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We Are The Ones We've Been Waiting For: A Call For Community
Advocacy | CJ Callen, CEO of the Youth Leadership Institute | Wednesday January 11, 2012 12:36
Last week I attended the Summer Jobs+ Summit convened by the White House Council for Community Solutions. YLI has been providing support to this work, serving as the youth engagement strategist for the Council. To that end, we recently hosted a series of youth conversations, identified youth spokespersons, and provided these spokespersons with media training.
The White House event showcased the two youth ambassadors we had the honor to nominate: Shaakirah Medford of the All Stars Project in New York and Jose-Luis Mejia of Transitional Age Youth San Francisco. I may be biased but it’s the truth: the youth panel was the highlight of the day with both Shaakirah and Jose-Luis lighting up the stage. The authenticity and power of their voices and call to action was undeniable and above all, moving.
And what ensued was a conversation about real issues. I am pleased that the attendees—leaders from business, nonprofits, and government—were ready to discuss the underlying root issue: a profound lack of investment in our public education system. This was not a program to merely provide a good photo op or two, but rather the launch of a legitimate campaign to forge short-term relief and long-term fixes to the problem. The campaign has three basic launch messages:
- We can connect disconnected youth
- We must connect disconnected youth (as a moral and economic imperative.)
- Let’s get started now
Our surprise guest, President Barack Obama, drove that point home and rallied the audience to step up to the challenge of investing in youth in ways that will ensure our future. I came across an article on the Summer Jobs+ summit that talked about achieving “more bang for community bucks” and I would add in this case we are equally empowered to proclaim, “more community for your bucks.” That is, after all, what youth really want – community.
I’m sure there is general cynicism about this effort in an election year but I’ll choose to accentuate the positive and seize the opportunity: how often have we had a real national conversation about low-income and disconnected youth who are disproportionally people of color?
Here’s the White House press release with the official word on the Summer Jobs+ program.
We must open the doors of opportunity. But we must also equip our people to walk through those doors.
– Lyndon B. Johnson