In 2008, there was so much excitement surrounding the presidential election that it was contagious. For many, like myself, it would be one of our first opportunities to vote for the United States’ highest office… President. As a 20-year-old, who just started my second semester in college, it turned into one of the biggest moments of my life.

There was not only a black man in the race but also a woman, who both represented many of the issues I care about. But a lot has changed since that time of staying up late to hand out flyers and giving up my weekends to canvass.

2008 felt so much more youth-inspired, as if we had a stake in prosperity of this country, a country and government for which we will one day inherit. Four years have passed and still many young people are disenfranchised in cities around the country. Education has taken a back seat to corporate buyouts; the war on crime taking place in our backyards has been overshadowed by the one abroad.

So, excitement is no longer what I feel. At times, I am disheartened by the progress and yes, we have made some progress, but there is more to be done. Every year, thousands of young people are being left behind in books they have yet to learn how to read. We can’t just create more jobs; we also have to educate the people who will fill those positions. We can’t just protect our borders when there are people dying right here on our city streets.

Don’t get me wrong; I am not one to say that one issue is more important than the other but what I will say is that youth and youth issues can’t just be addressed during election time, especially since when we make up such a huge demographic. It’s truly entertaining to watch candidates try to engage us every few years, as if our memory is that short.

If a candidates want my vote come November, then they have to prove to me that they can do more then give a great speech. We, as young people, are not so swayed by the lip service, as we are inspired by the actions.

Government is always telling us what they have done or will do for us; we, as young people, are neither lazy nor uneducated. So don’t just ask us what we want you to do, give us a chance to be a part of the change.

Want my vote? Well, engage me beyond election cycles, create a space for me to be a part of the political process (not just as intern) and talk about tangible solutions to issues that are impacting me generation. One way to do that is by creating a Presidential Youth Council.

A council that will advise the president and his/her staff on issues and concerns that are impacting more than 104 million people between the ages of 16-24 each day, the council should also have a chance to give recommendations on proposed and current legislation. This generation is no longer comfortable with waiting for change to happen, we want to be that change.

So, when candidates are looking for their next pool of voters, remember that my vote counts, in addition to millions of other young people around the country and we don’t need an “adult” spokesperson but rather a listening ear.

My vote counts too!

*Statement do not reflect the opinions of the League of Young Voters Education Fund

Santigold is preparing to release her forthcoming album, “Master Of My Make-Believe” and she delivers the second single since her announcement of the project. The first time I heard it, I thought to myself – this is exactly the message we need from artists when contributing to the movement. It’s almost as though she’s speaking to all the young voters, activists, and leaders.

She simply says,

don’t look ahead, there’s stormy weather/
another roadblock in our way/
but if we go, we go together/
our hands are tied here if we stay

Click HERE to download

Lidiane Carmo woke up in a Florida hospital bed with IVs in her frail arm and did not remember how or why she got there. Shortly after, Carmo learned that she was the only survivor of a tragic car accident that claimed the lives of several other passengers, including both of her parents and only sister.  She was returning home from a three-day church-related conference in Florida when her vehicle (a church van) was impacted in a multiple-car collision that was caused by a thick fog of smoke.

The devastating news was accompanied with a surprising discovery: she is undocumented and therefore not a legal citizen of the United States. Earlier this week, it was reported by many news outlets that she was at risk of being deported back to Brazil after being released from the Florida hospital. Brazil is a place that Carmo has not been to for more than 12 years.

Given the circumstances, it has been a struggle for her church to both pay for her hospital bills and have burial services for her immediate family. However, as a result of the massive media coverage, many organizations have came to Carmo’s financial aid. Additionally, immigration officials have announced that they will not deport her. Florida Gov. Rick Scott has also reached out to help the young victim.

It is stories like Carmo’s, which cause me to deeply ponder about the rationale and logic of our immigration laws. Would the immigration officials have deported Carmo if her story had not been broadcasted in so many major news outlets?

