunity Youth Forum network and lifting up community-based strategies for addressing traumas. A speaker later went onto the stage to talk about the importance of being inclusive to all people, whether that be that those people are incarcerated. This Professor of Education from San Francisco gave his speech and displayed some PowerPoint slides about “Shifting to a Healing Centered Engagement,” and explained that in order to heal, we need to understand what we need to heal and know the difference of not just suppressing the symptoms we have, and also supporting youth development workers with transformative change over professional development. His speech was touching and made me reflect on my own experiences I’ve seen in my years, and the fact we need to give more support to strengthen our social, emotional growth and well-being as well. This professor’s name is Shawn Ginwright, a much-respected man among all the forum participants.
As we went on to the rest of our sessions that day, I went off to my next one which was “Designing Community Dialogue to Support Undocumented Youth”. This was a powerful session for me because I was able to tell a real story to the rest of the group who participated in this session. The leaders were Ruth Barajas-Cardona from Bay Area Community Resources, and Thomas Showalter from National Youth Employment Coalition and they both facilitated a problem-solving session that will help us design our own community dialogues for helping to serve the young people in our community. We all had a very different way of trying to create a dialogue that will capture the youth. For example, some of the ideas that were brought to importance were the fact that we need to build relationships with a couple of potential allies and demographic research as well. These two ideas were a part of a big discussion between the group, and we got into detail about each different community we come from. We later went into detail about facilitating the pathway for the Opportunity Youth amongst this undocumented group. It’s very important to educate people about the importance of knowing your rights and what you may qualify for when you come from an undocumented background of people and share the word to the rest of the people.
I joined into the debrief session with the youth leadership group and it was very interesting to find out the difference that was happening with both youth side and non-youth side sessions. I attended the non-youth sessions and was able to find an equilibrium between both and gather my thoughts to justify that us young leaders are on the right direction to facilitating a movement for all our communities. Understanding the fact that we all have stories that give us more and more strength each time we share those stories. We are gaining the highlight of making an inspirational movement story for our youth within our communities to learn about and continue to grow together to form a powerful change that will impact the youth below us. That equilibrium that I felt was the right hook to cast me into the direction of future change. Becoming involved with the right sources within your community will give you the willpower to further your journey into a right path, because you will be able to feel the good work people put into helping our communities. Feelings are a key important element with doing community work, as in, one must be healed from their own traumas in order to heal the next ones coming up after them into their community. One must feel healthy, safe, and know that healing-centered engagement is culturally grounded onto us and we must view healing as a restoration of our own identity.
One must feel healthy, safe, and know that healing-centered engagement is culturally grounded onto us and we must view healing as a restoration of our own identity.
Article written and photos taken by Jessica Ortiz.
This summer, I had the opportunity to work on the media team for the week-long Sons and Brothers Leadership Camp at a mountain retreat in Portola, California, sponsored by the California Endowment. Young men came from inner cities all over the state to help them heal from their personal traumas and prepare them to confront the challenges they face at home in a better way. As the media team, our responsibility was to capture the events of the camp and tell the stories of the campers. We all worked on projects utilizing various forms of media to produce videos, memes on social media, a yearbook-style compilation that every participant could take home, and an audio diary. I was primarily involved in producing the audio diary. We did a series of interviews with one young man throughout the week and followed his development and growth during camp. After the camp was over, I continued to work on this project, writing a script and polishing the story as our team coordinated with KQED–an NPR affiliate in San Francisco. In August, the story aired on the California Report. The story is posted here: https://www.kqed.org/news/11689332/california-camp-challenges-young-men-to-rethink-masculinity
Photo by nevadateach (flickr)
When I first met the media team I was excited to get to know them over the next week. We all slept and worked in the same small cabin, and even thought it was a tight fit, the atmosphere was fun and exciting. Once we began our projects, however, my feelings changed. I quickly saw that I didn’t know as much as I thought I did. Honestly, I didn’t even realize how much I didn’t know. Some of the guys on the media team were far more experienced than I was, and at first I was intimidated–even discouraged. I thought, “What am I doing here? They don’t need me.” But then I decided to draw from their pool of knowledge and experiences. I starting asking questions and having them show me things. Once I did this, my experience became a lot more enjoyable. Not only was I participating in documenting the camp, but now I was also learning new skills.
