Ella Baker Center Blog

As a former High School teacher in Philadelphia, I know too well the challenges facing urban youth. Connecting with the fellows of Heal the Streets has been a reassurance that the solutions to those challenges are in good hands when youth voices are empowered.

I am so excited for the upcoming Heal the Streets Youth Activism Celebration taking place on Thursday, July 1st in Oakland. This event celebrates the culmination of the first year of Heal the Streets, which is a ten-month fellowship program developing the voices of local youth to proactively fight for social change. This campaign answers Oakland’s need for a training ground where young people can mobilize and engage in the process of creating a healthy community where youth can flourish. I am happy to celebrate with our first cohort of fellows and recognize their accomplishments; doing so demonstrates an investment in the power of youth leadership and a commitment to building a diverse social change movement in Oakland.

When I first met the fellows, I was impressed with the overall maturity, their ability to facilitate meetings with the public and the informed nature with which they were able to elicit deeply held opinions to sensitive topics. I was so impressed by their abilities that I decided to volunteer with Heal the Streets to see how it works.

As I learned more about the fellows’ decision-making process, I became increasingly appreciative of the freedom they were given within the campaign. As an almost self-guided adventure, this group of fellows were gently encouraged to take consecutive steps to ask and answer questions about their community. As they sought answers from the public, they continually had to search within to see if their original goals were being met. This inquisitive path was guided gently by Crystallee whose pride in the fellows was contagious.

This graduation ceremony marks the final stage of the first cohort within the program yet the success of this first round marks the commencement of a young movement. These young students are pleased with their work, their knowledge, and their companionship. This passion is contagious; their friends get it, their families get it!

The internal desire of the fellows to mobilize and engage their community being matched with the skill set offered through the professional staff at the Ella Baker Center amplifies their inner voices. This success of this first cohort creates opportunities for Oakland each time the fellows share their knowledge and newly found skill set in community empowerment.  Just by watching them in action, I have learned how to be an active, engaged citizen fighting for change and social justice. This passion will continue and grow with them into their adulthood and by doing so the power of these ten months will increase and multiply over time as they lead by example.