Work Blu’s

It has been far too long since I last wrote. Work has consumed my pastime in to a mere, tv, air conditioning, and comfortable bed zone. Not to mention, I am still without internet at home.

My past couple weeks have been constructed around a workshop, that I am coordinating, on community-based research with youth from around the Mississippi Delta. Here is a little blurb that I wrote about the workshop, that appeared in the local newspaper:

The interactive youth workshop will be taught by experts in the fields of community-based research (CBR), social work, and youth organizing, who are highly skilled in encouraging youth participation in decision-making processes. University of Michigan faculty and staff will teach young people about CBR, a research approach that engages community members (in this case young people) on issues specific to their own community, and fully engages them through the research process. CBR also uses techniques that recognize the community member as the expert, valuing their own experiences and knowledge within their communities – different from that-of traditional research processes where community members are often viewed as subjects.

This workshop is designed to teach young people about the process of: identifying a problem, issue, or need; creating and using tools to gather information, or data, related to the topic; analyzing the information; identifying policies, or guidelines, that may affect the problem; then identifying possible solutions. The experts will show workshop participants how to use some creative and fun approaches to gathering information using surveys, interview and story-telling techniques. Not only has this method of sharing knowledge and skills been shown to effectively engage youth in research, but it serves as an approach that values youth experience, ability, and voice. This will also be a great opportunity for youth around the Delta to come together, share ideas and innovative ways to do work with their peers and within their communities.

By taking the lead on this project, I have had to spend a lot of my time beyond the 8-4:30 work schedule to ensure its success. Four University of Michigan faculty and staff have committed to coming down and facilitating this interactive workshop, where I have already had 48 young people commit to coming. I have been to the local library, tv station, churches, youth groups, political meetings, talking with folks on the streets, and in the stores – I have been trying to organize a community that is separated by race.  Despite the social dynamics of the area, I have been successful in engaging a community outside the scope of the Center – which will hopefully encourage the larger community of the Delta to participate in the Center’s events.

Tomorrow will mark a day in history, when a number of young people from the region come together to learn how to advocate for change in their own communities, schools, and neighborhoods. Tomorrow will mark, how dedicated local youth leaders are in seeing change through their own eyes – and being the change their community sees before them.