As the week progressed I got to know some of the camp participants better, and I was stunned at their stories. These young men are amazing, and some of the hardships they have to face I can’t even comprehend. Many of them deal with gang influences, domestic violence, and even homelessness at a young age. I was grateful for the privilege of hearing and sharing their stories.
During the week I also got to participate in some of the events of the camp, like archery, which was a good release for me and helped me focus and relax as I worked on improving my aim. Another activity I was able to participate in was called the leap of faith. After being strapped to a safety harness that was connected to a rope pulley system, with my teammates as anchors, I climbed up a pole and stood on a small platform forty feet in the air. The entire way up my heart was pounding and my mind was racing with fear. But I knew that if I gave place for those fearful thoughts, then I would not make it. So, ignoring my fears, I continued upward, one step at a time. When I got to the platform, I let out a yell and I jumped, relying completely on my teammates. Sure enough, they caught me. The moment my feet left the platform, the height was no longer scary and intimidating, but beautiful and majestic. I learned a lot from this experience. It helped me overcome some of the other fears that I face in my life and trust that everything is going to work out as long as I keep putting one foot in front of the other and don’t let my fears paralyze me.
All of the young men came from very different backgrounds than myself, and it was a good opportunity for me to learn about other people’s culture. It opened my eyes, and it opened my mind. I could see that we really are all brothers regardless of what we look like or where we come from. I left camp with a stronger character and a deeper sense of my humanity, as well as a commitment to brotherhood.
Photo taken from http://find.acacamps.org/images/camp/image/main/phpopT7Sw.jpg
On Friday evening, youth leaders granted $11,000 to 14 organizations in Del Norte and Tribal Lands in collaboration with Building Healthy Communities. Manuel Saavedra, age 20, says the grant-making process was an opportunity for them to experience having the decision-making power. “It usually feels unattainable,” Saavedra says, “You often hear people say ‘If only I could change this.’ This opportunity let us get behind the steering wheel and get to choose what work we want to see create those changes in our community.” While Saavedra says the responsibility was intimidating, it was also exciting, and he saw his team grow as leaders. “Sometimes, I would take a step back and just watch everyone. It made me really proud seeing everyone step up to that leadership role.”
The youth leaders forming the Youth Philanthropy team, Manuel Saavedra, Steven Williams, Tyler Harrison, Teng Lee, Alex Fallman, Ryan Wait, and Chris McDonald, started work in November of 2015, and dedicated countless hours of volunteer work to manage the grant-making process from start to finish. The group learned a lot from the process, and further developed as leaders.
Michelle Carrillo, Youth Program Manager with Building Healthy Communities, says she also saw the youth “develop a deep respect and appreciation for people’s time and a higher level of care for what people in the community are trying to do.” The group received 21 grant applications, and unfortunately, had to decide what projects to partially fund and what applications to turn down. “It was so hard to say no to any of them,” says Carrillo, “All of the applications were great, and many of them were actually submitted by youth who had never written grants before, and that was exciting.”
Richard Myers with the Golden Eagle Freestyle Wrestling Club, received a grant for his youth wrestling group located in Weitchpec that currently has 19 youth attending and “one and a half well-used mats.” Additionally, the Tribe recently declared a state of emergency in Weitchpec due to the alarming rates of suicide, occurring within weeks of each other. “There was a call-out for male mentors to help our youth,” he says. “And I wondered what youth are doing for themselves to release stress and excess energy. Wrestling changed my life, and I knew I could use it to help. There were a lot of youth who wanted to wrestle, but had no transportation to get to classes that were a two hour drive away.”
“The grant won’t just be for wrestling,” Myers adds “It will be used to bring in more physical activity opportunities to our underserved community. I am very grateful for what Building Healthy Communities is doing.”
Carrillo summarizes, “I have a sincere appreciation for how much time the youth leaders put into this. It just shows how much they care about this community. They are not the leaders of tomorrow, they are the leaders of today.”
Photo Credit: Nancy Raskauskas-Coons
Telling the untold stories of Del Norte and Tribal Lands through amplified youth voices.
