YU's Rise Up Team

YU's youth leadership team, Rise Up, has been focused on skill-building and developing campaigns around issues that impact young people in Oakland.

They have also hosted several events this winter including a game and movie night, Valentine's party for kids in the neighborhood, our annual holiday party, and a series of events for Black History Month. We are proud to see their growth as a team and most importantly, the self-reflection and pride they have expressed on this journey.

Rise Up Awarded Youth Mini Grant

The Rise Up team was excited to be awarded a grant from the City of Oakland's ReCAST Project Youth-to-Youth Mini-Grant. Grantees were awarded for their proposals that supported community resiliency and healing in our Oakland community.

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Black History Month Event

Community Altar & Healing Circle

During Black History Month, Rise Up chose the theme 'Black Excellence' and hosted weekly events for members. After dealing with a series of losses, Rise Up members felt compelled to create a safe space within the Center where YU members and the community could come to grieve and heal. They wanted to remember and celebrate their peers, family members, and influential leaders that have passed within their community. Rise Up has also created an altar in the YU living room that they invite the community to contribute to.

The event opened with an African drumming performance by Kuufa Talking Drums Kenyatta who shared some history as well as their personal connection to this tradition. Attendees were invited to play and learn how to "make the drums talk." At the conclusion of the event participants were a part of a healing circle led by Rosesharon Oates and Gina Hill in which they saged the space and shared their positive intentions for each other.

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Valentine’s Party

Rise Up was inspired to plan a party for kids in the community on Valentine's Day. They were excited to host younger children and provide them with fun outdoor activities and art projects. The event was a huge success thanks to the hard work of Rise Up!

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Annual Holiday Party

YU held its 14th annual holiday event to celebrate our youth and members of the Castlemont Community by providing 100 members with warm weather clothing such as jackets, scarves, and socks. Rise Up assisted with setting up the gift shop, and supported throughout the event as well as providing a dance performance!

Additionally, YU partnered with groups such as Oaklandish who donated hats for the event, and Sephora, who kindly donated beauty kits. Pixar donated an abundance of toys for younger youth which were supplemented by a generous donation the Darryl Reed Foundation! Youth Uprising was also able to supply our members with a slew of other items including speaker boxes, undergarments, gloves and other apparel and accessories kindly donated by local brands.

The holiday party showcased local talent Mally Bo, DJ Toure from Hieroglyphics and more who were huge draws for our members!

Corners Café in the News and Spotlight on Youth Staff: Brandy

Chef Sarah Germany & Corners Café staff

Culinary publication, Cuisine Noir, profiled our on-site social enterprise, Corner’s Café, this month. The Café provides healthy and delicious food to East Oakland’s food desert.

““The goal is to create an eatery to serve as a community spot for everyone to access and enjoy healthy food options to better their overall wellness,” says Germany. “This cafe is a continuous opportunity to speak to our neighbors about what we are offering and why.” Corners Café is a social enterprise arm of Youth Uprising, one of the longest established youth organizations in Oakland which has been in existence since 2005. “We are invested in the community and committed to the young people who are going to become the adults in this neighborhood,” she continues.”

— Sarah Germany, Corners Café General Manager | Cuisine Noir magazine

Read the full article here.

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YOUTH SPOTLIGHT

CORNERS CAFÉ TEAM MEMBER: BRANDY

As soon as you meet Brandy you know she loves a challenge. So despite being terribly shy, she joined the Corners Café staff to pursue her passion for cooking. But, the real challenge came when the Café Manager assigned Brandy to the register, which requires her to greet and interact with all the customers! Looking back, Brandy remembers being overwhelmed initially. Now Brandy is proud of how she pushed through her shyness to be more confident.

That's what YU is all about, creating opportunities for young people to discovery who they are, what they are capable of, and how to become their best selves. Corners is Brandy’s first job and through the café’s employment training program her sense of self and leadership skills have blossomed. Her manger remarks that she can run the place without her, and that makes Brandy beam with pride.

““I don’t mind staying longer than everyone else. That’s how I taught myself all the different parts of the job. I even know how to fix the cash register now!””

