July-August 2005

Mountain top experience

Young leaders bond, develop skills, have fun at summit
 

Leaders and staff enjoy opportunity to focus on community organizing and share lessons with one another.

HIGHLANDS, N.C. – "Takin’ It To the Mountain Top,” the National Training and Information Center’s annual youth summit was held here Aug. 12-14 at the Mountain Retreat Center. The summit was devoted to leadership development for young people – those involved in and those interested in community organizing.

The summit provided a unique learning environment for youth who enjoyed such trainings as “Power and Oppression,” “What Makes A Good Leader,” “Finding An Issue,” and “Leaving a Legacy – The Future of Organizing.” Youth also had an opportunity to go canoeing and climb ropes courses while applying lessons from organizing.

NTIC staffers Kelly Pokharel and Kelley Ford and Aaron Fowler of Hope Street Youth Development, in Wichita, Kan., conducted the training. Jake Lowen of Hope Street conducted a special workshop on planning an “action.” An action is usually an unannounced visit to the home or office of someone who has refused to engage in talks, meetings or discuss concerns.

“The training was a lot of fun and I learned a lot about organizing. I learned how to better organize actions and to move issues we face in our communities,” said Jeanetta Green, a Hope Street youth leader. “I plan to use these new techniques this year on our education campaign. The public speaking sessions were very useful and the training will help me take advantage of opportunities to share concerns and stories as we try to make things better for youth,” added the 16-year-old high school junior.

Summit participants examined the history of youth-led movements and discussed future efforts to promote social change through community organizing. Many organizations struggle with developing new leaders to share the work and replace youth leaders that “age out.” NTIC helps address this need by teaching new leaders the skills to be successful in their own organizations and in life.

Youth Summit participants go through an exercise to learn about trust and teamwork.

Another unique aspect of the NTIC youth summit was the participation of Access Living, a Chicago-based organization that is made up of youth with disabilities. “It was amazing to see able bodied youth learn about the challenges that disabled youth face, things like how hard it can be to get around. Youth on both sides had a chance to get to know one another without putting up any fronts. Many had never talked with a disabled person.

"But over the weekend, they talked, worked together and even took turns riding in wheel chairs. They worked through a lot of barriers and assumptions,” said Kelley Ford.

Other groups that participated were Hope Street Youth Development, MAGIC in Chicago, the Columbus-based Coalition on Housing and Homelessness in Ohio, the West End Civic Association in Hartford, Conn., and the Cleveland-based East Side Organizing Project.

Thirteen youth and six adult staffers participated in the training. The youth ranged from age 10 to 22, but the average participant was about 16-years-old. Two youth leaders endured a 24-hour bus ride to attend the training.

“This weekend was one of the best experiences in my life. I got to meet people from different parts of the country. Also I am so happy that we spent the weekend with people who had disabilities. That taught me that we all similar qualities and that we all have problems,” said Joseph Frazier, who came to the summit with MAGIC in Chicago.

“I learned how to hold the power within me and not let anyone take that from me. I learned how to be strong and how to take advice from another person and use it in a way to help people who are really in need,” added Loreal Royster, of the East Side Organizing Project.

The Youth Leadership Summit follows NTIC’s Hip Hop Organizing Summit during the National People's Action neighborhoods conference in Washington, D.C.

More than 80 youth participated in the training, which was done in collaboration with the National Hip Hop Political Convention. Youth and adults explored the history of hip hop, where hip hop is today and how to use hip hop as a tool for political and social change in communities.