Blog

Teaching Youth: "We All Have the Power to Make a Difference"

The future of our community lies in the hands of our youth. This is why our Youth Development Program (YDP) gives them opportunities to participate in dynamic workshops, lead groundbreaking conversations, and express their opinions creatively - through visual art, poetry, film, and more. We strive to give our youth the tools they need by planning a curriculum around their interests in a fun and safe environment, so they feel confident speaking up for their beliefs. Watching our youth grow into successful leaders who influence change is what it’s all about. It’s the greatest reward we could ask for, which is why we would like to share the success of two of our very own Youth Leadership Program (YLP) participants - Jennifer Osayande and Kayanna Ely.

“I thought I could take the skills and apply them somewhere else in my life.”

Jennifer, a lifelong South End resident, is a sophomore at Josiah Quincy Upper School and has been a member of our Youth Program for 2 years now - though, she knew about the program long before. “My cousin worked for IBA and told me about it when I was younger, so I always knew about it. But it wasn’t until my friend from school, Eduardo, joined the program and started telling me about all of the different workshops you could do - like dancing, poetry, art - that I was really interested. I came with him to my first meeting.” Now, Jennifer is a second-year peer leader with more responsibilities and ownership of our Youth Development Program. Driven by her eagerness to learn, Jennifer said she became a peer leader because she thought the skills she could gain would be invaluable to her, “I thought I could take the skills and apply them somewhere else in my life.” And she has - using lessons from workshops about social justice with our YDP Coordinator, Erika Rodriguez, to form her own opinions and confidently participate in conversations surrounding important topics. [caption id="attachment_7188" align="aligncenter" width="553"] Jennifer & Kayanna (left & right) pose together in front of the Youth Program's collaborative "LOVE" artwork featured in the GN Crew Gallery. October 14, 2016.[/caption] Kayanna, a resident of IBA’s neighboring Cathedral Development, is a Sophomore at Charlestown High School who said a friend encouraged her to join but one of the things that made her stay in the program is how much she enjoys the element of collaboration. She said, “Some Friday’s we’ll go other places to meet other groups of teen workers and other groups of people who are doing what we’re doing here - art and expressing ourselves - and I love being part of that.”

“All of these conversations inspire me to fight against these things and I hope they inspire the people I work with as well. I want everyone to fight against these things.”

Kayanna, like Jennifer, is a second year peer leader who sets a great example for other YDP members through her deep commitment to the program - always finding a balance between her home, school, and work life. She also noted how YDP workshops discussing “the “5 -isms” (racism, sexism, heterosexism, classism, and ableism) have influenced her, “I see things differently now.” She continued, “All of these conversations inspire me to fight against these things and I hope they inspire the people I work with as well. I want everyone to fight against these things.”

“I want to influence [others] to start doing something too.”

Our YDP program has given Jennifer and Kayanna the tools to necessary to lead their own discussions on topics that affect their community - including racism, sexism, gentrification, and power & oppression. Jennifer said, “If I’m being taught more on these things, then I want to pass along the same teachings. I want to influence [others] to start doing something too.” Which is why she has written poetry about racism and participated in the making of a short video about sexism (see below for an excerpt of the video). [embed]https://youtu.be/IZpZHYI3L6k[/embed] Kayanna also likes to write poetry and has contributed to visual art pieces that shed light on the Black Lives Matter movement, uplift the LGBTQ community, and fight sexism. She described the reward of working on these projects as doing “something to make a change for one of the first times” in her life. Both girls shared the most valuable lessons our program has taught them: Jennifer saying, “To speak out. Before I always had a lot of thoughts in my head but I never wanted to say them out loud. But, I’ve gotten used to it now and I always want to share my thoughts.” Kayanna agreed and added, “I learned that as an individual, a 15-year-old, I can make a change in this world. All of us can. We all have the power to make a difference.”

“We all have the power to make a difference.”

We would like to congratulate Jennifer, Kayanna, and all of our YDP members for their continued efforts to “make a difference.” We are so proud of everything they have accomplished and cannot wait to see what other great ideas they have for dealing with issues from a community to global level. They’re fueling a movement for change that has the power to make an impact from the inside-out. To ensure that even more youths feel empowered to drive change within their communities and beyond, you can make a donation here....