Principles 22 страница

Community organizing, like any other form of social intervention that seeks to alter social circumstances, must never be conceptualized as a one-size-fits-all model. It requires modification, or tweaking, to maximize its potential for achieving noble goals of social and economic justice. Youth community organizing, whether youth-led or youth-involved, can take place in a wide range of settings and circumstances, as well as be based on dif-ferent models. Practitioners must be prepared to view youth organizers from a broad perspective, modifying their strategies and constructs accordingly.

Clearly, there are distinct elements to youth-led community organizing that distinguish it from other approaches to working with young people, as well as other forms of organizing. Most fundamental is the central role of youth as decision makers and leaders in collective efforts to gain greater control over the conditions that impact their lives. Indeed, the term youth-led truly is both descriptive and instructive. The concept of leadership devel-opment takes on special significance with this model, even superceding its prominent position in all other forms of community organizing. We have devoted a full chapter to this topic, but in reality, leadership development is embedded in every aspect of youth-led organizing, as both an individual and collective manifestation of empowerment.

The emphasis on personal growth and development has led to an ap-proach to youth organizing that is more holistic than most adult community organizing models. The focus is not limited to issue resolution and changes in policy, but also stresses the importance of promoting social relationships, educational attainment (often including pathways to college), community service, capacity enhancement, mentoring, individual support, increased

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self-esteem, and a very strong cultural component that is both a means to social change and an end in itself. Opportunities for training, role modeling, creativity, critical thinking, politicization, expression through multiple me-dia forms, and skills development are built into every facet of the orga-nizing. And always there is the chance to socialize and have fun!

This organizing process typically starts by raising consciousness about unequal power relationships, structural inequality, and oppression; then it is animated by a shared vision of both an end product and a process to achieve social and economic justice. The specific organizing goals and objectives tend to be multifaceted, depending on local circumstances, but almost al-ways entail age-related issues. Therefore, target systems often include pub-lic and private schools, municipal government, police departments, criminal and juvenile justice systems, local housing authorities, private employers, nonprofits that provide youth services, recreation departments, public trans-portation carriers, and public youth employment programs. Nevertheless, youth organizing also may address issues related to racial discrimination, LGBT concerns, corporate pollution, or immigrant rights. Regardless of the particular focus of these youth-led organizing campaigns, they share a com-mon ethos that is inclusive, participatory, and democratic as they pursue positive social change for individuals and the community.

Most youth-led organizing projects are locally based, and the change efforts usually are confined to the neighborhood or municipality. Organi-zational structures typically are streamlined; and only rarely are they for-mally affiliated with larger youth organizing networks at the state, regional, or national levels. This can cause youth-led projects to be isolated from age-peer efforts, with various initiatives sometimes reinventing the wheel. How-ever, while there may be minimal connection among youth organizing programs, sponsorship by adult community organizations, coalitions, or community development corporations is quite common. Indeed, adults very seldom are completely out of the picture. Nevertheless, whether or not such linkages exist, the youth-led organizing model entails a high degree of autonomy.

As in all forms of community organizing, numbers count as a primary form of power, and ongoing recruitment is featured in all phases of this approach. This activity is tailored to engage young people in the context of their particular youth culture wherever they can be found, such as on streetcorners, in parking lots, at youth centers, on the Internet, in schools, on basketball courts, or wherever else they may hang. It may be done by for-mal outreach efforts or simply by word of mouth, recruiting along friend-ship lines or simply by loose networking, but it is done best by making personal connections, building relationships, appealing to self-interests, creating a sense of hope and possibility, and always stressing the impor-tance of having a good time.

Once young people are engaged, there is strong emphasis on developing leadership capacities and learning new skills related to further recruitment,

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action research, facilitating meetings, strategic planning, communicating with their youth constituency and the broader community, reaching out to potential allies, building coalitions, developing action plans, implementing a wide range of tactics, public speaking, negotiating with decision makers, program development, media relations, fund-raising, and evaluation. Youth culture profoundly shapes an organizing process that integrates music, poetry, street theater, dance, film, creative writing, photography, newslet-ter production, fashion, graffiti, murals, and other art forms into all of its phases. And youth-led organizing increasingly uses information technol-ogy, such as cell phones, text messaging, e-mail, instant messaging, word processing, Web sites, Web pages, chat rooms, and other instruments and forms where young people often are more experienced and skilled than adults, especially as the digital divide continues to diminish.

Because the window of participation is relatively narrow, young activists and leaders age out after only several years. This chronological imperative demands that youth-led organizations not rely on the presence and skills of a small group of entrenched leaders. To do so is to commit the organization to an early demise, as the veteran cohort inevitably grows older and moves on, leaving a leadership vacuum in its wake. A leadership structure that is at once collective and constantly replenished is essential for organizational continuity and effectiveness over time.

In order to maintain a dynamic flow of new participants, recruiters usu-ally must address challenges of competing time demands for potential ac-tivists, as well as the need for many young leaders to be paid. As discussed previously, support or opposition from a youth’s family often will be an important determinant of participation. The need for immediate gratifica-tion, the ability to deal with the failure to achieve some organizing goals, and the threat of burnout caused by over involvement all serve to test a youth-led organizing project’s ability to maintain its vitality and viability.

Currently, two of the greatest challenges facing youth-led organizing are the continued shortage of funds and the sometimes difficult relations with adults. The lack of funding has been discussed at a number of points in this book. Youth organizing projects frequently do not have adequate financial resources for staffing, work stipends for activists, rent, equipment, supplies, or payment to attend formal leadership training sessions. Questions may arise about whether accepting money from certain funding sources will compromise the organizing project’s ability to conduct adversarial cam-paigns that may ruffle the feathers of adult decision makers. While adult organizations sometimes may provide space, technical assistance, admin-istrative support, or even a degree of fiscal sponsorship, significant auton-omy must be carved out and preserved in order for the initiative to meet the criteria for youth-led organizing. The phenomenon of adultism persists, and youth activists may have to contend with its consequences, regardless of whether they deal with intransigent targets or well meaning, but disre-spectful allies.

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These and other challenges aside, we are confident that youth-led or-ganizing will continue to grow and increase its social impact in the years ahead. Youth activists bring idealism, high motivation, stamina, passion, and a sense of optimism to their organizing. They are able to draw on their own culture, as well as adult supports, to pursue their hopes and dreams. Young people bring fresh approaches, enthusiasm, and innovative tactics to their campaigns. The combination of campaigns on immediate concerns, the chance to make new friends, opportunities for personal growth, skills de-velopment, capacity enhancement, and the ability to have fun while work-ing for progressive social change makes an attractive package. Indeed, this powerful blend contains the essence of the spirit and promise of youth-led organizing!

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