1. What are the biggest obstacles that LGBTQ+ youth face in 2014?
2. How is this different from previous years?
3. What could YPI do for the youth who visit here?
4. What is the most important thing that you need?
5. how does being at YPI make you feel?
6. What would you like to learn while you are here?
7. What is the most stressful part of your life
Tuesday, December 2, 2014
The Ferguson Issue
Last week, the Grand Jury decided not to indict Darren Wilson for the wrongful death of 18-year-old Michael Brown. This issue has caused a lot of different reactions from the media and groups of oppressed peoples, specifically Black communities.
Because our youth at YPI are mainly youth of color, the staff felt that it was necessary to discuss the issue with our youth. Our main goal is to see what youth knew, how they felt about the news, and how it affects them, in order to stimulate some critical thinking around issues of race, police brutality, and even gender expression. The responses from the few youth who participated in the discussion were predictably upset about the response from the judge about Darren Wilson. Many different issues were brought up about why this sort of thing happens, including racist people, and issues within society at large, but there was very little connection to institutionalized issues of oppression. I think that this was more because many of the youth who participated lacked the language to express it, rather than they didn't know that it could exist.
Several youth could recognize that the actions of Darren Wilson were not only unjust, but excessive and racially based. While a few of our youth seemed on the fence about who exactly is to blame for the situation, everyone agreed that there is a major issue at play here and that the only way it will get better is by directly fighting against the issues at play.
Because our youth at YPI are mainly youth of color, the staff felt that it was necessary to discuss the issue with our youth. Our main goal is to see what youth knew, how they felt about the news, and how it affects them, in order to stimulate some critical thinking around issues of race, police brutality, and even gender expression. The responses from the few youth who participated in the discussion were predictably upset about the response from the judge about Darren Wilson. Many different issues were brought up about why this sort of thing happens, including racist people, and issues within society at large, but there was very little connection to institutionalized issues of oppression. I think that this was more because many of the youth who participated lacked the language to express it, rather than they didn't know that it could exist.
Several youth could recognize that the actions of Darren Wilson were not only unjust, but excessive and racially based. While a few of our youth seemed on the fence about who exactly is to blame for the situation, everyone agreed that there is a major issue at play here and that the only way it will get better is by directly fighting against the issues at play.
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