Carmo was a toddler when her parents came to the Unites States on visas from Brazil. Once the visas expired, her parents never returned to their native country and Carmo grew up in America. Carmo is a freshman student attending Sprayberry High School near Marietta, GA. She lost her mother, father, sister and uncle in the fatal accident.

Raw footage from the wreck:

Is it our moral responsibility and civic duty to protect all youth that are in the US illegally?

The mainstream media is going to have to change its narrative. How can you say that we’re apathetic and lazy when 33,000 tune in to watch the president address the nation?

On Tuesday, the League put on #BarackTalk, our second annual State of the Union panel and watch party. From hip-hop stars to journalists, the panelists discussed some of the most pressing issues of our time in the context of the speech. More importantly, twenty-somethings from around the country tweeted at a mind-blowing rate about what the state of our union is.

From unemployment to college affordability to the prison industrial complex, you spoke up; and when 33,000 people get together, the powers that be can’t afford not to listen.

What makes politicians quake in their boots is that we don’t simply pay attention to what’s going on it our world. We vote.

(Don’t forget, if you need to update your voter registration to your new address, do it online right now).

Missed the live broadcast? Check it out here.

As the 2012 presidential election approaches, it is becoming painfully clear that the U.S. economy may be the topic helping voters decided which candidate to choose. Unemployment has remained relatively high across the nation, but some populations have been hit harder than others. The Obama administration has made progress in its attempts to stabilize unemployment, and job growth has been on a small but steady rise. But if stabilizing the economy is the greatest challenge for the 2012 election, then increased employment is the only solution.

While job growth has increased, the questions regarding who is gaining employment still remains. Today, the White House released a press release announcing the Summer Jobs Act to employ nearly 180,000 youth between the ages of 16-24 nationwide. The White House has been encouraging youth employment since 2009, and has worked with many private companies to ensure that young people received on-the-job training and paid internship positions. However, today they took an aggressive stance toward youth employment stating:

“America’s youth can’t wait for Congress to act.”

Obama is moving forward without Congress by proposing $1.5 billion to make sure that youth can be hired not only in the summer, but year-round.

This is an important step to ending high rates of unemployment not only for youth and disadvantaged communities, but also for the nation as a whole. With all of the political circus, we often forget that the high school and college students WILL  grow up to become the leaders of this nation. We must do everything possible to support their growth and development in every realm of society. The administration also points out that in 2011, taxpayers contributed more than $93 billion “in direct cost and lost tax revenue to support young adults disconnected from school and work.”

Many conservatives, such as Rick Santorum, repeatedly state that they want to discontinue social welfare programs, however, unemployed and uneducated youth will cost us far more in lost tax revenue than in entitlement programs alone. Translation: It will cost us far less, as a society, to educate and hire the multi-ethnic youth of America.

In the next 60 days, the administration will launch  Summer Jobs+ Bank, an online job search through its business, non-profit, and government partner organizations. They hope that these summer jobs will lead to a more informed workforce prepared for long-term employment in the private and public sector.

Check out the full press release here.

 UPDATE: THIS STORY APPEARS TO BE A HOAX. WE’LL LET YOU KNOW MORE AS WE GET MORE INFO.

The more I think that times have changed, the more I am made aware that some things never change. I wonder how Michael Jordan first learned to cope with the fact teens in the inner city were being slain for a pair of his sneakers that really cost nothing to make. If I could, I’d talk to MJ and ask “How come they just don’t make enough? People will still buy them, Mike! It’s not as if you’re going to have to go back to the drawing board and figure out a brand new marketing plan. Just make the shoe and it’ll sell itself.”

What’s even crazier is that people aren’t starting riots and making a scene because they’re too expensive. There just isn’t enough to go around. This has been the case for years.

