On Tuesday, Senate Republicans — along with some Democrats — defeated a measure to provide $1.3 billion for summer jobs for young people this year and a $1.3 billion extension of enhanced subsidies for poor families with children.

Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), who introduced the amendment along with Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), pleaded with her colleagues not to object.

“I have personally heard the stories of these young men and women whose summer jobs changed their lives across the country,” she said. “This amendment will provide $1.3 billion to create up to 500,000 temporary jobs this coming summer. It will invest in critical employment and learning programs that will help not only these young people but the businesses who hire them.” partially jacked via

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.

3 You skip town when the election is over!

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!!!

More proof that hip-hop isn’t dead. This track comes from Darnell Williams. An unsigned beatsmith and MC from Detroit. He is also an activist and college student.

It’s unthinkable that a kid is killed in a drive-by while at an Anti-Violence Rally. Yet that’s precisely what happened to 13 year old Tamrah Leonard in Trenton, New Jersey last Sunday! Abomination! How is society not outraged at this heinous act?

Sadly, it was not an isolated incident.The economic recession has had an adverse affect on homicide rates, which are skyrocketing. Homicide is now the leading cause of death among young African American youth, and the number two cause of death for all other youth aged 10-24. Dire straits mean that desperate youth are becoming increasingly likely to resort to violence. At the same time, decreased funding means that many after-school programs–which have been proven to get youth off the streets and lower crime rates–are at risk of being reduced or eradicated entirely.

Thankfully, outreach programs provide hope that change is on the horizon. Find out more about these matters of life-or-death, and WHAT YOU CAN DO TO HELP, at http://www.campusprogress.org/fieldreport/4284/killing-the-programs-we-need-most.

We’ve all heard about the “childhood obesity epidemic,” but the truth is it’s not about kids who are too lazy to exercise or parents who are too lazy to cook healthy food. It’s about the ways that we’ve built our communities and designed our food system over the last fifty years. Why don’t our schools stay open after hours so that families have a safe place to hang out and play? Why don’t local stores offer anything besides liquor, cigarettes, and junk food? The 40 youth leaders who run werefedup.com get that obesity is a lot more complicated than people making bad choices, and they’re doing something about it.

Let’s tip the scales after the jump! Read the full story

Clowning is no laughing matter for Tommy the Clown (born Thomas Johnson). Instead, it’s a way to combat deeper issues like gang involvement, boredom, hopelessness, violence, and inactivity.

Born in Detroit, T.J. moved to LA as a teenager, where he soon found himself in trouble with the law. He had plenty of time to reconsider his life’s direction while spending 5 years in jail, where he decided to turn his life around. He’s done that and more–he’s changed the lives of youth around the world.

How? By clowning. It started out as a favor for a friend’s kid’s birthday party, but soon evolved into a way to help at-risk youth, youth who were in danger of falling through the cracks the same way that T.J. had been. Young people were allowed to join his clown/krump/hip hop crew on the condition that they did well in school, stayed out of gangs, didn’t do drugs, and acted as positive role models. In 15 years, this has grown to become a world-wide phenomenon, with 60+ dance crews in LA, performances across Europe, Asia, and the Americas, and motivational lectures in schools across the country. It has also spawned a new form of street dancing (y’all know it as “krumping”) and even a 2005 movie by Dave Chapelle, called “Rize”.

Tommy is more than just a red-nosed, smiling face–he’s entertained millions, inspired thousands to get off the couch and off the streets, trained, guided, and helped countless urban youth, and spread a message of peace to us all: “You got problems? Don’t fight no more. Bring it to the dance floor.”

According to a study conducted by the University of Minnesota, researchers have determined that 15 percent of teens - that is, roughly 1 in 7 - believe they are going to die young. Based on a survey of 20,000 youth, researchers believe this drives a high amount of distressed youth into drug use, gang violence and other risky behaviors. This goes against the grain of the old adage that kids believe that they’re “invulnerable” or bulletproof. Moreover, youth of color and low income youth were much more likely than their white peers to believe that they would die young.

The general sense of hopelessness that plagues teenagers can be seen as a red flag. We need to lift each other up, but how do we raise the spirits of our peers? Is there a remedy for hopelessness? Or is the answer in our communities? What do you think?

Last night, I found myself on my couch playing Tony Hawk’s Project 8, a game about extreme skateboarding. It was raining outside, so I figured, the best way to kill some time would be to send a ridiculous looking video game version of myself flying over ramps and sailing into walls, face first. This game has an interesting feature: if you have a particularly huge ‘bail’ (skater talk for falling off your skateboard), the game tells you how much your hospital bill would be… and rewards you if you get a bill over $80,000.

Now, I’m not a skateboarder or extreme sportster in any sense of the word. But I did have a bit of a scare recently: I started developing these incredibly intense headaches during strenuous activity. Almost immediately, I went to my local doctor and was told that I needed to see a neurologist. The problem is, I couldn’t afford it. Like 45 MILLION - about 1 in 8 - other Americans, I didn’t have insurance. My story is that the recession had taken its toll and my dad - who insured me - was out of a job. But the coverage was spotty my entire life: I’ve gone through about 30-40 different insurance plans, as he has changed jobs a lot over the past 20 years. This story isn’t unique: the widespread lack of affordable, reliable health coverage for the under-30 population is one of the most terrifying trends in American society that we must work diligently to reverse.

Most of the time we can’t afford it. But sometimes, like the AIDS denialism that Yolanda mentioned earlier today, we’re prone to the condition that as young people, we’re basically invincible. Read the full story

For a long time, when I saw kids who were out of control, hugging the block, angry and violent I’d think, “It’s the parents’ fault.” While I still consider the lack of parenting and solid family structure as contributing to the demise of young people, I’ll admit that there are other factors outside of the home that are leading our youth to fail.

Congressman Robert C. Scott wants to save the kids or at least prevent them from falling victim to the lack of resources in their communities and ending up either dead or in jail. He recognizes the flawed and failing infrastructure as well as policies that are making it hard for young black and brown kids (as well as white) kids to succeed. Scott represents Virginia and serves as the Chairman of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security. Read the full story