At 17, Brandy is a senior at Castlemont High School and East Oakland resident full of promise. She aspires to be a mechanical engineer and YU is wrapping around her to ensure her success. Our leadership development program has involved Brandy in community efforts to develop creative housing solutions for the homeless. And, YU's Career & Education Program is working with her to make sure she's prepared to attend the Historically Black College of her choice -- she's already been accepted to Dillard University. Brandy's newfound confidence coupled with YU supports gives her the opportunities she deserves to fulfill her potential.

YU Employed 100+ Youth, Formed Youth Leadership Council and More News

It was a busy summer at YU and we remain an East Oakland oasis serving and supporting thousands of youth and community members! YU continued advancing its mission to transform East Oakland into a healthy and economically robust community through developing young leaders, offering hands on assistance with educational goals, career growth, work experience, mental and physical wellness, and providing access to critical resources that meet their basic needs.

Specifically, this summer YU:

• Employed and trained over 100 youth through our Career & Education Department in partnership with the City of Oakland and a host of community minded businesses.

• Sustained and grew our social enterprises, employing young adults in the fields of food service, landscaping, and janitorial work.

• Expanded wellness services, providing nearly 200 hours of mental health services to young people.

• Re-established our Community Care program, providing groceries to nearly 150 families.

• Launched YU's Baby Care program, providing a range of supports, from diapers to parent-child play groups

• Celebrated YU's 15th Annual Back Pack Give Away, providing necessary school supplies to Middle and High School students

At 17, Brandy is a senior at Castlemont High School and East Oakland resident full of promise. She aspires to be a mechanical engineer and YU is wrapping around her to ensure her success. Our leadership development program has involved Brandy in community efforts to develop creative housing solutions for the homeless. And, YU's Career & Education Program is working with her to make sure she's prepared to attend the Historically Black College of her choice -- she's already been accepted to Dillard University. Brandy's newfound confidence coupled with YU supports gives her the opportunities she deserves to fulfill her potential.

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BALLERINA MISTY COPELAND VISITS YU

YU recently hosted Misty Copeland, who made history as the first African American Female Principal Dancer with the prestigious American Ballet Theatre.

Misty, whose husband is an Oakland native, was in town to learn more about Oakland's unique Turf Dancing culture and share her experience as a pioneer in American dance. She was joined by author and filmmaker Nelson George (CB4, The Get Down, Strictly Business) in a meeting with YU alumni The Turf Feinz and their proteges Turf Inc.

The gathering enjoyed an afternoon of rich discussion about the power of artistic expression, the history of Oakland originated dance styles, and the importance of creating spaces to celebrate young artists.

It was an honor to have Misty and Nelson join us to learn more about Turfin’ an art form that is deeply entrenched in not only our legacy, but also Oakland’s.

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YU RELAUNCHES RISE UP TEAM

YU was born out of youth leadership development, with young people initially leading in all aspects of moving YU from vision to a reality. Our commitment to youth empowerment continues today with YU’s in-house youth leadership team, Rise-Up.

The current Rise-Up team, supported by Brooklyn Williams, is focused on executing high impact community service projects. Through our extensive training program Rise-Up Members learn leadership and life skills. They practice prioritization of the issues that affect their neighborhoods, and how best to design and execute campaigns to improve the policies underlying those issues.

Look out for more updates on Rise-Up's efforts to transform East Oakland.

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PARTNER SPOTLIGHT: CASTLEMONT

YU Hosts Castlemont's Registration Day

Castlemont High School, adjacent to YU, has always been a core partner. Over the years, as both YU and Castlemont have evolved, so has our collaborative relationship. In September, YU again hosted Castlemont students and staff for their Back-To-School Registration Day. This year, we were thrilled to support Michael Scott as the new principal of Castlemont. Mr. Scott, in his former role as AP, has been a leader on campus for many years. It is with great expectations that his promotion enables us to deepen and expand this long standing partnership with our neighbor.