I’m assuming the 17-year old Tyreek Amir Jacobs from Washington DC got his early. He was pronounced dead over Facebook and Twitter yesterday. A fan page was created and has 6,000+ likes already. The story grew with the help of a bunch of tweets from DC residents and Jordan fanatics. Now the excitement and buzz around the infamous Concord XI sneaker will be overshadowed by the uproar from a community that is disgusted by the shoe fetish that has cost a young man his life. This isn’t a new story but an all too familiar one. #BreakTheCycle

Waiting in line for a pair of shoes is a part of an addiction that a lot of people possess. The desire to have what the next can’t afford, whether it’s because of time or money. Some people just buy them, not to be like Mike, but to lick the bottom and just look at them. SMH!

I wonder if Jay-Z has ever been called a nigga in Paris. Or if Martin Margiela referred to Kanye as a nigga, would he still associate himself with that brand? I came across some young people in Cali that weren’t letting the N-Word slide at all when verbally assaulted at the Super Uno Market on the corner of Vernon and Van Ness. They didn’t even resort to violence, which is something that we don’t hear enough of.

Are you afraid to take stake in your community?

I didn’t now they were still scaring kids with prison. Thats what’s up but is it working? Hopefully so!

Is this what Milwaukee Youth have become? This is too gangsta. Everybody wants to be a *worldstar but this ain’t how you do it!

With the recent police brutality stories coming out of the city of Pittsburgh, the youth have decided to take a strong stance. The Y.E.S. Council is preparing for their annual youth summit. If you are in the Pittsburgh area tomorrow this is certainly the place to be:

The Youth Empowerment Summit 2011

Kick Off Rally: Thursday, Aug. 4th, 11:00 a.m. At Freedom Corner

PRESS CONFERENCE: Thursday, Aug. 4th, 12:15pm at Freedom Corner

Workshops & Performances: Thursday August 4, 2011 1:00 PM to 5:00 PM
Elsie H. Hillman Auditorium at Kaufman Center
1835 Centre Ave. Pittsburgh, PA 15219

The Youth Empowerment Summit (Y.E.S) Is a program of the Youth Empowerment Summit Council, consisting of seven teenagers who are interested in improving the conditions of their communities and their own lives. With the assistance of adult advisers, they intend to create jobs for youth, improve the education system, stop violence, provide health & wellness information to young people, and point them in the proper direction for tools and services to improve their living conditions.

The Summit will feature workshops on Family Dynamics, History, Violence Prevention, Business, Health & Wellness, Sexual Awareness and Civic Engagement.

Keynote address by: Celeste Taylor/Regional Equity Monitoring Project

Live Performances by: JasirI X, SCR, Lil D, Undalrds, B-G-1, Lil Reese, Lil Genius, DJ Terry T

The Youth Empowerment Summit 2011 is sponsored by: REMP, B-Pep, Ujamma, 1Hood, RBR Entertainment, Faces Of Faith, Three Rivers Foundation , Addison Behavioral Health, AAMI, Operation Better Block, Hip-hop On Lock, One Nation, Gandy’s 30/30 Club, The Soul Pitt, Friends Of Chelsea Wagner and Sankofa.

Two young people will receive scholarships to the African American Music Institute:
The Joseph Hall Scholarship and The Jordan Miles Scholarship.

Will Smith has been the ‘Prince’ of ‘Fresh’ for over 20 years #DoTheMath. However, these young dudes from the Midwest could represent the new cool that’s still in school. You be the judge!

When it comes to entertaining black people on a platform where anything goes, the award would, unfortunately, have to go to WorldStarHipHop. They’re entertaining, inspiring and poisoning an entire generation at the same time. Shouldn’t they be as credible if not more than BET, to have a show acknowledging those content developers and producers? Damn, I can see it now: WorldStarHipHop Entertains Them Awards 2012, Hosted by Flava Flav w/ an opening perfomance by Odd Future featuring Lil B, ending w/ Pinky awarding Heather Hunter the Lifetime Achievement Award. SMH!

How do you award the top contributions of ignorance?

