SOCIAL JUSTICE LEADERSHIP ACADEMY
Make radio, grow food, change the world.
Ages 12 - 17 | Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays 10am - 3pm | July 8 - August 7 2014
For information about the Social Justice Leadership Academy 2015, click here!
In summer 2014, we partnered with the Staley B. Keith Social Justice Center and the Watershed Center to host the "Social Justice Leadership Academy," a collaborative workshop and leadership training for teens in Hudson. The objective of this program was to support young people in identifying and understanding issues affecting their lives, and in taking leadership as crucial change-makers within their communities.
Over the course of five weeks, we examined critical aspects of the food system, education system, and criminal justice system while growing food, producing radio, and creating strategies for ongoing youth-led organizing. Youth came together across diverse ages, spanning 12-18 years old, taking on invaluable roles as both students and teachers to one another. By building a space of trust, awareness and respect, we were able to share our most personal lived experiences, and sought to understand how our experiences of inequality, injustice, power and privilege are a part of the larger systemic issues we face in the world today. Together we began imagining alternatives, discussing strategies, and building action plans for real youth-led, community-based organizing in Hudson.
The Social Justice Leadership Academy hosted a community dinner and dance party on August 8, 2014. Leadership Academy participants organized and hosted the event: they cooked the meal, broadcast their radio work, and and shared their plans for youth-led change and action. Thank you to Walter Hergt for these photos!