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Youth-Led Participatory Action Research (YPAR)

Oakland has experienced a lot of change in recent years. While the city has seen the growth of new restaurants and tourist attractions, it has also seen an increase in rent prices and resident displacement. Oakland has even been termed "the Brooklyn by the Bay" because of the stark effects of gentrification throughout the city's neighborhoods. How do Oakland residents feel about this change? Well, a group of high school seniors employed through Youth UpRising's summer employment program conducted research to answer that question. The Youth-Led Participatory Action Research (YPAR) project focused on housing, and it gave the students an opportunity to create their own surveys and go out into the community to collect responses. The students' reasons for joining the research team varied, but they all shared a personal connection to the issue:

"We're all from the community ... We can see that housing and mortgage is influencing the type of people coming into these communities. We can see that people are getting kicked out. We wanted to know what were the things making people leave and what were the challenges they were facing." - Miriam

"I have an aunt who is facing these problems. Her landlord keeps increasing her rent." - Olivia

"I'm from here and I care about Oakland so I got informed about the issue and wanted to be part of it." - Chaz

Though the students are Oakland natives, they still managed to learn a lot about their community through the project:

"In the news, when they broadcast it, they say people don't care about the community, but people are being pushed out. They do care." - Daejona

"I was surprised that if given the chance to relocate, most people (52%) said they wouldn't." - Jasmine

The students hope that the results of the research will leave a long-lasting impact on the community, and they plan to contribute to this impact in any way they can:

"I always knew I wanted to be involved in helping the community. I want to be active in community protests, meetings, things like that, to contribute to real progress and change. I hope that this research can serve as a voice for the community, and hopefully we could see it bring change." - Chaz

"There are so many people who said they don't have a voice, don't want to vote, or aren't taking the initiative and using the resources they have. We should change that. This experience showed me that I love public speaking, and I want to have an impact through teaching - teaching through my life" - Daejona

"I hope that some of the information will be given to people who have the resources to provide services to the community, and that people can learn the process of owning a home or retaining the property that they have." - Miriam

All of the students involved in this project are college-bound and plan to devote their time to majors in sociology, communications, nursing, business, and more. We're excited to see the change that these young people create as they continue to pursue their passions.

See the results of their research here.

Accessing Higher Education Town Hall

On August 9th 2016, Youth UpRising partnered with Peralta Colleges to host a town hall on the accessibility of higher education in our East Oakland community. Chancellor Jowel Laguerre discussed the various academic opportunities available at the four Peralta colleges, and specifically highlighted Merritt College's cyber-security program. The program trains students in solutions to cyber crimes such as cyber hacks, identity theft, and more. With the increased demand for cyber-security, the program is a great option for young people looking to get an additional certification. Most importantly, the program at Merritt caters to young people who face significant barriers to education: credit attainment time is shorter, science and math requirements are limited, and paid internships are readily available. We look forward to building our continued partnership with Peralta Colleges in order to achieve greater educational attainment in our community!

UniverSoul Circus' Your Life Matters Show

For two weeks prior to the show, YU’s arts group worked on completing a youth-designed mural for UniverSoul Circus, an Atlanta-based circus production that has performed all over the world. UniverSoul Circus requested this collaborative art piece to be prominently displayed by the entrance for their “Your Life Matters Show,” which took place here in Oakland on March 18th.

In total, twenty-two youth artists participated in the design and completion of the mural. The mural featured an elephant, a tiger, circus tents and a clown holding a sign that welcomed guests to “The Town,” as residents affectionately call Oakland. UniverSoul circus was generous enough to provide YU with free tickets for all of the contributing artists as well as discount prices for YU affiliates.

Claire, the staff member who oversaw the design and painting process, commented on how important it was for youth to see their work displayed at the entrance of the circus. These youth had the opportunity to build skills related to teamwork and moving a project to completion as well as engage UniverSoul Circus staff. Claire noted how good it felt to witness her youth enjoy the show and be kids. A couple of our artists had the chance to bring younger siblings or their parents.

YU staff member, Hannah, who helped bring youth to the show shared, “Our young people need to be really tough to survive the systemic injustices so many of them are faced with. Many of our youth have had to grow up too fast. It is so great when our teens get an opportunity to let it all go and just act like a kid and that's definitely what happened at the UniverSoul Circus. The young people were up dancing and laughing and gasping with awe as acrobats and daredevils flew through the air!”

It was fabulous to have a group of young students of color be inspired by professional artists and performers of color from around the world!