Most Viewed Amateur Solo Dance Submission: Ol Girl
Best Amateur Rap Submission: That One Dude
Best Marijuana Vlog: Wiz Khalifa
Most Racist Comment Contributor: ANONYMOUS
Best Hood Fight: Dude & Nem
Best Amateur Criminal Video Submission: That One Dude

ROLL CREDITS

Produced By: US

Collins Academy gets a surprise visit from Nicki Minaj as she takes on the role of Principal. School has never been this cool.

The White House Office of Public Engagement hosted a summit this week to address youth underemployment. Our own Biko Baker was able to participate on a panel and even got a shout-out from the White House…

“The Young Entrepreneur Summit is part of President Obama’s push around job growth for America’s young people, and therefore had a strong focus on connecting the business community with young people all over the country. More than 7,000 young people joined the conversation via livestream, and engaged in Q&A with panelists via twitter”…

“The Summit featured approximately 300 youth advocates and entrepreneurs who connected on topics ranging from job training and education to creative thinking and best practices for starting a business and creating jobs for young Americans. Speakers and panelists included Marie Johns (Deputy Administrator of SBA), Michael Blake (Deputy Associate Director, White House Office of Public Engagement), Alexis Maybank (Co-Founder and CEO of Gilt Groupe), Rachel Chong (CEO of Catchafire), Mason Fuller (CEO of Atlas Frontiers Inc & Young Entrepreneur National Business Week Winner) and NT Etuk (CEO of Tabula Digita). Participants included a broad range of creative minds from young entrepreneurs like Matt Mullenweg (founding developer of WordPress) and Josh Weinstein (you are.tv), to youth advocates like Matthew Segal (Our Time), Aaron Smith (Young Invincibles) and Biko Baker (League of Young Voters).”

This is one of those posts that serves as a solution. Demetrius Martin, A young man who lost his father at a very young age, took a proactive approach by reaching out to kids in similar situations so they’d have the comfort in knowing they aren’t alone. #thatswhatsup

Last night, Governor Scott Walker presented his first State of the State Address. Frequently highlighting the role that the Super Bowl bound Green Bay Packers played in uniting Wisconsinites this season, Governor Walker argued that his vision for the state would lift the Dairy Land up as a new model for the future. By focusing on fiscal frugality and “regulatory reform,” Walker argued that Wisconsin could be an international symbol of healthy economic growth and stability.

Read more after the jump. (click the link)

While I applaud Walker’s vision for a united Wisconsin, where both diversity of thought and background are respected, I believe that the new governor’s agenda comes at the expense of our state’s young people. Not only do his plans to make substantial transformations to the WI healthcare system put our nearly 500,000 young Medicaid subscribers at risk, but his call for regulatory reform, a coded way of not saying deregulation, creates the very same laissez-faire, George Bush styled, “anything goes” environment that led to our current fiscal crisis. Young people, especially those attending the state’s colleges, have seen the cost of their educations skyrocket as credit card companies and loan sharks have exploited the loopholes that have opened as a result of deregulation. And while Governor Walker and his wife may not have to worry about the cost of their sons’ college tuition, many young Wisconsinites are opting out of their education because college has simple gotten too expensive.

But even though Wisconsin’s Millennials face tremendously tough obstacles, I, like Governor Walker, love this state, and hope that he gets in touch with the future. Across Wisconsin, young people are driving less, biking more and using public transportation as an alternative to paying high gas prices. That’s why it is especially ironic that Walker believes Wisconsin’s ability to compete in the global market hinges on the future development of the Zoo interchange. While it would be foolish to believe that our generation will stop driving completely, his inability to provide an alternative vision for the high speed rail system that he cut is irresponsible. Young people flock to cities like Chicago, New York and San Fransisco because of their strong public transportation systems. Wisconsin already suffers from high levels of brain drain and it will continue to do so if we are unable to convince our own graduates that our state is a viable place to live after college.

