The homie Toki Wright of the Rhymesayers just hit my inbox with his new song “By The Time I Get To Arizona 2010 Reduex”. He really channels his inner Chuck D on this one. He also wrote the compelling blog below. Check it out and take action.
Download and blog after the jump.
Marna Winbush, aka Ms. Marna, is an elder in the Milwaukee community and she is a leader in the Campaign Against Violence (WI-Affiliate of LYVEF). When Ms. Marna isn’t teaching CAV leaders how to garden or mentoring young people, she leads a group called Mothers Against Gun Violence (MAGV). The group is made up primarily of women who have lost their children to homicide.
Over the years, Ms. Marna and her brave band of mothers have worked tirelessly for the Responsible Gun Ownership Bill, an effort to restrict person to person guns sales by requiring background checks on all guns sold in the state of WI. While the opposition is well funded, MAGV refuses to give up.
This week, there were a series of hearings in Madison about the bill. Ms. Marna was in attendance along with other community groups including Wisconsin Anti-Violence Effort and Urban Underground .
Watch the video and check out Ms. Marna’s testimony. All we can say is she is one powerful “mama.”
It’s always surprising to see the power of the youth of America. History has shown us that the youth are usually at the forefront of most revolutions and mass movements.
However, that same collective power of the youth has recently made them the latest target in the American news media as a result of the recent “flash mobs” in Philadelphia.
The “mobs”, as news outlets have described them, are groups of teens, predominately African-American, who congregate on the scene of one of Philadelphia’s biggest attractions, South Street.
South Street, located in Philadelphia’s Center City section, is a historic hotspot with a long-running strip of bars, shops, and restaurants.
Lately, the scene on South Street has been dominated by youth who allegedly meet up through social networking sites, such as Facebook and Twitter, and engage in rambunctious, and sometimes, violent activity.
The “tsunami of kids”, as one South Street pizza delivery described them, flood the streets where fights and vandalism have been known to occur. Many times innocent bystanders are caught in the melee.
Although the media continues to criminalize the teens involved, these incidents should give light to the many negative factors which may contribute in the teens acting out this way.
Read more after the jump!
… Continue Reading
Over the last year or so, there have been more and more groups claiming that they work with noncollege youth. This is sort of bitter sweet for me. While the need in this community is tremendous and there is more than enough work to go around, the truth is that not all groups are created equal.
Many of the groups claiming to serve noncollege youth have absolutely no business mobilizing poor communities. But because of their positional power, or because of their relationship to beltway insiders, they often times get resources to do this very tough and often times unrewarding work, when they should be deferring to other organizations.
So, in an effort to clear the air, and serve low income communities, I have a decided to drop this list of the “Top 5 Ways to Know You’re Not Really Working With Noncollege Youth.”
Enjoy.
#1 You don’t have a hood or barrio pass!
Let’s keep it real, not every group has what it takes to canvass in low income communities. There is a real art and science to mobilizing voters in low income neighborhoods. Trust me, you can’t just pop up in a neighborhood and get respect. You have to earn it. And word to John Mayer, hood passes aren’t earned easily.
#2 You are more about promoting your organization than the community!
Lot’s of groups spend way more of their resources on branding and visibility than mobilizing their constituents. That works for some constituencies, but to really get folks from noncollege communities to turn out, you have to really be about organizing. Low income communities only respond when they see a real commitment to organizing and local leadership development. You can’t move folks with a bumper sticker or t-shirt.
It’s okay, most organizations do it. Heck, LYVEF has even had to close up a shop or two when money has gotten tight. But that can’t be your M.O. Noncollege communities need deep, long term investments. You can’t get the respect you need to really mobilize people if you are only in town every other year. Community folks know when organizations aren’t in it for the long haul.
#4 Your whole strategy focuses on online work!
Word to the New Organizing Institute, I love online organizers. But there is no way that you can mobilize noncollege folks if you only use an online strategy. (Well, unless you are Worldstarhiphop.com.) Low income folks need to be able to look you in your eyes to see if you are legimiate. Online organizing is a great tactic, but it CANNOT be the end all be all of your strategy.
#5 You’re feeling a little intimidated by this article.
It’s ok. I’m here to help. As I said above, there is more than enough work to be done in this community. If you really want to serve low income communities, come holla at me. I am more than willing to connect you to a group in your city or region that is doing amazing work. Trust me, they exist.
BTW, here’s a link to our Number’s Don’t Lie–Census 2010 mixtape. Check it out, and download it for free!!!
![[VIDEO] Chicago’s Son: Doc Franchise Speaks](http://99problems.org/wp-content/plugins/simple-post-thumbnails/timthumb.php?src=/wp-content/thumbnails/22219.jpeg&w=300&h=100&zc=1&ft=jpg)