FPAF's 11th Annual Johnnie L. Cochran Jr. Salute to Excellence Awards

Youth UpRising was invited to attend the FPAF's 11th Annual Johnnie L. Cochran Jr. Salute to Excellence Awards this past Thursday, February 4th at 5:00PM at the JW Marriott in San Francisco. The Fritz Pollard Alliance Foundation promotes diversity and equality of job opportunity within coaching, front office staffing and scouting in the National Football League through networking and mentoring opportunities as well as education and advocacy around rules and practices that foster diversity. 

We were excited to be a part of an event honoring diversity in athletic leadership and highlighting excellence in its many forms. Two of our staff members, Hannah and Shakeea, along with six of our youth who are members of our after school program and Castlemont High School's football team, had the opportunity to attend. Adam, John-Paul, Jeremiah, Dakari, Darren and Will had the opportunity to meet Hall of Fame Linebacker, Harry Carson, Head Football Coach at Stanford University, David Shaw as well as a coach with Laney College and a scout with the 49ers.

At first, much of the excitement came from eating delicious sliders and drinking unlimited soda, but then, our staff witnessed true interest in what was being said about the accomplishments of people of color within coaching, ownership and administration of the NFL. Event attendees were also primarily people of color. Staff reflected on what a positive experience it was for our youth to see individuals who look like them dressed up, eating “fancy appetizers” and being honored. Of course, such a scene should be the norm, but unfortunately, highlighting the accomplishments of people of color is not a common sight. On the contrary, our young people often see black and brown people portrayed negatively in public and in the media via trite stereotypes. It was great for the students to be exposed to a different atmosphere than what they are often surrounded by in East Oakland and witness the recognition of successful people who look like them.

Our After School Coordinator within Career & Education, Hannah, shared that one of her biggest highlights was seeing Jim Brown and learning more about his story, his connection to Malcolm X and his role in the fight for social justice. We are excited our youth had the opportunity to practice networking, hear from NFL leaders and the officiates for Super Bowl 50 and enjoy an evening out in San Francisco.

Community Resource Fair

On Friday, January 29th from 2:00pm to 5:00pm, Youth UpRising held a community resource fair in partnership with over twenty-five community organizations and government agencies.

Our theme, Educate, Empower and Elevate, reflects our goal to raise awareness of opportunities and resources for individuals and families in order to support their transformation through education, employment and capacity building. There are an abundance of committed individuals working toward social justice, providing social services and helping to foster healthy communities; we are committed to providing the space for our collective efforts to have the greatest reach possible. Community transformation results from personal transformation and committed bodies working together.

Along with multi-colored signs and yellow and purple balloons, our team set up booths in YU's "living room," dance studio and screening room. One of our members, Jonathan, volunteered to wave down cars and encourage people on the sidewalk to come in. We organized stations according to type of service or area of focus and then stepped back to let each organization’s representatives engage the community.

Over seventy-five community members including young people and children came out to connect with the different resources and sources of support that are available to them. Upon entering and signing up, each person was given a raffle ticket. Three lucky winners received either a Clipper card with $30 credit, a $15 Starbucks gift card or a $25 card for gas.

Community Bank of the Bay featured an app called “Thrive 'N' Shine” –a free financial education game that families could try out and then download on the spot if they liked it. A father and son were sitting together and playing, which prompted the son to ask, "What is a bill?" His question sparked a whole conversation about money and responsibility. We are excited that the event helped create moments like these and happy to hear community members found representatives and staff to be friendly and hospitable. On their way out, one family commented, “That was terrific, really helpful, you should keep doing more.” We plan on it!

Thank you to all of our partners who helped make this event possible: Alameda County Club Moms, Alameda County Food Bank Alameda County Healthy Start Initiative (ACHSI), Alameda County Public Health Emergency, AmeriCorps, Bananas Inc., Bank of the Bay, Bay Area Legal Aid, Best Babies Zone, Black Infant Health, Daughters without Dads, East Bay Community Law Center, Causa Justa/Just Cause, La Familia Counseling, Mind Blown Labs, Oakland Public Library, Office of Dental Health, Oracle, Parent Voices Oakland, Prop 47, Room to Bloom, Family Resource Center, Roots, Safeway, Spectrum Community Services, Tru Connect, UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital Oakland Medical Clinic, YMCA Headstart and YU Balance.

We hope our efforts facilitated greater connection between resource providers, educators, community organizers and community members. YouthUprising is dedicated to community transformation powered through youth leadership.