Walker may fancy himself as a visionary, but if our new Governor is going to truly make his mark on history he will have to get on the right side of Wisconsin’s young people. You can’t just x-out the programs that are most valid to our futures and expect our next generation to not face major consequences, both in the short and long term. That’s why I advise Governor Walker to adopt an approach that is less ideologically dogmatic and not committed to making cuts for the sake of cutting. Wisconsin’s future hinges on our ability to come up with a bold new visions for our state; the same economic approaches won’t get us anywhere.

——

This OP-ED was written by Rob “Biko” Baker. He is the national Executive Director of the League of Young Voters Education Fund. The League works in 10 communities across the country, but Baker is based in Milwaukee, his hometown. Baker has appeared on MSNBC, MTV, C-SPAN and has appeared in a number of the nation’s biggest online news outlets, include the Huffington Post. The WI League known (also known as the Campaign Against Violence) has registered nearly 10,000 voters since 2006. The League recently convened a meeting of young leaders and music stars in DC to discuss President Obama’s State of the Union Speech that streamed to over 8,000 live viewers.

A 9-year-old girl was killed today while walking to the grocery store…sounds familiar. Every day, we lose thousands of children and youth to unimaginable gun-wars. Our government has never been so adamant about anti-violence until a member of their personal parliament was affected.

Don’t get me wrong… Any loss of life is tragic and the AZ shooting was another example of a senseless act of murder. But tragedy happens daily in our inner-cities.

During a meeting at the White House last year, I was told that miniature – i.e., child-sized – caskets were not an URGENCY to the House and Senate. I beg to differ…homicide rates in the US are 4 times that of the UK, 12 times that of Japan. Over 10,000 Americans die from gun violence every year, add on suicides/accidentals and it’s 20-30,000!

Eugene Robinson (Washington Post) said it best, “we have a murder rate that’s the shame of the developed world.”

The fact of the matter is elected officials aren’t the only parties we should be flying half staff for. WE THE PEOPLE should fly half staff everyday… every time WE THE PEOPLE lose someone to violence whether on home soil or not.

CJ and AR

What is there to do for a teenage kid in Milwaukee?

Well, they cut after school programs, and there are no jobs so they can’t go to work. The YMCA is expensive so not all families can afford to be a member.

Mayfair Mall is one of the most popular malls near Milwaukee County. It was the only place where young people could go and hang out until the mall came up with a policy that was discriminatory towards youth in 2007. No one under the age of 18  was allowed in the Mall without a parent and  I.D. was required to enter the mall, except on Sundays.

Here it is 2011 and a new generation of young kids starts a so-called riot and makes police shut down the mall. Police say that shots were fired in the parking lot, teens were getting caught shoplifting and mobs of kids were in the parking lot running and jumping on cars. Okay, Maybe the young kids maybe were out of hand. But shots being fired ain’t nothing new. These kids hear gunshots everyday. Just because shots were fired does not mean it was a young person did it. It could have been anyone. I believe the mall was just having too many incidents in one day and blew them all out of proportion to make it look big. Hey, find these kids something to do other than goof off at the mall.

Shouts Out To Kwesi of 99P, who, just recently, composed the article, “To Beat or Not To Beat” and in keeping with the theme I wanna rant about a video that has went viral on the net of an Uncle showing his nephew tough love because he was posing as a gangsta on Facebook. This is actually something that I can relate to fore I have received a bunch of those from my uncle who spent a good deal of time in the Marines. He had a father, my grandfather, that would’ve done the same. Personally, I’m thankful to God and all of his friends for the discipline but that there wasn’t Facebook when I was a teenager.

While watching this you might’ve thought that it was funny or the uncle was being too hard on the kid. You might have even thought it was fake but in reality this is the most authentic way to discipline those who display out of control behavior such as the kind taking place on and offline. There needs to be more parental and authoritative intervention in the lives of our youth, male or female.